Why does Japan have less mortality rate than the USA?
Even though they smoke twice as much, have higher cholesterol & blood pressure
I came across this thought-provoking statistic recently.
35.4% of the population in Japan smokes, double of USA
They have higher cholesterol and higher blood pressure, yet they have about 30% of the rate of heart disease as in the USA. What is this sorcery?
Note that their rate of diabetes is about 60% that of the U.S; that’s important.
Let’s see what’s happening
1. Fish
The Japanese eat a lot more fish than Americans, and this is important, since omega-3 fatty acids, the type in which fish is abundant, is protective against heart disease.
Japanese eat a lot of wild-caught fish. High fish consumption means lower Omega 6:3 ratio.
2. Sugar
Sugar consumption Japanese eat 56.3 grams of sugar per week compared to 120g+ per week by the USA
3. Trans Fat consumption
Trans fats are in processed junk products & veg. the oil you can consume. Japanese consume 1/4th of trans fat consumed in the USA I've got a thread on twitter about trans fats :
4. Obesity rate
The USA has an obesity rate of 33% compared to 4.3% in Japan (Stats from 2016) Obesity is one of the major factors for cardiovascular diseases
5. Iron
Excessive iron is strongly associated with many diseases. As a rough and ready measure of iron status, we find that Japanese women are more than twice as likely to be anemic as American women.
That tells us that both iron intake and iron levels are lower in Japan than in the U.S., and could be a big factor behind lower heart disease rates.
6. Vitamin D
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with heart disease, with a 62% higher rate in those who are deficient. Fish are high in vitamin D, and as we saw above, the Japanese eat a lot of fish.
Conclusion :
Most of the diseases are caused by Inflammation & metabolic syndrome over a period of time.
To lower your risk of a heart attack:
Eat fish and/or supplement with fish oil.
Avoid sugar in all forms. Eliminate cola, fruit juice, cake or candy.
Avoid trans fats. That pretty much all processed foods in supermarket shelves, dalda, mayonnaise, vegetable oils. Eat whole, unprocessed food.
Get sunshine or supplement with vitamin D
Control your iron levels. Keep ferritin below 100
Stay lean. Don’t be overweight.
Keep up your health
See you next time,
Rusty