Some of what turns up in studies of longevity in Japan is ordinary, and drinking green tea, walking to the store and catching up over an afternoon with friends are all on the list. Perhaps longevity has more to do with a few everyday habits that are enjoyable and easy to stick to than with a complex anti-aging regimen.
According to a 2011 review in The Lancet, one of the main reasons for the increase in longevity was significant improvement in public health in Japan. Deaths from communicable diseases dropped dramatically during the 1950s and early 1960s in Japan, followed by significant decreases in stroke mortality.
These were followed by increased efforts on the part of local communities to improve public health from the mid 1960s onward and greater availability of effective and sophisticated medical treatment owing to universal health insurance.
All of these factors combined with more equal financial access to health care, which is likely related to the fact that Japan also has more equal educational opportunities, meant that health inequalities in Japan have been reducing, which accounts for some of the increase in longevity. There’s no typical Japanese way to live, but there are some everyday habits from Japanese studies of longevity worth borrowing.
1. Build a varied meal instead of chasing one remarkable ingredient
Rather than provide evidence supporting any one food or even small group of foods as the explanation, this large-scale 2016 study published in The BMJ points to the value of a balanced diet for longevity. The cohort included 36,624 men and 42,970 women, ages 45 to 75 in Japan, from 11 public health center areas, who were followed for a median of 15 years.
Dietary patterns were compared to the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top, which shows food groups including grain dishes, vegetable dishes, fish and meat dishes, milk, and fruit, as well as recommendations regarding alcohol, confectionery, and snack intake.
Those with the highest adherence to the top had a 15 percent lower mortality risk than those with the lowest adherence scores, and better adherence was also linked to lower death rates from cardiovascular disease, especially cerebrovascular disease.
Keep in mind that this was an observational study of existing dietary patterns, so it’s difficult to tease out any causality. People who eat healthy may have other socioeconomic or lifestyle advantages.
One approach is to include lots of variety in a meal. There’s a protein, some vegetables, fruit, something filling like rice. It can be complicated to recreate this aesthetic on a normal Tuesday night, however, so simplify as much as possible. If you have some leftover rice, throw some frozen vegetables and tofu in a pan and you’ve got dinner.
Or maybe your dish is fish, potatoes, and green beans, not nearly as pretty as some Japanese fare, but still follows the same principles. An elaborate spread would be lovely to look at, but on a Tuesday night it is a lot of little dishes to wash.
Try it this week: Next time you’re thinking of making a certain meal that you regularly prepare, think of one element that could be added that is usually missing, like vegetables or fruit. Incorporate that addition, but still enjoy the rest of the dish.
2. Give soy foods a regular place at the table
A 2020 study in The BMJ followed 92,915 Japanese men and women, ages 45 to 74 at the start of the study, for 14.8 years, and found that those who consumed the most fermented soy foods, namely natto and miso, had about a 10 percent reduced risk of dying during the study from any cause compared to those with the lowest intake. During follow-up, 13,303 deaths were observed.
Natto was independently associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular mortality for both sexes, but total soy intake was not significantly associated with risk of death, with a hazard ratio of 0.98 for both men and women. The authors urged that their findings should be interpreted with caution, as the association between fermented soybean products and all-cause mortality might be attenuated after adjustment for potential confounders.
That still doesn’t establish that soy works the same when it’s not fermented, that fermentation per se has life-extending effects, or that a bowl of miso soup will make you live longer.
Adding a few servings of soy products each week does not have to involve dramatic changes to your diet. Rather than making soy foods a focal point of your diet, think of them as options to add to meals you’re already preparing. Soy foods offer a lot of variety.
You can add tofu to soups, stir-fries, and even roasted vegetables without having to create any new recipes. Edamame is a no-effort source of protein to eat as a side dish or add to rice. And, you can use miso in a number of sauces or dressings to add a savory element to otherwise plain meals.
There’s no need to try everything, like natto if you don’t like its smell or texture, but trying them one at a time will increase your chances of finding a soy food you enjoy. Once you find one you like, it will be easier to keep it on hand and think of ways to prepare it so it becomes a regular addition to your repertoire.
Try it this week: To get started, add tofu to the next soup, stir fry or vegetable dish you’re planning, pick up some frozen edamame for an easy-to-fix side dish, and look up recipes that appeal to you to try when you’re looking to switch it up.
Approach adding more soy foods to your diet as an opportunity to try new ingredients in recipes you’re already making, not as another way you can improve your health, especially since the research hasn’t made those promises.
