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日本是全世界最長壽的國家之一，但這位剛過118歲生日的田中女士，竟然喜歡不健康的食物! 到底為什麼她和其他日本人可以這樣長壽呢? 一起來聽聽!
原文如下：
The meat spot
Japanese people may have gained longevity by balancing their diets
Japan’s rate of strokes fell during a period when it began eating a bit of meat
Tanaka Kane is one of humanity’s great outliers. On January 2nd she became the third person ever to turn 118, according to the Gerontology Research Group, a team of academics. She is also the first citizen of Japan to reach 118—but is unlikely to be the last. The country has the world’s longest life expectancy, and 80,000 centenarians.
Mrs Tanaka is an outlier for another reason, too. She claims to love chocolate and fizzy drinks, setting her apart from most of her compatriots. Japan has long had one of the lowest sugar-consumption rates in the OECD, a club of mainly wealthy countries.
The unusual longevity enjoyed in Japan is often credited to diet. Yet the idea that the country has extended lifespans by entirely avoiding the West’s sinful culinary delights may be too simple. In fact, recent studies imply that one key to its success may be that its people’s diets have shifted over time towards Western eating patterns.
Japan was not always a longevity champion. In 1970 its age-adjusted mortality rates were average for the OECD. Although its levels of cancer and heart disease were relatively low, it also had the OECD’s highest frequency of cerebrovascular deaths, caused by blood failing to reach the brain.
In 1970-90, however, Japan’s cerebrovascular mortality rate fell towards the OECD average. With world-beating numbers on heart disease and fewer strokes, Japan soared up the longevity league table.
How did Japan overcome its cerebrovascular woes? Some of its gains simply mirror better treatments and reductions in blood pressure around the world, notes Thomas Truelsen of the University of Copenhagen.
However, another cause may be diets. Japan largely banned meat for 1,200 years, and still consumes relatively little meat and dairy. Too much of these can be damaging, since they contain saturated fatty acids, which correlate to heart disease. Studies have also tied eating lots of processed red meat to a greater risk of stroke. But too little may be unwise as well, because they provide cholesterol that may be needed for blood-vessel walls. In a study of 48,000 Britons, vegetarians were unusually resistant to heart disease, but prone to strokes.
In theory, a dearth of animal-based food could have contributed to Japan’s historical cerebrovascular mortality. In 1960-2013, as the country’s deaths from strokes tumbled, its annual meat intake rose from near zero to 52kg per person (45% of America’s level). Tsugane Shoichiro of the National Cancer Centre in Tokyo says that his compatriots may need meat and dairy to keep their blood vessels robust—though not so much that those vessels get clogged.
Some empirical evidence supports this view. One paper from the 1990s found that the parts of Japan where diets had changed most also had the biggest drops in cerebrovascular mortality. Another study, which tracked 80,000 Japanese people in 1995-2009, showed that strokes were most common among those who ate the least chops and cream. Although Japan’s decline in cerebrovascular deaths could stem entirely from other causes, these data suggest that nutritional shifts may have helped.
The unhappy irony is that Japan’s health gains, paired with a low birth rate, threaten its economy. By 2060, 40% of Japanese could be 60 or older. That would yield more birthday cakes with 118 candles—and fewer great-grandchildren to blow them out.
Sources: WHO; FAOSTAT; OECD; UN
吃肉長壽嗎？
日本人可能從均衡飲食中獲得了長壽的關鍵
日本在開始吃少許肉的時候看到中風率下降了
日本女性田中加子 (Tanaka Kane) 是人類偉大的極端之一。(今年) 1月2日，根據學術團隊老年學研究小組 (Gerontology Research Group) 的數據，田中加子成為了 (世上) 有史以來第三位年滿 118歲的人，她也是日本第一位年滿 118 歲的公民 — 但不太可能是最後一位。日本是世界上預期壽命最長的國家，還有 8萬名百歲人瑞。
還有一個原因使得田中夫人成為一個離群值。她自稱喜歡巧克力以及氣泡飲料，這使她與她的大多數同胞不同。長期以來，日本一直是經濟合作暨發展組織 (OECD，一個以富裕國家為主的組織) 中食用糖之比率最低的國家之一。
日本人不尋常的長壽往往被歸功於飲食。然而，認為這個國家透過完全避免西方罪惡美食來延長壽命的想法可能過於簡單。事實上最近的研究顯示，日本成功的關鍵之一可能是日本人的飲食習慣隨著時間的推移而向西方之飲食模式轉變。
日本並非一直是長壽冠軍。在 1970 年，其年齡調整後的死亡率在 OECD 中處於平均。雖然其癌症和心臟病的水平相對較低，但它也是 OECD 中腦血管疾病所造成死亡之頻率最高的國家，而腦血管死亡的原因是血液無法到達大腦。
然而在 1970-90年，日本的腦血管死亡率下降到接近 OECD 的平均水準。由於日本在心臟病以及中風的人數上低於世界水平，因此它在長壽排行榜上一路飆升。
日本是如何克服腦血管困境的呢？(丹麥) 哥本哈根大學 (University of Copenhagen) 的臨床副教授 Thomas Truelsen 指出，日本的某些收穫僅僅反映了全球更好的治療以及血壓的降低。
然而另一個原因可能是飲食。日本在很大的程度上禁止了為期 1,200年的肉食，並且如今仍然消費相對較少的肉類和乳製品。(攝取) 太多的肉類以及乳製品可能是有害的，因為它們含有飽和脂肪酸，而這與心臟疾病相關。研究還將食用大量加工過的紅肉與中風風險的提升連結在一起。但吃得太少也可能是不明智的，因為它們提供的膽固醇可能是血管壁所需要的。在一項針對 48,000名英國人的研究中，素食者對心臟病有異常的抵抗力，但卻容易中風。
理論上，動物性食物 (肉類) 的匱乏可能是造成日本歷史上腦血管死亡率的原因。從 1960年到 2013年，隨著日本中風的死亡人數暴跌，每年肉類攝取量從接近零上升到每人 52公斤 (僅美國數額的 45%)。東京國立癌症研究中心 (National Cancer Centre) 的 Tsugane Shoichiro 主任表示，他的國人可能需要肉類和乳製品來保持血管的健壯 — 雖然不至於多到讓血管堵塞。
一些實證能支持這樣的觀點。在 1990年代的一篇論文發現，日本飲食變化最大的地區，其腦血管死亡率之下降幅度也是最大的。另一項研究在 1995-2009年追踪了 8萬名日本人 (的飲食)，而結果顯示在吃豬排和奶油最少的人當中，中風是最為常見的。雖然日本的腦血管死亡人數之下降可能完全源於其他原因，但這些數據顯示營養攝取之改變可能有幫助。
諷刺的不幸是日本之健康收益與低出生率互相配合，進而威脅到了其經濟。到了 2060年，40% 的日本人可能是 60歲或以上。這將產生更多 118根蠟燭的生日蛋糕 — 以及更少的曾孫們來吹熄蠟燭。
資料來源：世界衛生組織；(聯合國) 糧食及農業組織之統計資料庫；經濟合作暨發展組織；聯合國
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