The Okinawa Diet Plan : Get Leaner, Live Longer, and Never Feel Hungry
by Bradley J. Willcox, D. Craig Willcox
This is the new (2004) book from the authors of the best-selling The Okinawa Program.
In 2001, The Okinawa Program jumped onto bestseller lists, lauding the healthy habits of a group of elderly Okinawans who have some of the world's lowest mortality rates and best health. (Since then, it's been reported that younger Okinawans' weight has been increasing, due in part to the popularity of McDonald's on the island.) Now the authors return, expounding on the Okinawan key to longevity: a healthy, balanced diet. For Willcox, Willcox and Suzuki, "limiting calorie intake is the healthiest approach to eating." The authors present a moderate, easy-to-follow plan, beginning with a guide to their four categories of food, according to calorific density: featherweights (e.g., green tea, asparagus), lightweights (e.g., red snapper, cooked brown rice), middleweights (e.g., hummus, broiled lean beef rib steak) and heavyweights (e.g., cheesecake, butter). They then move on to the 10 principles of the Okinawan diet, from featherweight meal foundations to the staple of Okinawan dietsthe sweet potatowhich is grandly praised for its rich anti-oxidants. Restricting the Western tendency to overeat is key to longevity, but this doesn't mean going hungry. The book's second half offers more than 160 delicious and healthful recipes, ranging from traditional Japanese fare such as Pork Daikon to Western dishes like Shrimp and Broccoli Penne. Never extreme, the authors counsel readers to treat diet plans "like training wheels on a bike," and the eight-week phase-in plan facilitates the gradual incorporation of the Okinawan regime, so readers feel benefits without frustration and deprivation.
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From the Inside Flap
The elders of Okinawa, Japan, are among the leanest and longest-lived people on earth. These Okinawans--many in their eighties, nineties, and beyond--maintain an unprecedented quality of life. More than any other population, older Okinawans are slim and agile, and their minds
are clear and lucid. Few suffer the lifestyle-related diseases like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity that are so common in
their western counterparts.
In their New York Times bestseller The Okinawa Program, Drs. Bradley and Craig Willcox and Makoto Suzuki shared important insights about these unique and amazingly healthy people from their landmark twenty-five-year Okinawa Centenarian Study. The latest findings from that study are proving even more surprising: the elders do not gain weight with age.
The secrets behind this discovery are twofold: the Okinawans' calorie-light diet and their active lifestyle, which results in leaner and more "metabolically efficient" bodies that stay slimmer, healthier, and more youthful as they age. In The Okinawa Diet Plan, Drs. Willcox, Willcox, and Suzuki adapt traditional Okinawan dietary principles for a delicious blend of East and West so that anyone can reap these very same benefits. The authors' Caloric Density Index and the Caloric Density Pyramid, developed from the study's latest findings, debunk the myths of trendy diet gurus and provide a revolutionary approach to eating, health, weight loss, and weight maintenance that is easy to follow and simple to maintain. This approach allows Okinawans to eat more food than the typical American diet, and still weigh less--and you can too. With more than 150 delicious recipes that incorporate foods low in caloric density, The Okinawa Diet Plan offers dozens of satisfying meal options. Conveniently divided into three tracks--western, eastern, and fusion--and with healthy options for both egetarians and meat eaters alike, their program provides all the benefits of calorie restriction without deprivation. With dietary guidelines, cooking techniques, an eight-week turnaround plan, and other unique resources, The Okinawa Diet Plan is a breakthrough concept in healthy weight loss and maintenance.