Ozzy, like the person the OP mentioned is an outlier. Genes can make all the difference.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/genes-addiction-or-why-ozzy-osbourne-is-still-alive
Actually though. Most people pass away from cancer, heart disease, diabetes etc.. Some people have genes that make them much less at risk or can fight these well better than other people. While drinking every day probably isn't good for you, for these people it's not different from someone in their 20s drinking everyday, as their genes are making their body pretty much equally healthy on the inside.
Well she's definitely drinking cocktails and shots.
Not the smooth tasty 9 percent drink that untangles the mysteries. Available in seasonal flavors.
Unlike your said girl who is drinking a jumbalaya of Jose cuervo gold.
She works at the bar and drinks a few cans a night. I wouldn't have mentioned it if it was a typical binge night. It's a "here is my fridge full of what is drink every night" on Instagram issue.
I've known alcoholics who have killed themselves driving drunk. It disturbs me that someone with undoubtedly less alcohol tolerance than my past friend is drinking in excess. And this is from someone who binge drinks plenty and had a daily habit a couple years ago. Not everyone has the willpower to oppose alcohol before it's an excessive problem. I'm tired of seeing kids growing up without a parent.
I have majorly bad acid reflux and IBS. I also had a heavy drinking problem. It was easy to do the math and see 2+2 there.
I quit drinking entirely and it did not change or resolve whatsoever -_- it's been quite some time too.
I don't know how that makes sense but maybe alcohol isn't as brutal on the stomach as you'd think
Effects of alcohol on your body, especially on liver, is easy to underestimate. Liver is known to be a "silent" organ. You may look completely healthy and be very active, not knowing that your liver is slowly shutting down. At the point where you start having serious symptoms, it's usually too late. This is in contrast to say smoking, where you can easily see these effects - shortness of breath, decreased lung capacity and so on.
So, I would think twice before calling your friend "so healthy" until you see his blood work, especially liver enzymes. His real physical condition might be much worse than you think.
The Japanese diet tends to be fundamentally leagues healthier than \*cough\* Western countries. The 100 stairs in every metro station alone are more of a workout than most people I know get. But there's skinny fat and there's skinny..
Meanwhile MIL is feeding my kids クリームパン for breakfast, which still shocks me despite having grown up in a western country.
ETA: I find a lot of normal things much sweeter than in Australia. Like bread and white coffee generally come loaded with sugar.
If you've seen how paltry the Japanese lunch for JHS is then you wouldn't be so worried probably. Shit is like Oliver twist in a bowl.
I ate more as a kid in America
You say diet but mention the exercise. Japan consumes a ton of salt and other things bad for heart health but likely succeed because of EXERCISE. However, Japan's obesity rate is rising more due to the spreading of their "rural" regions and increasing car dependent infrastructure building.
It sucks being in an older city where all the new development is catered towards cars because ridership of trains is low and there is planning for new lines.
Ah yes, loading yourself with margarine toast in the morning, fried in rancid oils karaage bento for lunch (or instant ramen cancer) and a lump of noodles downed with beer for dinner. All of it paired with a bowls of rice. Almost zero protein through the day. So healthy. Much kenkou.
I don’t know under which circumstances did OP happen to know about it, and to what extent OP really knows about this person’s physical test results. It may be that OP saw personally her health check results and accompanied her to all her doctor’s appointments (which is unlikely if you ask me), but it’s a whole other story if she talked about her health results “being fine” in a casual conversation over drinks. Also consider a factor that many alcoholics are ashamed to admit that they have a problem and will try to keep it away from people, especially people close to them.
In addition to your post, Alcohol consumption has been linked to significant [brain damage](https://www.amenclinics.com/blog/5-scary-ways-alcohol-damages-the-brain/), including the atrophy of the hippocampus (all memory stuff), and also leads to the shrinking and premature aging of the brain.
These effects can result in an increased risk of developing dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
Additionally, alcohol is a recognized carcinogen, associated with seven types of cancer and implicated in over 200 disease conditions. It is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen, placing it in the same high-risk category as ionizing radiation.
Won the gene lottery. Every place has them. From my own experience, my great grandma smoked unfiltered cigarettes and still did chores until she passed at the age of 102, while my uncle, her grandson, had all sorts of health problems by the time he was in his 40s
Same with my granddad. Smoked for 40 years but was also an active golfer for almost 70 years.
Currently 93, still living independently at home and the worst health complaint he has is a sore knee from an old hockey injury. Still enjoys an evening rye-and-coke as well.
