Japanese women and men currently live five to six years longer than Americans, so their practices are of great interest. In Japanese families, elders are highly revered and households are intergenerational. Japanese elders are generally healthier than Western elders, but is this the chicken or the egg? Does better health from good lifestyle habits allow them to stay physically active and involved in society so they remain a valuable asset and reap psychosocial benefits, or is it the culture that reveres elders so they have better mental health, less loneliness, and better healthcare so that they stay healthier longer? Japan has also largely avoided the epidemic of obesity that the U.S. is experiencing; for example, the prevalence of obesity among U.S. women is about 37% but among Japanese women is less than 5%. [24] This difference is certainly an important contributor to differences in life expectancy, but raises questions about how the Japanese have been able to control their weight. In recent years, diets in Japan have become more similar to those in the U.S. but they still eat smaller portions, more fermented foods, less sweets, and less red meat.
Month: November 2023
Today’s Joke: Joe Gets in Trouble with His Boss
Joe: “My boss stopped the meeting and asked me what I was doing with my pencil and notepad.”
Pete: “What did you say?”
Joe: “I said I was drawing my own conclusions.”
Thinking Out Loud: What Do You See?
Today’s Thinking Out Loud reflection is on Cervantes work, Don Quixote.
“The moment he saw the inn he pictured it to himself as a castle with its four turrets and pinnacles of shining silver, not forgetting the drawbridge and Moat and all the belongings usually ascribed to castles of the sort. To this end, which to him seemed a castle, he advanced, and at a short distance from it . . . hoping some dwarf would show himself upon the battlements and by the sound of trumpet give notice that a knight was approaching the castle. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
Note: Don Quixote was a dreamer. He saw things not as they were but as they could be. That’s the way it is with dreamers. One person looks at a house and sees a building. Another looks at the same property and sees a home overflowing with love. One person sees a piece of bread and tosses it in the trash. Another sees a piece of bread and sees a meal. How do we look at ourselves? Do we look at our lives with dull, clouded eyes. Or, do we look at our lives with a dreamer’s eyes seeing not what is but what we will become?
Today’s Anagram – It’s Time to Exercise Your Brain
Today’s mind sharpening anagram is a two or three word phrase related to a health related topic. Can you unscramble the anagram to discover the two or three word phrase while exercising your brain?
Today’s Anagram:
Inspiring Quote by Paulo Coelho about the Power of Dreams
Dreams cannot be tamed. Dreamers cannot be ruled.
Paulo Coelho
Awake, My Heart, A Poem by Robert Seymour Bridges
Awake, My Heart by Robert Seymour Bridges
Awake, my heart, to be loved, awake, awake!
The darkness silvers away, the morn doth break,
It leaps in the sky: unrisen lustres slake
The o’ertaken moon. Awake, O heart, awake!
She too that loveth awaketh and hopes for thee:
Her eyes already have sped the shades that flee,
Already they watch the path thy feet shall take:
Awake, O heart, to be loved, awake, awake!
And if thou tarry from her, – if this could be, –
She cometh herself, O heart, to be loved, to thee;
For thee would unashamed herself forsake:
Awake, to be loved, my heart, awake, awake!
Awake! The land is scattered with light, and see,
Uncanopied sleep is flying from field and tree;
And blossoming boughs of April in laughter shake:
Awake, O heart, to be loved, awake, awake!
Lo, all things wake and tarry and look for thee:
She looketh and saith, “O sun, now bring him to me.
Come, more adored, O adored, for his coming’s sake,
And awake, my heart, to be loved, awake, awake!”
How Well Do You Know Which Choices are Healthier for You?
The following 3 questions test your knowledge in making healthy choices. If you get all three correct, you know your stuff! You’re a health guru!
Today’s Joke: Joe Has Strange Ideas of Exercise
Joe: “I decided to quit doing bench presses at the gym.”
Pete: “Not making progress?”
Joe: “I just wanted to something off my chest.”
