why Japanese people are so healthy and long living? 🇯🇵

The average life expectancy in Japan is 84 years according to the OECD. Japanese women can expect to live to the age of 87, 6 years more than their counterparts in the U.S. Japanese men can expect to live to 81, five years more than their American peers. Year after year, Japan has topped the international league tables for life expectancy. But why is life expectancy in Japan higher than in other developed countries? So today, we're gonna discover the reasons why Japanese people are so healthy and so long-lived.

The first factor that we can consider is diet. A study published in the spring of 2016 concluded that diet was a major factor behind the country's high life expectancy figures. So let's take a look at the Japanese diet. When we compare fish versus meat consumption in Japan and in Western countries, we can clearly notice a difference. In 2017, total meat consumption per capita in the U.S. was 98.4 kilograms, whereas 51.4 kilograms of meat were consumed in Japan.

So almost like Hull, per capita fish consumption in the world is 21.8 kilograms, and it's more than twice in Japan. So, basically, Japanese people consume half the amount of meat and double the amount of fish compared to Western countries. Many of us know that fish is healthier than meat, and data proves that too. A research study in the UK, where over 400,000 participants were included, showed that fish eaters had lower cardiovascular diseases than meat eaters and also lower mortality rates.

Another healthy habit of Japanese people is drinking green tea after every meal. This is actually more common in traditional Japanese families. For example, my grandma and grandpa always drink green tea after every single meal. Maybe it's not currently so common in younger generations; however, this is the case in older generations. An interesting fact is that there are numerous research studies about the correlation between green tea and dementia. A study in December 2016 in the Journal of Nutrition, Health, and Aging showed that drinking tea frequently is associated with a lower risk of dementia, especially for people who are generally predisposed to the disease.

Researchers followed 957 older adults, average age 65. Of these, 69 percent drank tea on a frequent basis. After a five-year period, research found that the tea drinkers had a 50 percent lower risk of dementia. This is consistent with earlier findings that show tea consumers scored higher on various cognitive tests. Another factor in the Japanese diet is portion sizes. If you have been to Japan, you probably have noticed that portion sizes are generally smaller than in Western countries.

For example, let’s take a look at McDonald's: this is a small in the U.S., but in Japan, the small is smaller. As you can see from this clip, generally speaking, Japan has smaller portion sizes, and also due to this, lower calories. This also applies to the Japanese snacks and sweets, desserts, and everything that can be consumed in Japan. Generally speaking, Japanese snacks may be due to the taste preference, but they have lower sugar rates compared to Western snacks, especially compared to U.S. snacks. This less amount of sugar results in fewer calories.

Of course, this doesn't apply to every snack out there in Japan; I'm sure there are some snacks that have a very high calorie count, but generally speaking, especially for traditional Japanese snacks, it consumes less sugar, fewer calories, and is more nutritionally dense. If you want to try out traditional Japanese snacks or new modern snacks, Tokyo Treat and Sakurako are perfect matches for you.

Tokyo Treat is a monthly Japanese snack subscription box. You will get up to 20 of the latest, most exclusive, limited edition, and seasonal flavored Japanese snacks that are only available in Japan for a limited time, like Sakura Pepsi, Japanese KitKats, and many more. Sakurako is a monthly Japanese snack subscription box. You will receive 20 traditional and authentic artisan Japanese snacks, including Japanese teas and one special piece of Japanese tableware with your box every month.

Sakurako helps in partnering with local Japanese snack makers to continue to share Japanese culture and traditions that have been passed down for 100 years. Tokyo Treat and Sakurako boxes come with a different theme every month, keeping things exciting and fresh. Sakurako and Tokyo Treat want to share Japanese culture with the world through the medium of snacking.

If you want to enjoy pop Japanese snacks, you can choose Tokyo Treat, but if you want traditional Japanese treats, you can enjoy Sakurako instead. I was having October’s box with my grandma, but this month’s Sakurako theme is Koyo, where you can experience the splendors of Japanese autumn. Tokyo Treat takes you to one of the coolest places in Tokyo, Akihabara, where you can explore Japanese pop culture and enjoy yummy snacks. And if you're afraid of not knowing the snacks in the box, don’t worry! They provide a booklet inside, explaining every snack included in the box.

It's also really informative about Japanese culture, and you can learn a lot.

Another factor that we can consider is the fermented foods in Japan. It is so easy to consume fermented foods, and fermented foods have a deep relationship with gut health. For the recent years, there have been so many researchers about gut health and its effect on life expectancy. While I could make a video about it, today I'm just gonna list some of the fermented foods that we eat that are good for our health.

Common fermented foods that we consume are miso, where we make miso soup out of it, and we also use it quite often in other foods. There's also natto, which is fermented soybeans that you can enjoy as a snack in this month's box, and soy sauce, along with some Japanese pickles.

Other than dietary factors, lifestyle affects somebody's health so much. When we look at Japanese people's lifestyle, I have noticed something from my grandparents: in Japan, older people have a community for almost everything. You can think of any hobby that comes to your mind, and there's some sort of club, event, or community party for those types of things. There are many other people in Japan, and having a human connection, especially when you're older and your kids are already grown and independent, is really important for somebody's health and happiness.

Another lifestyle factor is that people walk quite a lot, especially in Tokyo. I don’t know about other cities, to be honest, but in Tokyo, if you have ever been there, you probably noticed that the majority of people don’t have cars; they use public transportation. Because of public transportation and the way the city is built, people basically walk quite a lot.

Since people walk more and do sports quite often, it’s quite common in Japan to move your body. Moving your body has a deep connection with health and long life expectancy.

Let’s talk about the last lifestyle habit that I quite appreciate about Japanese people: taking baths almost every day or maybe every other day. Some people will read a book, maybe on Kindle, or maybe they just like to relax in the bath.

Taking a bath 90 to 100 minutes before you go to bed increases your sleep quality so much, and there's a lot of scientific evidence behind it. I could make a video about how to get better sleep. Better sleep means better health, obviously, because health and sleep are really connected issues. Taking a bath, where you have a moment that you relax at the end of the day, is really important. Taking a bath is generally great for your health if you don’t have any sort of disease that contraindicates it.

All of these habits and all of these dietary factors that are really part of Japanese culture result in long life expectancy. I also feel like, because my grandparents are very traditional Japanese people, whenever I visit Japan, I just become really healthier, and I just feel so energized. So, I think applying some of these Japanese habits might help you to get healthier.

I hope this video helped you and informed you in some way. So, thank you for watching, and bye!