Recovered by Dave Wardman

A frequent arguement for vegetarian style diets or higher carbohydrate content of the diet is the supposed longevity and lower incidence of heart disease amoung the Japanese. However,upon investigation of the facts,a whole different story emerges. In the 1980's Dr.Marmot compared 40% fat eating Americans to 8% fat eating Japanese.The death rate per 1000 was .4% compared to .2%respectively.Only 2 tenths of 1 percent difference!According to Dr.Marmot,heart disease is under reported in Japan because of social stigma.Brain stroke is considered more socially acceptable,a disease of intelligent people, and as a result,Japan leads the world in strokes. It is highly probable that many of these deaths were unreported heart attacks.

In another study of Japanese immigrants,those who stuck to the traditional dietary pratices suffered a higher incidence of heart attacks than the immigrants that adopted the higher fat American diet.Dr. Marmot concluded that something in the Japanese lifestyle unrelated to food was the culprit.
In volume 36,1982,in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,Dr. Burr found that the death rate over a 7 year period of a group of over 4000 low fat eating vegetarians was 1.2%. This was compared to a group of over 6000 heavy meat eaters, who had a death rate of 1.3%. A difference of only .014 percent! So much for the evils of higher fat diets.

In a report by Dr.Alexander Leaf,a famous gerontologist,on the longevity of Okinawans, who are considered the longest lived of the Japanese people,he found that a high percentage of calories came from pork and pork by-products.In the book,The Okinawin Diet,little mention is made of pork.When Dr. Leaf interviewed some of the oldest residents as to what they attributed their longevity to,they mentioned pork as a major reason.
In a article entitled Easy on the Soy Sauce,in East West Journal,a report in 1978 on how it was chic for westeners to readily accept anything eastern as wise and good and to demonize traditional western culture.In the report,it was stated that the Japanese suffer from the highest stomach cancer rates in the world and suffer the highest digestive disorders of all types.Traditional diets are extremely high in sodium and this is thought to be a possible cause.

Another study that Dr.Ellis showed me, compared the death rate of low fat, vegetarian women to that of those who ate a mixed American diet.The death rate from all causes was greater in the vegetarian group.

There is no evidence to support the healthfulness of low fat Japanese diets or of the greater longevity of Japanese or any low fat eating group.
Check out Dr.Ellis's new book to explode many other dietary myths with hard science.

Yours in strength and health,

Steve Maxwell