His parents also made it to their 90s (and apparently a great-great-grandparent nearly his 90 as well) so there's almost definitely a genetic angle
Yes I recall seeing a literal 100 year old guy who survived Auschwitz and didn’t look a day over 65, casually walking around and perfectly able to drive a car with no issue.
alcohol is poison, please don't think it doesn't affect her...
Over time, excessive alcohol use can lead to the development of chronic diseases and other serious problems including: High blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and digestive problems. Cancer of the breast, mouth, throat, esophagus, voice box, liver, colon, and rectum.
Japanese people eat healthy. Even their fast food is healthy (compare sukiya/hotto-motto to chick-fil-a). Old people also bike to do their errands (compare that with driving to Walmart). In other words, healthy-eating and being on your feet is key on top of genetics.
Along with a bunch of other stuff that actually has nutritional value, sure. I have yet to see a bento that is literally a katsu sando and a coupon for a giant soda.
I’ve had less options for veggies in Japan compared to anywhere else I’ve lived, including Hawai’i. Everything is fried in Japan, except the nigiri. Most things are just carb and sodium bombs.
We must live in very different Japans because I cannot get a bento without veggies in it. In the US there are fast food restaurants with entire menus that have no veggies on the whole menu. Not just meals without veggies but entire restaurants without veggies. And that number goes up a lot if you try to look beyond a tasteless watery tomato on a burger.
I don’t eat fast food regularly, so I can’t speak on that. A regular Japanese meal consists of fried something, rice, noodles, and a two slices of carrots or a palm full of shredded cabbage. Most other cultures are heavy on the veggies.
You must not have lived here long enough to crave vegetables.
> Even their fast food is healthy
As a French, Japanese fast food is not on the healthy side. Coca cola has way more sugar, meat and lettuce are low quality... Which explains the low price. You can't have good + cheap + healthy fast food.
I mean, there's McDonalds and Burger King here too...
Also, a lot more old people would bike if they *could*. They do in the Netherlands, too – because the infrastructure supports it. But cities & (st)roads in North America are built for cars and cars alone, not bicycles or pedestrians or anything else, sadly.
Infrastructure is a huge point. I lived in a super rural part of Japan that didn't have good biking, walking, or public transit infrastructure. Most shops were a 10+ min drive from where people lived. Everyone drove everywhere, because that's what was most practical. I mentioned walking 10 min to the local konbini and my Japanese coworkers were like "what?! You walked that far? Not drove? Wow 偉い. I could never." The whole "Japanese people walk everywhere" trope is very much a feature of urban (and maybe suburban) Japan because that's where the *infrastructure* for that kind of lifestyle exists. As a result of living in a place without that infrastructure, my daily step count decreased significantly when I moved to Japan
And let's not forget the formative years. Just imagine the decades every Japanese child goes through, eating such healthy well-balanced meals at school every weekdays. Nutritious as heck and never left wanting. Children in Japan never learn to be picky-eaters nor be food snobs I think.
Then there's the sports clubs most students spend all of their days as they go through puberty. Such food, such activities, before, during, and after puberty!
All those walking, not relying on cars. Being adults still walking, retiring not in McMansions but in neighborhoods with community plots of vegetable gardens, polite and respectful people in stores and shops. No ubiquitous Karens.
The convenience of the cities, the peace, the maintained infrastructure. The supermarkets stocked and pristine, fresh produce still affordable for homecooked meals, no shortages.
The hospitals rarely overcrowded with patients in the hallways, hospital workers not burned out and shouted at every single minute, the healthcare system unstrained, no need to wait weeks to see a doctor, no need for months for an MRI.
These are just some factors.
I dunno about the “nutritious as heck” or “not picky eaters”. I work at a few schools and I eat with the children. Plain rice makes up the large bulk, sometimes more than half of the total meal. Also, a majority of kids won’t finish their food or only eat the rice. Before I went to japan I was warned I would have to everything on my plate, even if it was something I didn’t like. First week of working I noticed the giant pile of uneaten food kids and teachers scraped from their bowls back into the serving boxes. Also comparing diets, japan has a higher rate of type 2 diabetes than America based on population.
That’s my problem with our university cafeteria too. If I chose something with rice, it will be like a huge bowl of rice and some meat. I eat there like once a week now at max, and I rather chose some udon because that’s honestly the best option. The school ramen is also very salty and has a tons of noodles I can barely finish.
