I grew up in Japan, where I was taught from a young age to think of food as medicine. My grandmother is 92, and she also credits her longevity to eating the right foods.
Japan is home to some of the world’s longest-living people: There are now 90,526 centenarians, or people aged 100 and above. That’s more than five times the amount two decades ago, according to a 2022 report from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
And the tiny, remote Japanese island of Okinawa has been singled out as having the highest concentration of centenarians in the world.
As a nutritionist who follows a traditional Japanese diet, here are five foods my family and I eat every day to stay healthy and live longer:
1. Japanese sweet potatoes
2. Miso soup
The Japanese diet contains a variety of dishes containing fermented foods, and miso soup is a popular one. Miso is a paste made from fermented soybeans and grains.
The probiotics, live bacteria or yeast in fermented foods can help balance our gut health and boost the immune system.
A study found that men and women who ate the most fermented soy (such as miso, tofu and tempeh) had a 10% lower chance of dying early — from all causes — than those who rarely ate these foods.
3. Daikon radishes
Root vegetables are popular in Japanese cooking and provide a host of unique health benefits.
Daikon radishes have been known to help prevent colds and boost the immune system. One radish contains 124% of the daily recommended intake of vitamin C.
Other healthy root vegetables (that may be easier to find in U.S. grocery stores) include carrots, beets, parsnips and turnips.
4. Seaweed
Seaweed is rich in important minerals such as iron, calcium, folate and magnesium.
Eating it every day helps add fiber to my diet. Adequate intake of fiber has been associated with reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, hypertension and type 2 diabetes.
Seaweed also contains antioxidants like fucoxanthin and fucoidan, both of which have anti-inflammatory,
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