SPECIAL REPORT #3:
Japanese Secrets to a Longer Healthier Life

By Brian and Angie Maroevich, Owners of Royal Tan and Spa
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The Long Life of the Japanese- What Contributes to it?

It is a well known fact that when it comes to living long, healthy lives, the Japanese seem to have an upper hand in that department. Why is that? There are many thoughts and theories of what secret knowledge the Japanese hold and what the rest of the world can do to achieve the same outcome. Let's take a closer look at what secrets the Japanese possess and practice, and what the rest of the natural world seems to be missing.

To say it seems as if the Japanese tend to live longer is an understatement in a big way. The average life span of Japanese men is 78 years while their women counterparts have a life expectancy of 85. That is remarkable and is also the world's highest life expectancy of the past 20 years. That is correct, for the past 20 years the Japanese have outlived the rest of us and by far too.

Lets look and find out the differences in general lifestyles between the Japanese and the rest of the world. The biggest difference is the way that the Japanese eat. In general the Japanese are very healthy eaters, much more so than the typical American. The Japanese are known to have extremely low levels of cholesterol in their blood. This is a main contributor to the fact that very few Japanese die from heart disease.

How exactly do the Japanese people manage to keep such extremely low levels of cholesterol in their blood? This has remained a mystery of sorts. There are special nutritional structures that are in Japan. These unique structures make the Japanese diet almost completely unknown and almost rarely ever used outside of Japan itself. They cook and consume foods that are not served much outside their country.

The main foods that are consumed in Japan consist of Tofu, Shitake Mushrooms, Prawns, Soba Noodles, and Wakame. Lets take a closer look at these.

Shiitake Mushrooms are native to East Asia. They have been the topic of research for their medical benefits. Specifically their anti-tumor benefits in mice that were tested. The shiitake mushrooms have also been tested as anti-viral properties perfect for treating moderate to severe allergies. There are several other tests under way to further prove their medical value.

Prawn, a type of shellfish is one of the main staples of the Japanese diet. In fact, they are often thought of or mistaken for shrimp. The only real difference is the gill structure of the two crustations.

Soba Noodles are made from buckwheat flour. There are two ways they are served either chilled with a sauce for dipping, or hot in a broth as a noodle soup. These noodles have become a replacement for fast food in train stations. Their counterpart, thick noodles or udon, are not served as often. They are served with many different ingredients added to alter their flavor.

The last of the main staples of Japan is Wakame. This is seaweed. Wakame has a compound within it help people burn fatty tissue. This has also been used as a...

The above foods combined make up over 75 percent of the food consumed in Japan. When you look at the health benefits of these foods it is not a far stretch of your imagination to conclude that a Japanese person has a longer life due to their diet. This has for a long time been an assumption of many but as of yet has not been proved.

Now let us look at a few other factors that might be viable reasons that Japanese people tend to live longer than other nationalities. Some people contribute this to the obvious differences in lifestyles. The Japanese rarely smoke and the fact that they are genuinely more relaxed.

The Japanese also put a great emphasis on the importance of family and tradition. Although this can be difficult at times, it has been found to actually make a persons determination to "do what is right" stronger and can actually extend ones life. When family and tradition are of such importance, it has been found that an individual takes more care and caution when it comes to dangerous and health threatening activities. If you want your family to be proud, you are less likely to do things that could alter their positive stature in the community.

Another factor believed to play a part in the long lifespan of the Japanese people is the fact that they consume at minimum a pint of green tea each day. Green tea is one of the drinks that have been found to fight off heart disease.

When you look at the eating and drinking habits of the Japanese and see that they consume multiple products that are natural determent for heart disease it is not surprising that the Japanese live longer.

Also take into consideration that their food is usually steamed more than fried and they eat on average 3 times more vegetables than other nationalities do. Common sense tells you that the results of all of the above contribute to a longer life span.

Copyright Brian Maroevich, All Rights Reserved