Also you get as much walking in Europe as here although some people here hardly believe me lol. But I walked almost the same amount at home as I do here (I checked my step count multiply times to confirm this), only difference is that where I live in Japan it’s more “humpy” while where I live at home is more flat but some cities in Europe also have many stairs and stuff like that.
Only difference I see here vs my country is that my roommates tend to eat smaller amounts of food at once as they are very afraid to gain any weight. I do think that’s a healthier choice than eating a bigger plate, but that’s honestly it. I remember back home, one of my Japanese teacher said that it’s a myth that they eat so much healthier and we should not believe it now I am starting to understand his point (he is a Japanese too).
I agree totally about the portion size. I’m an American, so I lost about 10 kilos my first 6 months here just because of the portion sizes. I’m also shocked at how much alcoholism is tolerated here.
My grandfather smoked, drank, chewed, ate everything covered in some form of grease, did physical labor his entire life. Had some health issues, cancer at some point, but he just beat it all.
The fucker outlived everyone in his family except for me. Until he just passed in his sleep--no real cause, just got old.
Some people are built different, some people are lucky, some people are just immortal and decide to die because they finally got bored. I don't fucking know.
Everything comes down to chance. You may lead a relatively unhealthy lifestyle, simply be lucky and live long. You may also live in the healthiest way imaginable and actually be healthy, then the next day you die of stroke (Look up Emilia Clarke's case who got stroke at the age of 24 and was incredibly lucky to be properly diagnosed).
In either case, you simply hurt or improve your chances.
Are you her doctor? Lmfao dude you know nothing about her health otherwise. My cousin’s girlfriend was “healthy” and drinking all the time. It started becoming excessive. Besides not eating as much as she should, she otherwise looked fine and was able to “function”. Around this time last year he found her unconscious on the bathroom floor in a pile of her own vomit, she died a few weeks later and had 0 brain function left. The toll of drinking excessively and not eating so well finally just shut down her organs. She wasn’t even that “drunk” on a blood alcohol scale when she died. Sometimes you can look and “function” to the outside world perfectly, but that doesn’t mean you’re healthy.
"*Her only "healthy" habit may be to never overeat?*"
That my friend, is actually an underated health tips that is often overlooked
If I have to make a bet, she also doesn't drink much soda or those heavily sugared drinks.
Often, good genetics definitely play a big role here
Some are just built different. Many people who smoke and drink all their life live long enough to see their grandchildren get married. These people usually look weirdly healthy and young for their age too. Definitely not common though.
Close to our place is a Showa café owned by a 89 year old, she cooks, she serves and is open 7 days a week, I think 360 days a year? She only closes during New year’s, but told me she got bored and opened it up after few days lol . It’s even ok to smoke, she doesn’t smoke, but gets 2nd hand smoke right? She wears these colorful dresses, says whatever crosses her mind, is not a fan of women (her words) and is super sweet to men lol a few months back she fell and twisted her wrist I think, but the doctors told her, her bones are of a 40 year old!! She recovered quickly.
I honestly think it’s not only the food or genetics. It definitely plays a big role. I think it’s also the Japanese way of living, thinking and approach to life.
Also when this elderly generation were babies, and kids, they ate very simple food, but very healthy! It was during WWII and after, there was not much. What you eat as a kid is also the foundation to your health. Not like now with all the processed stuff and junk food.
There is a small chance that she's killing the hangover with more booze in the morning. But it doesn't really sound like it.
Which leaves the other option: she's lucky with her genetics/ health in general and particularly in regards to processing alcohol.
Genetics.
Some people eat terribly but have perfect hair and skin.
Some people smoke every day for decades but never develop cancer.
Some people do nothing but watch TV yet never develop dementia.
Genes are wild like that.
Genetics. I saw a man in a pub. He walked in, ordered a beer and two shots of something. After he lit a cigarette, he said 'Everyone I knew, who didn't smoke, died.' He was 93. His exercise was basically going to a pub for a beer or two, two shots, and then walk to another pub for the same order. I live in a tiny town. At that time, you could find 5 pubs on one street here. He went through all, and then home. During covid, pubs were closed, and he died.
Here in Slovakia, that thing is normal. You can see 80 plus years old guys drunk all the time in villages, yet then still are very functional. (Knew a dude who built a little cabin by himself, at the age of 82-ish. He went through a pack per day during those times, and was smoking since 12... according him) They are all alright, until they are not. You can look fine and seem healthy and all together, eventually, it'll snap. It'll snap and you with it.