3. Make room for green tea, if you enjoy it
Drinking green tea is an easy part of a healthy lifestyle, it requires little more than a few minutes and a cup and a kettle. According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, no safety concerns have been reported in adults who drink green tea as a beverage.
Some studies have shown that green tea is linked to a lower risk of coronary heart disease in Asian, but not Western populations. Results have been inconsistent for the effects of green tea on various types of cancer. For most of the ailments for which green tea is used, definite conclusions have yet to be drawn.
It’s probably best to think of green tea as little more than a beverage, calling it an anti-aging treatment is stretching things a bit. Green tea extracts are not necessarily safe just because green tea itself is. Some people have experienced liver problems while taking green tea products, most of them in extract, capsule, or tablet form. Therefore, a supplement is not simply an easier way to get the effects of a cup.
This is where it’s easy to overcomplicate a new habit. You don’t need expensive powdered green tea and ceremonial equipment. Regular old-fashioned tea bags will suffice. Nor does leaving the bag in for hours on end make it better. If you find that green tea is too bitter, try leaving it for a shorter amount of time and follow the recommended water temperature on the package.
To begin with, one cup alongside breakfast or lunch, unsweetened, will do. Remember that it is still a form of caffeine, so do keep an eye on quantity and timing. It’s not worth drinking green tea at bedtime just to hit a number people recommend online.
Try it this week: Pick days that suit you and replace a sweetened drink with green tea. If you don’t enjoy the taste, pick another option from the list and try that instead.
4. Walk regularly, and consider changing your pace
A 2007 study in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, which took place in Japan at Shinshu University, included 60 men and 186 women averaging 63 years of age and lasted five months. The interval walkers walked at 40 percent of their peak aerobic capacity for three minutes, then walked at a higher intensity, at more than 70 percent of their peak aerobic capacity, for three minutes.
They repeated this interval five or more times per session. The continuous walking group walked at a more moderate pace, at 50 percent of peak aerobic capacity, for at least four days per week. The continuous walkers took 8,000 or more steps per day.
The interval walkers improved their peak aerobic capacity for walking by 9 percent, lowered their systolic resting blood pressure more than the continuous walkers, and saw strength increases of 13 and 17 percent in their knees’ ability to extend and flex, respectively.
The study doesn’t say anything about how many additional years interval walking could add to your life. It looks at fitness, not longevity.
How should you progress? That will depend on how active you already are. If you’re used to walking, you might start with some intervals, walk briskly for a short stretch, then go easy. Repeat. On the other hand, if you’re not used to being very active at all, it will be plenty of a challenge to develop a comfortable and consistent walking routine, don’t overwhelm yourself with intervals.
People who have a condition that affects their balance or another health concern should enlist the help of a professional to find the right percentage for them rather than guessing. Also, make sure you’ve got the fundamentals covered, find an enjoyable and convenient route and make sure you’ve got comfortable, well-fitting shoes that won’t give you blisters or cause any other pain.
Believe it or not, the fundamentals are a lot more important for creating a successful walking habit than fancy apps that chart your progress.
Try it this week: If you have a busy life, attach your walking to a daily action you’re already doing. Take a short walk after you get up and have your morning coffee or get up from lunch. Repeat actions become automatic.
5. Put recurring time with other people on the calendar
It can be harder to stay connected as you get older, since your friends may move away, your workplace connections can fade away once you’re retired, your family members have their own busy lives. Making sure you’re connected to other people on a regular basis takes some work, and just like everything else, it can help to put it on the calendar.
The Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study followed 48,216 older adults aged 65 and older for an average of 5.6 years, and 5,575 people, or 11.6 percent, died during follow-up. Having more leisure-time activities was linearly associated with lower mortality, with the strongest associations for physical activities and activities with social interaction.
The authors suggest the study is limited because it can’t account for other factors, since richer, healthier people may be more likely to be able to participate in activities, and may have easier access to cars and other transportation, for instance. Solitary activities and cultural activities weren’t associated with lower all-cause mortality.
That doesn’t mean books are a waste of your time, but it might be wise not to generalize the results of studies to say that any hobby will keep you alive.
Try to find a time-based activity you can participate in with others on a regular basis: a walking group, a community garden, a dance class, an excursion you always take with a friend. Choose something affordable and convenient, easily accessible by public transportation if you don’t have a car.
The glitzy program across town is unlikely to become a regular fixture in your life, but the free community happenings around your neighborhood probably will.
Try it this week: Suggest a specific activity on a specific day, as “Wednesday morning?” has a much greater chance of panning out than “we should get together sometime”.
