BBC: Health and Wellness: How about Japan?

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200520-can-the-centenarian-olympics-help-you-live-longer

Ideas:

This is an excellent article about longevity, health, and exercise in some western countries. But I know this article can easily be  related to Japan as the Japanese live longer than most societies, except for a few of the "Blue Zone" areas.

But if I were to explore articles in Japanese I'm sure I would find many articles that are unique to Japan within the same context.

Especially if we consider running and the marathon in Japan. Yes not everyone runs in Japan and not everyone runs marathons in Japan.

For example it has been estimated that for the Fall 2020 marathons, before the virus situation, there might have been up to 300,000 marathon participants for the fall. Which might be higher than any other country in the world, including the US.

Of course Japan is obsessed with the marathon and running.

But for health and fitness, we also have to look at the Japanese lifestyle. For the most part Japanese cities are designed, whether intentional or not, that requires a lot of walking or bike riding and not just driving in a car like in the US or even South Korea.

So the average Japanese might not get the standard 10,000 steps each day but for sure they are most likely over 5,000 steps on most days. That doesn't mean everyone is getting 5,000 steps everyday but a lot might.

And if you add in hiking, which is a popular activity in Japan you have another part of the population that is active.

Then you have to look at the diet. Yes the Japanese diet is changing, and yes, there is maybe, sometimes, too much salt and sugar, but for the most part the Japanese diet is very healthy.

Even the idea of "white" rice. Yes some say its not so good, but white rice might be considered a neutral carbohydrate in that it doesn't cause too much harm to the body, if eaten in moderation.

So to summarize, if you add in marathon running or running, hiking, the design of Japan cities, which might require a lot of walking, and the Japanese diet, its easy to see why so many Japanese citizens lives to be over 100 and stay healthy.

Have a nice day and stay safe!