Tokyo: Japanese women hold the dietary key to a long and healthy life, according to a new study. The benefits of a diet rich in raw fish, vegetables and green tea have given Japanese women the highest life expectancy – living for an average of 86.4 years.
The study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that Japanese women outstrip their English counterparts, who can expect to live to 82.8 years. Women in Northern Ireland and Wales have a life expectancy of 82.1 years, while in Scotland the same figure is 80.7 years.
But there is nothing stopping British women achieving a similar longevity if they adopt a Japanese lifestyle, with the figures indicating the “potential for further increases” in life expectancy for women in the UK, The Times reported.
The traditional Japanese diet incorporates lower-calorie foods served in controlled portions. According to Naomi Moriyama, co-author of Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother’s Tokyo Kitchen, the average Japanese person eats around 25 per cent fewer calories than the average western person.