Health · 19 August 2026

Okinawa's centenarian diet linked to sweet potato, but diet shifted

Okinawan villagers born around 1890 to 1920, who ate a diet of mostly sweet potato, had a very high rate of people living past 100. Researchers found that this diet, also low in calories and animal fat, vanished after 1945 as American foods arrived. Male life expectancy then fell sharply in Okinawa, showing a clear link between diet and longevity.

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