Two hundred-year- old Japanese people in two different articles talk about their special ” longevity diet “, but it is quite the opposite of what one might suppose. It is not really a “healthy” diet, at least not according to our common sense of a healthy diet: yet both of these Japanese centenarians have one thing in common. They eat sweet foods. And they always ate them. They kept themselves physically active, one with work and the other by taking spring baths, but apart from that particular one (they are not two former athletes, but two ordinary people), the thing that amazed me reading their stories was the “innocent” and instinctive approach to nutrition. No restrictions or strict rules, but a diet that is as instinctive and anti-stress as possible would be the secret of the long life of these two men. I am not saying that their recipe for a long life is correct: but, in a period of strong demonizations towards food and a real food crisis, letting go and living life in the least stressful way possible can undoubtedly be useful. to live better. Here are their stories.

1) DOCTOR HINOHARA’S LONGEVITY DIET : considered one of the leading experts in traditional Chinese medicine, Dr. Hinohara worked continuously until the age of 65, and then continued to work until old age with softer rhythms, making himself useful in the social field . Physicist and honorary president of St. Luke’s International Hospital, Dr. Hinohara explains that to be long-lived it is necessary to keep busy and active even in old age, but above all to avoid rigid eating patterns. Being innocent and instinctive like children towards one’s diet, he explains to him: if you are not hungry you skip meals, when you are hungry you eat. At the age of 104 , the doctor explains his diet: a coffee and a glass of milk in the morning, an orange juice with a teaspoon of olive oil as a snack; lunch, if hungry, with milk and biscuits; dinner with rice, vegetables and fish every day, except twice a week, when eating some lean meat. The secret is to eat less and be active, not to limit the foods we prefer.
2) THE LONGEVITY DIET OF MASAZO NONAKA:currently it goes for 113 years, and holds the distinction of longest-lived man in the world. At the time of writing he is obviously alive and well. Masazo Nonaka leads a quiet life, in which he eats preferably sweets during the day. A former farmer, he is in good health apart from poor mobility, and he eats sweets all day, of any kind, with a fondness for fruit cakes and sponge cake. As long as he could, he took cold baths in the spring. The granddaughter says that a life as far away from stress as possible is the secret of grandfather’s longevity. Who instead says that sweets and baths in cold water are the secret of his long life.
His predecessor, Jiroemon Kimura, who held the record for the longest-lived man on earth until recently (he lived to be 117),he ate rice cakes, rice and red bean cakes (typical of Japan).
In all three cases, the key to a long and happy life is the absence of stress, including food: by eating less but without eliminating sugars and sweets, instead going towards an instinctive diet, and leading an active life in a moderate way. and above all quiet.