Healthy foods and small portions. This is the Japanese recipe for long life. Playing it in an exemplary way was Jiroemon Kimura, the world’s longest-lived man, who died in Kyoto at the age of 116. The recordman, frequently asked about his lifestyle, had come up with a slogan in response, “eat light and live long.”
A light, fish-based diet low in saturated fat is considered the crucial element of long life expectancy in Japan. Where now the record passes to Mrs. Okawa, who lives in Osaka and is 115 years old. The mantra “eat light and live long” also works for her. A recipe that is valid in any latitude, with appropriate variations. In Italy, Sardinian centenarians have always observed it, but without ever giving up pecorino cheese, wine, fruit and vegetables, the best of the Mediterranean diet. As in: live long and with gusto.
