Japanese women have longest life expectancy. Can immune health be a reason?

Posted on July 30th, 2010 by Craig Maltby, Editor

Japanese women have longest life expectancy. Can immune health be a reason?

The Japan Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare released a report showing Japanese women lead the world in life japanese woman expectancy at 86.44 years. The ministry officials attribute this to the Japanese diet, high living standards and access to quality medical care. Hong Kong women came in second, France third and Switzerland fourth.

Japan male life expectancy is ranked 4th. Qatar is first, followed by Hong Kong with Iceland and Switzerland sharing third.

Where did the U.S. rank? Women ranked 35th (80.7 years) and men 28th (75.7 years).

What’s the take away? Japan likely benefits from better and nutrition (fish, vegetables, tea, lower sugar), maybe more exercise (walking). Switzerland probably ranks high in both columns because…well…it’s Switzerland. One of the coolest regions on the planet. Who wouldn’t live longer if you had the Alps in your front yard and could dance across the mountain fields like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music and eat the world’s best chocolate.

The stress level might come into play as well. Japan workers, in general, work long hours and have job pressures. So do U.S. workers. Somehow, Japanese may handle it better. I wonder how.

Anyway, diet, stress, quality of life. They all feed into immune health and mitigating long-term health conditions. I’ll drink a spot of sake to that.