Nutritional factors for longevity in Okinawa--present and future.

Several factors, such as environment and heredity, are presumed to be related to longevity. Of these nutrition is believed to function as a regulatory factor. Okinawa prefecture is well known as the leading area for longevity in the world. We therefore examined present and past nutrition records together with the background of all the 88 centenarians (18 male, 70 female) who are living in Okinawa in 1991. Their leading occupation was agriculture, and they were in work until the 8th decade. They took rice or potato as carbohydrate with abundant vegetables and vegetable protein or fish protein. Although they did not take a rich diet it was well balanced, and was assumed to be related to longevity because of the decreased incidence of atherosclerosis; together with a good genetic background, suggested by the accumulation of longevity in their siblings.