Okinawan Diet in the year 1919

[Guest guest]

One thing that really stands out in the Okinawan diet is how little

fat they consumed. The table didn't paste well, so I'll type it out

and hope it " posts " well:

Table 1. Survey of everyday diet of Okinawan people (1919, eighth

year of Taisho era)

Figures in parentheses indicate percentage of total energy intake.

A, teachers, public officials, etc; B, part-time farmers; C, full-

time farmers.

Class Energy Protein (g) Fat (g) Carbohydrates (g)

A 2395 kcal 42.4 (7.1%) 4.4 (1.7%) 546 (91.2%)

Teachers and public officials, etc ate a diet consisting of

only 1.7% fat.......7.1% protein.........and 91% carbs

B 2868 kcal 38 (5.3%) 5.1 (1.6%) 668 (93%)

Part-time farmers ate a diet consisting of 1.6% fat, 5.3% protein

and 93% carbs

C 3650 kcal 39.0 (4.3) 5.8 (1.4) 860 (94.3)

Full time farmers ate a diet consisting of 1.4% fat, 4.3% protein,

and 94% carbs

Sweet potatoes made up the largest percentage of calories, by far.

They also ate seaweed, vegetables, tofu, pork, fish

(I recall that the Chinese centenarians also ate the largest

percentage of their calories as sweet potatoes)

Bob B.