Saggezza in pillole, ma piccole piccole

MIA NONNA AVREBBE detto: mangiate di meno e vedrete che campate di più. In buona sostanza, decenni dopo le perle di saggezza dell’anziana progenitrice, adesso ci stanno arrivando anche i ricercatori giapponesi che studiano i loro sardi, cioè quelli che vivono nell’isola di Okinawa.

Money quote: “Some elderly Okinawans might attribute their longevity to habushu, a traditional rice liqueur with a pit viper coiled at the bottom of the bottle. In fact, the habu snake does possess the curious property of being able to survive long spans of time, up to a year, without food, and perhaps this is where Okinawans take their dietary cues from. In 1972, the Japan National Nutrition Survey found that they consumed 17% less energy than the Japanese average, much of it from plant-based material like the Japanese sweet potato, their staple food, in contrast with the rice-heavy cuisine of the mainland. Partly as a result of this diet, Okinawans died of heart disease, cancer, and cerebral vascular disease at rates 60-70% of the Japanese average, and lived on average a year and a half longer.”