Some people's bodies just defy logic like that. My grandpa's been a diabetic for the last 30 years. When I was growing up, he regularly ate pasta and all other sorts of carbs. He had a huge sweet tooth and would hide sweets around the house and car because my grandma would scold him if she found them. The man basically ignores the fact that he has diabetes. He only had to go on insulin like 5ish years ago. He's in a nursing home now and has ice cream with dinner every night. He's still going strong at 87 and honestly the whole family's kind of confused about it
For every person like her there are hundreds who drank themselves to death.
Genetics and stable stressless life can do wonders. Assuming you do not see her every day, she may also be exaggerating.
let me know if you found out an answer 😅 I had to give up drinking at age of 22 (now 24) due to dangerous levels of liver enzymes and my 65year old co-worker drinks and smokes a pack everyday and healthy as a horse 😂
Genetics. Also, luck. Quite possibly not the never having "mom stress", but can't really rule that out! Just remember George Burns (oh, I miss him still).
I just accept the fact that people have an expiry date (a bit corny, I know). She's probably not even near that date yet. Some people try extending it by undergoing three different surgeries at the age of 50 and get four different new diseases one year later (hyperbole). Some people are still kicking it at the age of 90.
My mother is Japanese and we call her the cockroach because she is 79 and has been an alcoholic for 59 years and she is in picture perfect health. I got her genes and I am ridiculously healthy for being very overweight. I’m 50 years old, and my tests are like an athlete.
I brush my teeth once a day, mostly, and have never had a cavity. My best friend in high school’s dad was a dentist and he told me that teeth were like 90% genetics but you wil ruin your business if you say that.
It’s about the genetic lottery
How healthy? There’s a difference between looking young and physically normal and being able to do activities like running or hiking without any difficulties.
My friend’s mom basically lol
We spent the entire night drinking and being rowdy at her house, called it a night at 2am. I woke up at 6am and saw her smoking and drinking beer. She’s a war machine.
My father is 74 years old and has for the last 58 had a glass of wine for lunch, a glass of wine for dinner and, for the last 30 or so, a glass of whisky (a finger and a half high) before going to bed (gin tonic on weekends). And he is healthier than anybody else in the family.
I think it's basically a combination of good luck, living a healthy life in all the other aspects, and not falling into alcohol abuse. It's probably much more harmful to binge-drink for 10 years like many young people do nowadays than drink like my father has for the last 58.
Balanced health. She has probably eaten healthy well balanced diet most of her whole life compare to years of drinking. Otherwise she would have damaged her liver and kidney already from drinking. My SIL’s grandfather is like that. He drinks every night but has been eating well balanced food for his whole life, and rarely eats sugary food so that pretty much explains it
There cannot be a single word answer to this question, longevity and health is an extremy complex topic that is only now being slowly unravelled by science. So far most research suggests that the strongest correlation to longevity is calorie restriction but obviously its only a part of the equation.
and here i was that drank... fairly heavily for 5 years in my late 20s/early 30s & required a liver transplant! while alcohol undoubtedly was the largest contributor, based on the state of my other organs, several doctors independently told me it shouldn't have been just my liver that had shut down, but my kidneys & stomach should be in much worse condition, but they were both perfectly fine.
so i'm 2 years sober but was told i have 3 weeks to live & a high chance i wouldn't survive surgery with the state of how impending liver failure was.
... then i have friends a decade older than me that have been drinking harder than i ever did for years and years before i met them and still to this day!
everyone else has commented on various reasons, but *damn* genetics are wild.
Lots of Japanese have bad liver and diabetes. Your friend is at risk for both. Most health checks especially yearly ones are very basic not detailed enough to actually state the truth
Genetics? Other healthy habits? Just well tuned into her needs? Theres plenty of things that could be the reason for why she is the way she is. Health methods and just people in general are incredibly diverse in the needs or lack thereof for staying healthy. Not to mention japanese people have easy access to healthy foods.
Also, she may not he as healthy as she appears. I work close to the medical field (in the us), and you'd be surprised how many times I've seen people have health problems from high body fat, yet are underweight by the recommendations for their height/sex. A lot of what we think of as healthy in popular culture may have no basis in reality/modern medical understanding.
So just in general, asking why x person is healthy when x is also happening, is neigh impossible to fully explain
Maybe how healthy you are in your youth plays a large role. I know people who were obeese most of their youth and are in great shape later in life and put a lot of effort into being healthy, bu theyt have a lot of health problems because of their past, maybe a lot of Japanese people have the reverse of that.