6. Keep something in your life that feels worth showing up for
The concept of ikigai has become very complicated in recent years with elaborate charts and guides to help you figure out yours. But the idea itself, at least in relation to longevity, is pretty straightforward. One of the main pieces of evidence linking ikigai to longevity came from the Ohsaki Study, published in 2008 in Psychosomatic Medicine.
In the study, 43,391 Japanese adults were asked if they had a sense of ikigai, defined as feeling that life is worth living, in their lives. After seven years, 3,048 had died. After controlling for a number of factors, those without a sense of ikigai had a 1.5-fold higher risk of all-cause mortality compared to those who did.
This increase in mortality was mostly attributable to external causes and cardiovascular disease and not cancer. Now, that’s not necessarily a causal relationship, people can lose a sense of ikigai because of their circumstances or health. This doesn’t necessarily mean that if you find your ikigai you’re less likely to get sick.
And just because ikigai is statistically linked with mortality in a population doesn’t mean it’s okay to make people feel bad if they don’t have one.
Ask yourself what activities you look forward to being part of. It’s not necessarily going to be something that would impress people. It could be helping out more with the family, volunteering, tending the garden, taking care of animals, teaching a skill, or tackling a project you’ve been putting off.
During major life changes, it’s normal to feel a disturbance in your usual roles and responsibilities each week. This can happen when you’re grieving, retiring, managing your own health challenges or helping to take care of a loved one. Finding new sources of meaning takes time and is best left without deadlines. Try a small, enjoyable challenge rather than overhauling the structure of your life.
Try it this week: Start by choosing one issue that’s been pushed to the bottom of your to-do list that’s meaningful to you and reserve half an hour for it so it doesn’t get pushed aside again this week.
7. Spend some unhurried time around trees
Shinrin yoku, which can be roughly translated to forest bathing, is the practice of spending time in a forest. There’s no goal, like hiking as fast as you can or reaching a particular mountaintop, but rather, it’s a relaxing, attentive, unhurried time spent appreciating your natural surroundings. But what effect does time in nature actually have on the body?
A systematic review and meta analysis of randomized controlled trials evaluating forest programs’ effect on mental and physiological outcomes was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in 2022. Of the 16,980 studies they looked through, only 17 were eligible for inclusion, and eight were eligible for meta-analysis.
They found a significant effect for depression but not systolic and diastolic blood pressure and noted that generalizability is limited given the number of studies and heterogeneity of the programs.
More studies are needed before definite conclusions can be made about shinrin yoku, but research around forest programs continues to be communicated with a level of certainty that is unwarranted by the results. Sometimes, a stroll through a wooded park is worth it on its own.
Although these programs and other similar experiences are impressive, they’re not always practical. If there’s a safe green space that’s accessible to you, take advantage of it. Go for a stroll at an unrushed pace or find a spot to sit that makes you comfortable. Consider putting your phone away for a few minutes, watch how things change over time, find some shade, listen to the sounds.
But don’t feel like you have to perform your time in nature or come away with any earth-shattering realizations.
Try it this week: Simply carve out a few unhurried minutes in a nice outdoor space that’s convenient to get to. That’s plenty.
How to borrow these habits without redesigning your life
You might be tempted to wake up one Monday determined to work on all seven. By Wednesday, though, there’s unfamiliar food going soft in the refrigerator, you’ll be frustrated, and you’ll be worried about falling behind. Instead, think about a particular issue in your life and choose a habit that will help.
Maybe you’re bored with repetitive dinners, so using a different vegetable or protein so you can still enjoy your repertoire. Maybe you spend too much time cooped up, so think of a short walking path that will fit into your day and introduce a breath of fresh air.
Maybe you’re lonely, so think of a regular activity you could undertake with a friend. Choose one habit or simple combination that will help you deal with an issue and incorporate it into your life as is, instead of revamping your lifestyle and worrying about incorporating seven habits at once.
Combinations might include walking to the park with a friend or drinking tea after a community class. These combinations aren’t scientifically validated, but they provide some ideas for habits to implement with minimal effort. Even if you’re not crazy about natto or green tea, there are still many lessons to be gleaned from Japan’s approach to healthy aging.
Kaelyn Johnson is a Registered Dietitian from Southern California who has worked as a clinical dietitian and is now a freelance writer. She has written for WebMD, produced an e-book, and written case studies for healthcare practitioners.
Is your neighborhood healthy?
Get a free report on your tap water, air quality, walkability and more
