Bradley J. Willcox Books

When we first began studying Okinawa, the world knew little about this cluster of islands far south of Japan. Today, Okinawa is synonymous with longevity, thanks to the meticulous demographic and medical research that forms the backbone of this book. Over several decades, we examined hundreds of cen...

From Healthy at 100: The Scientifically Proven Secrets of the World's Healthiest and Longest-Lived Peoples

Sardinia, an island off Italy’s coast, presents a contrasting yet harmoniously parallel portrait of healthy longevity. Unlike the subtropical climate of Okinawa, Sardinia’s terrain is mountainous, and its history is steeped in pastoral traditions. Our research revealed that in certain mountain villa...

From Healthy at 100: The Scientifically Proven Secrets of the World's Healthiest and Longest-Lived Peoples

The Okinawa Centenarian Study began with a simple question: why do so many Okinawans live past one hundred, and not merely survive, but thrive? As researchers, we wanted more than anecdotal answers; we wanted data. What we found amazed us. Compared to Western countries, Okinawans had among the world...

From The Okinawa Diet Plan: Get Leaner, Live Longer, and Never Feel Hungry

To explain the Okinawan way of eating is to describe balance in motion. The first principle, caloric moderation, is deceptively simple but profoundly powerful. On average, Okinawan elders consume about 20 percent fewer calories than Western adults. This restriction doesn’t come from dieting; it come...

From The Okinawa Diet Plan: Get Leaner, Live Longer, and Never Feel Hungry

When we began the Okinawa Centenarian Study, the first step was to examine what made these islands unique. Okinawa, though modest in size, displayed an extraordinary demographic profile. The proportion of people living beyond one hundred years was among the highest recorded anywhere, with chronic di...

From The Okinawa Program: How the World's Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health—And How You Can Too

If there is a single pillar upon which the Okinawan secret rests, it is the way they eat. The heart of the diet is hara hachi bu—a Confucian teaching that encourages eating until you are eighty percent full. This simple habit ensures a daily calorie intake around twenty percent lower than in most in...

From The Okinawa Program: How the World's Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health—And How You Can Too