cover image THE OKINAWA WAY: How the World's Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health—and How You Can Too!

THE OKINAWA WAY: How the World's Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health—and How You Can Too!

Bradley J. Willcox, THE OKINAWA WAY: How the World's Longest-Lived People A. , $24.95 (496pp) ISBN 978-0-609-60747-3

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.