Product Description

There is nothing more universal than the desire to slow down the aging process, to live a long, full life with health, energy, and independence. The Okinawa Program presents the first evidence-based program to make this possible. Authored by a team of preeminent medical and scientific experts, this breakthrough book documents the diet, exercise, and lifestyle practices of the world's healthiest, longest-lived people and reveals how readers can apply these practices to their own lives.

In Okinawa, the occurrence of heart disease is only one fifth that of American levels. The rate of breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers is less than a quarter of American levels. And the number of centenarians per hundred thousand is six times that of the United States. Most important, Okinawans have the world's longest disability-free life expectancy.

Concluding a long-term, collaborative scientific study, The Okinawa Program clearly and expertly explains the reasons for this remarkable successful aging phenomenon. With a realistic four-week Turnaround Plan for diet, fitness, and psychological well-being, this book offers nearly one hundred easy, fast, and delicious recipes, as well as a moderate exercise routine derived from the former island kingdom's unique martial arts. The authors introduce the cognitive and spiritual practices that have emerged as crucial to the overall health of Okinawan elders and also include resources and an extensive reference section for further information.

Accessible, authoritative, and comprehensive, The Okinawa Program can help readers minimize their risk for heart disease, breast, ovarian, prostate, and colon cancers, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer's disease, as well as maintain healthy body weight, reduce stress, and develop more satisfying personal relationships. The Okinawa Program is a life-changing guide to increased health and youthful vigor at any age.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #360531 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-01
• Released on: 2001-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 496 pages

Amazon.com Review
If ever there were a prescription for longevity, the folks of Okinawa, a collection of islands strung between Japan and Taiwan, have found it. Considered the world's healthiest people, residents of this tropical archipelago routinely live active, independent lives well into their 90s and 100s. Their rates of obesity, heart disease, osteoporosis, memory loss, menopause, and breast, colon and prostate cancer rank far below the rates for these illnesses in America and other industrialized countries. In fact, researchers believe many Okinawans are physically younger than their chronological ages. In essence, the Okinawans have found a way to beat the clock.

How do they do it? In The Okinawa Program, Bradley J. Willcox, M.D., D. Craig Willcox, Ph.D., and Makoto Suzuki, M.D. reveal the islanders' age-defying secrets. Of course, there are really no surprises here: a low-fat diet, exercise, stress management, strong social and family ties, and spiritual connectedness--the same things experts have been recommending for years--all play key roles in keeping the Okinawans youthful. But in this fascinating read, which is peppered with inspiring anecdotes about these remarkable people, the authors provide concrete evidence that adopting these healthy habits pays off significantly in terms of tacking more productive years onto our lives.

Based on the authors' 25-year Okinawa Centenarian Study, this extraordinarily well-written book demonstrates that genetics provide only so much protection against disease. Indeed, the authors often remind us that when younger Okinawans pick up Western habits, their rates of obesity, illness, and life expectancy start to match ours as well. Clearly, when it comes to longevity, healthy lifestyle habits will out. That said, the major message of The Okinawa Program is that we can easily adopt the life-lengthening strategies that have served the Okinawans so well for generations. To that end, the authors pack chapters with suggestions for following "The Way," from eating a low-fat, low-calorie diet packed with fiber and complex carbohydrates (cooking up the book's more than 80 recipes is a start) and learning tai chi to finding time to meditate and relax, developing one's spirituality, doing volunteer work, and building a solid network of friends and family. Rounding out the book, the authors pull their key recommendations into a comprehensive yet doable four-week plan that's meant to get you started. Following "The Way" isn't a free shot at immortality, but it certainly helps stack the deck in your favor. --Norine Dworkin

From Publishers Weekly
Twin brothers Bradle and D. Craig Willcox, an internist and anthropologist, respectively, and geriatrician Suzuki, fascinatingly recount the results of a 25-year study of Okinawa, where people live exceptionally long and productive lives. There are more than 400 centenarians in Okinawa, where the average lifespan is 86 for women and above 77 for men. Most impressive is the quality of life Okinawans maintain into old age; the book is filled with inspiring glimpses of elderly men and women who are still gardening, working and walking into and well beyond their 90s. The authors point out that while genetics may account, in part, for Okinawans' longevity, studies have revealed that when they move away from the archipelago and abandon their traditional ways, they lose their health advantage, proving that lifestyle is, at the very least, a highly influential factor. The Okinawans' program of diet, exercise and spiritual health apparently lowers their risk for heart disease, osteoporosis and Alzheimer's, as well as breast, ovarian, prostate and other cancers. According to the authors, "the Okinawan Way" is neither elusive nor esoteric. It consists, in part, of a low-calorie, plant-based, high complex-carbohydrate diet. Exercise, the authors maintain, is essential, as is attention to spirituality and friendships. Okinawans, too, lead slower-paced, less stressful lives than most Westerners. The outcome of years of extensive medical research, this book offers a practical and optimistic vision of growing old. (May)Forecast: An eight-city author tour, plus advertising in New Age, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and the New Age trade press, should bring this book the attention and sales it deserves.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review
"The Okinawa Program is a very significant contribution to the science of longevity. Read this book carefully and follow the recommendations and you will add years to your life and life to your years."
-- Deepak Chopra, M.D., Author of Ageless Body, Timeless Mind and Grow Younger Live Longer

"As you will learn in this scientifically factual and highly readable book, the general principles of living the Okinawa way . . . are accessible to everyone
and quite consistent with the latest medical research on healthy lifestyles and healthy aging."
-- From the Foreword by Andrew Weil, M.D., Author of Spontaneous Healing and 8 Weeks to Optimum Health -- Review