By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

Guessing the age of an Okinawan can be tricky. A lively grandmother who looks 60-something and attends dance class every week turns out to be 96. You won't find her 101-year-old husband at home because he's out fishing or climbing a mountain.

"The longest-living people in the world are in Okinawa," said attorney Ed Kuba. "In the U.S., the longest-living people are in Hawai'i. In Hawai'i, the longest living people are Okinawans."

"My grandfather lived to be 94 and his older brother died at 104," said Hiromichi Nago, vice president of a microorganisms company.

Bob Nakasone, Okinawa special projects director at the East-West Center, said: "My mother is 93 and very healthy and active."

Bradly Wilcox, physician investigator for the Pacific Health Research Institute in Our Honolulu, is conducting a study of Okinawan longevity with his twin, Dr. Craig Wilcox, who teaches at Okinawa Prefectural University.

Bradly Wilcox said census figures show that 20 out of 100,000 people in the United States live to be 100 years old. But the actual figure may be more like 10 because census takers don't check birth certificates. In Okinawa, a check of birth certificates shows that 39 out of 100,000 people live to be 100. The oldest living person in the world is Kamato Hongo, 115, who lives in northern Okinawa.

So what's the secret? Why do Okinawans live and stay active so long?

"If there's a key to Okinawan longevity, a big, healthy, purple sweet potato is probably it. That was the main source of starch before World War II," said Wilcox. "People in Okinawa ate a lot of miso soup and veggies with a little piece of pork once a week. It was like a semi-vegetarian diet that averaged less than 10 grams of fat a day."

Wilcox said another Okinawan longevity secret is goya champuru, bitter melon stir-fried with tofu. "The melon lowers blood sugar," Wilcox explained. "You can eat a lot of it and not get fat. And it's healthy."

He said the common drink in Okinawa is green jasmine tea — healthier than black tea because it has more catechins that lower the risk of cancer and heart disease.

This conversation was conducted with eight local Okinawans around a conference table at The Advertiser. I asked those who eat a lot of goya champuru to raise their hands. Six hands went up. How many drink green jasmine tea regularly? Seven hands went up.

Wilcox said he and his brother grew up in Toronto, Canada. They became interested in Okinawans because of one that lived to be 105 in Toronto. But he was difficult to interview because he was always out fishing.

The longevity study began in 1976. In addition to healthy eating, Wilcox said, Okinawans enjoy life by dancing, gardening, fishing, etc., into old age. They average only a few years of disability at the end of their lives while Americans average seven or eight.

It is all in a book called "The Okinawan Program" by the Wilcoxes.

Reach Bob Krauss at 525-0873.