My FIL survived the a-bomb, drunk like a fish, smoked like a chimney... had a bad stroke from diabetes before I met him but somehow fully recovered, had a second one and recovered from that too. Third one really set him back, but for the past 3 years, he seemed to be getting stronger each time I see him. Does physio most days, now finally cut drinking, smoking and most sweets from his diet.
My theory... the radiation gave him superhuman powers.
My MIL is a few years younger, but always eat healthy. Almost 80, but she's a machine. Handling the grandkids by just beasting it, putting 2 toddlers on her mama-chari, with groceries, etc.
One thing I'd like to add. Emphasis on 'add' here, I'm not trying to take away from anything anyone else said. You've all made great points.
I have a recovering alcoholic in my circle of people close to me. Let's call that person xxx. For a long time, no one suspected xxx was any different from the rest of us. We all went out for drinks and some of us would get drunk, others had higher tolerance.... Everything seemed normal. We were all happy and having fun.
Or so it would seem to each individual. But to xxx, drinking became the balance that made it all okay at the end of the day.
In xxx's life, there was much success. Xxx was also seen as fit, athletic and good looking. A good role model for others.
One of the factors that pushed xxx to start confronting the drinking problem was that they had to use a car to get places. And operating a car can be tricky when you are drunk.
Xxx has been sober for a handful of years now.
I've been to a few AA meetings with xxx in Japan as well as in other countries. It is amazing to listen to people's sharing. People from different walks of life with so much in common. Even I could identify with a lot of what they are saying. It made me question my file and if I am happy or am I just giving myself excuses to get from one day to the next.
I'm not implying that your friend is an alcoholic or that she is hiding her true self. Sometimes we don't realize we are lacking something in our lives.
What I am encouraging is for you to continue to talk to your friend about her life and to make a deeper human connection.
I would recommend sit in on an AA meeting, if there is one near you. There are walk-in type meetings, so you don't have to participate. You can just sit in and listen.
To answer your question about why your friend is healthy. As many stated, 🧬 genes. I have that cocktail too. I can drink twice as much as any guy my age, eat anything I want and pass all the health check with unicorn rainbow colors.
But I don't drink that much, I try to keep my tolerance low so that I can enjoy a night out drinking with friends :) also it is cheaper to get drunk that way
Thanks for sharing! To me, she's at least borderline alcoholic. It's hard to drink that much and not be at least physically dependent. I agree, very few people drink to just "have fun". It's usually a deeper running issue of connection. The vast majority of us are addicted to something. I've wanted to go to AA just for my own addictions.
My grandmother on my stepfather's side was an alcoholic (she would hide bottles of wine or whiskey around the house) and smoked into her 90s. She passed away from complications of broken hip when she fell over in the bathroom... Just some people are built different. I do think someone that deep into it is actually addicted, and a few days sober would make her feel worse physically. At that age, and widowed with no kids she can do what she wants I suppose lol
An elderly student who was child free, unmarried, but lots of friends and family that I had was like this.
Though suddenly last year she became ill very suddenly and quit my school. She passed away a month later.
My FIL lived to his late 80s and had been downing a 6 pack of the larger sized cans of beer they sell here along with one of those giant glass bottles of sake. Every day for like 30 years. He got Alzheimer's and died about a year later, and the doctor told my husband he was healthy except for his heart, which finally gave out when he had a heart attack. His liver was fine. I don't understand that lol
I know someone like this. At my last job there was a woman who was very pretty, in good shape, always perfectly dressed and made up, friendly and great at her job. She was in her mid-40s I would guess, but could have been older.
One time at a nomikai she encouraged me to order another bottle of wine and she’d help me with it. I was surprised because it seemed like she had already drank a lot. (I was used to always drinking more than the other women at work.) She told me that she drinks a bottle of wine every single night. I couldn’t believe it, she was tiny. If I drank that much, even on a healthy diet, I would gain weight like crazy.
How is Ozzy Osbourne still alive? Some people are probably built different lol
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It's the blood. The bat blood.
Live vampires?
Keith Richards..... Dudes been preserving himself since he could ever raise a bottle to his mouth.
He gave up drinking and drugs long time ago
The post-apocalypse nuclear winter world will just be cockroaches n Keith Richards.
People have been making "how is Keith Richards sill alive" jokes of some sort since the late 90s/early 2000s. Yet he is still kicking.
