Keep busy, sweat it out, and embrace the years. These are some simple tips on healthy ageing.
THE golden rules of healthy ageing are very simple: eat right,
exercise, be your age and do not smoke. Most of all, focus on being
happy and don’t forget your life goals.
To embrace the years with positivity, says
Professor Makoto Suzuki, 87, one should look at them as
chouju,
meaning “celebrating long life” in Japanese. “The onus is on us to
focus on quality, and work on having many momentous occasions.”
Suzuki,
chief director of the
Okinawa Research Center for Longevity Science,
was speaking to a captive audience at the 1st World Congress of Healthy
Aging, in Kuala Lumpur last Wednesday. The title of his talk was,
Secrets Of The Okinawan Centenarians’ Longevity.
This
specialist in cardiology and gerontology had moved to Okinawa from
Tokyo to accept a tenure with the
University of Ryukyus 35 years ago. He
also had a role model in his own mother, who passed away last year, at
the age of 100 years and 10 months.
Forget
the wrinkles: Keep active, eat moderately and embrace the years, says
Professor Makoto Suzuki, happily posing for a photo with his wife, Yoko.
From
the lessons gathered from a community that boasts the highest and
healthiest longevity rates in the world, Suzuki says a diet laden with
vegetables, but less meat, plays a big part in healthy ageing. The goal
is to
maintain the same body weight one had at the age of 30.
Statistics
from 2006 show that women in Okinawa have an
average life expectancy of
87 years, about 10 years higher than that of the men. (In Malaysia,
life expectancy averages 73.17 years.)
“The Okinawans have a custom of saying ‘
harahachibu’
before each meal. This is a reminder not to overeat. Preferably, one
should stop when the stomach is about 70% full,” Suzuki says, when met
after his talk at the KL Convention Centre.
He also points out
that the
Okinawan diet is rich in anti-ageing ingredients such as
polyphenol, phytoestrogen, isoflavones and good amyloids. These are
commonly found in bitter gourd, soybean products like
tofu (Okinawa is especially famous for its silky beancurd), brown rice, cereals and fatty fish.
Okinawans also favour the use of mugwort (
artemisiabulgaris), touted for its medicinal qualities. Its leaves are dried, ground and used to flavour grilled meats and vegetable stir frys.
Exercise
also comes into the equation and Suzuki advises the young to start as
early as possible as the effective benefits of that lessens after the
age of 40.
The dapper Tan Sri Dr Ahmad Mustaffa Babjee feels it’s important to follow the ways of nature.
As
an archer and mountain climber himself, he emphasises that the elderly
must find a way to sweat it out. Since his move to the flat plains of
Okinawa, he has exchanged his climbing gear for a hoe because his wife,
Yoko, has a farm where they spend most of their weekends.
For them, as with the majority of Okinawans, it is simply a matter of maintaining
ikigai, the Japanese equivalent of
raison d’être.
“Don’t worry about the wrinkles or being slow. Just be busy,” says Suzuki, who still lectures and conducts research at Ryukyus.
Inevitably,
talk of active, healthy living leads to the question of bedroom frolics
– which turns the hearty professor a shade of pink. Although he is not
telling, from his exchanges with Yoko, 80, a homoepath, one gathers they
are “quite active”.
“Funnily, I asked an Okinawan centenarian
the same question but he refused to answer me. However, his wife said it
is because of her that he is still healthy,” Suzuki says, laughing.
Death
is also inevitable, but for the elderly in that island, what’s far more
important than the end of one’s days is the role of the community in
ensuring that they have a place in society.
“
Elderly people need
to have a sense of belonging, to know their role in a family is still
valued. One of the reasons why the centenarians of Okinawa are able to
lead a happy life is because they are revered by the younger people,” he
says.
Suzuki elaborates on a daily ritual called
ugan,
during which the Okinawans pay respect to their ancestors at the family
altar, and air their grievances to the dead. This has a therapeutic
effect for the living, as it helps to alleviate stress.
On that
loaded issue, fellow speaker Professor
Suresh Rattan says mild stress is
necessary for healthy living because it helps one stay alert and
active. Exercise is one example of beneficial stress, as are brain
teasers and games (like Sudoku), all of which help to keep the body
flexible and the mind nimble.
Suresh, 57, a biogerontologist at the University of Aarhus’ Department of Molecular Biology in Denmark, spoke about
Healthy Ageing – From Molecules To Hormesis.
On
the home front, a specialist in healthy ageing at Pantai Medical
Centre, KL, says often, senior citizens are not encouraged to keep
pushing themselves, both physically and mentally.
“The Malaysian
mindset is that old people should not exert themselves. As a result,
their physical and mental faculties are left to decline,” says Dr
Rajbans Singh, 52.
To have wellness and health in old age, it is
crucial for an individual to take a proactive stand, like taking up tai
chi, for example.
It may also be necessary to abstain from fast
food and fizzy drinks, Dr Rajbans adds, because the high fat, sugar and
sodium contents of these foods can lead to or aggravate conditions like
hypertension and diabetes.
For Tan Sri Dr Ahmad Mustaffa Babjee, a
fellow of Academy of Science Malaysia, acceptance of one’s age is
crucial so that growing old can be seen as a positive, natural process.
Do not, for example, tell others that you are 47 when you are in fact
74! Instead, learn to enjoy being your age.
“It is important to
be what you are and follow the ways of nature,” says Dr Ahmad, 75, who
still cuts a dashing figure with his long snowy locks and thick
moustache.
As for death itself, he reckons that it will be similar to being under anaesthesia, hence there is no need to fear.
“I
am more afraid of being lonely,” adds Dr Ahmad, who continues to drive
his 4WD into the jungle for a spot of bird watching, wildlife
photography and white water rafting.
Dr Tan Maw Pin, associate
professor of geriatric medicine from Universiti Malaya, says the
Malaysian government can do more for the elderly in terms providing
much-needed facilities.
“One mistake the planners made was to
omit the elderly from the nation’s development plan, believing that as
ours is a caring nation, they will automatically be taken care of. This
is very well for those who are wealthy and can afford to pay for elderly
care. What about those who cannot?” Dr Tan asks.
Datuk Seri Dr
T. Devaraj, chairman of Malaysian Hospice Council, notes that the family
safety net that once existed has been weakened by urbanisation.
Today,
it is not uncommon for young people to leave their parents behind as
they migrate to bigger cities to seek employment, says Dr Devaraj, 87.
Also, the elderly cannot assume that they can spend their twilight years
in their children’s homes.
But leaving everything entirely to welfare is not the answer either, he adds.
Since
the early days of Hospice, he had insisted that volunteers make home
visits and not have the patients placed in a facility. This is so that
their families, too, can play their part in the care-giving process.
“The
idea is to have a sharing of responsibilities. If the state completely
takes over, then family support will decrease,” adds Dr Devaraj. That,
in turn, will make the elderly feel even more alienated.
The World Congress on Healthy Ageing was organised by the Malaysian Healthy Ageing Society.
By GRACE CHEN
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