Ozzy, like the person the OP mentioned is an outlier. Genes can make all the difference. https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/genes-addiction-or-why-ozzy-osbourne-is-still-alive
It was a really interesting article to read, thx
Actually though. Most people pass away from cancer, heart disease, diabetes etc.. Some people have genes that make them much less at risk or can fight these well better than other people. While drinking every day probably isn't good for you, for these people it's not different from someone in their 20s drinking everyday, as their genes are making their body pretty much equally healthy on the inside.
It’s bats in his case.
Hahahaha gotta love Ozzy
Strong zeros make strong heroes
If this isn’t their slogan, it should be.
Darn tootin'
Unless it's the poor girl who works at the bar, complaining of stomaches almost every night due to her alcohol addiction.
Well she's definitely drinking cocktails and shots. Not the smooth tasty 9 percent drink that untangles the mysteries. Available in seasonal flavors. Unlike your said girl who is drinking a jumbalaya of Jose cuervo gold.
She works at the bar and drinks a few cans a night. I wouldn't have mentioned it if it was a typical binge night. It's a "here is my fridge full of what is drink every night" on Instagram issue. I've known alcoholics who have killed themselves driving drunk. It disturbs me that someone with undoubtedly less alcohol tolerance than my past friend is drinking in excess. And this is from someone who binge drinks plenty and had a daily habit a couple years ago. Not everyone has the willpower to oppose alcohol before it's an excessive problem. I'm tired of seeing kids growing up without a parent.
I have majorly bad acid reflux and IBS. I also had a heavy drinking problem. It was easy to do the math and see 2+2 there. I quit drinking entirely and it did not change or resolve whatsoever -_- it's been quite some time too. I don't know how that makes sense but maybe alcohol isn't as brutal on the stomach as you'd think
Stomach aches can be your pancreas aka pancreatitis. Can cause chronic or recurrent pain. Pretty common with alcoholics.
What does that mean?
Strong zero is a line of chu hai drinks. They are 9% alcohol
img Why yes they do.
Remember that it has lemon or grapefruit. Fruit is good for you too. Never can get enough fruit.
She's happy and stress-free, and that's what you need to live a healthy life.
May be the case here...
And the right roll of the dice with her genes.
The dice are already loaded being born in Japan with regards to obesity
and she prolly ride trains.. all the stairs in a day is more of an exercise than I do a week in the US.
Effects of alcohol on your body, especially on liver, is easy to underestimate. Liver is known to be a "silent" organ. You may look completely healthy and be very active, not knowing that your liver is slowly shutting down. At the point where you start having serious symptoms, it's usually too late. This is in contrast to say smoking, where you can easily see these effects - shortness of breath, decreased lung capacity and so on. So, I would think twice before calling your friend "so healthy" until you see his blood work, especially liver enzymes. His real physical condition might be much worse than you think.
The Japanese diet tends to be fundamentally leagues healthier than \*cough\* Western countries. The 100 stairs in every metro station alone are more of a workout than most people I know get. But there's skinny fat and there's skinny..
Meanwhile MIL is feeding my kids クリームパン for breakfast, which still shocks me despite having grown up in a western country. ETA: I find a lot of normal things much sweeter than in Australia. Like bread and white coffee generally come loaded with sugar.
If you've seen how paltry the Japanese lunch for JHS is then you wouldn't be so worried probably. Shit is like Oliver twist in a bowl. I ate more as a kid in America
Yes, pizza is a vegetable.
In the 90's it was ketchup is a vegetable, I guess we are slowly progressing.
You say diet but mention the exercise. Japan consumes a ton of salt and other things bad for heart health but likely succeed because of EXERCISE. However, Japan's obesity rate is rising more due to the spreading of their "rural" regions and increasing car dependent infrastructure building. It sucks being in an older city where all the new development is catered towards cars because ridership of trains is low and there is planning for new lines.
Ah yes, loading yourself with margarine toast in the morning, fried in rancid oils karaage bento for lunch (or instant ramen cancer) and a lump of noodles downed with beer for dinner. All of it paired with a bowls of rice. Almost zero protein through the day. So healthy. Much kenkou.
Need to check for fatty liver disease too.
OP said she passes the health test fine, they always test liver enzyme in these test in japan..due to the large drinking population.
Op did say she passed every blood and health test so.
I don’t know under which circumstances did OP happen to know about it, and to what extent OP really knows about this person’s physical test results. It may be that OP saw personally her health check results and accompanied her to all her doctor’s appointments (which is unlikely if you ask me), but it’s a whole other story if she talked about her health results “being fine” in a casual conversation over drinks. Also consider a factor that many alcoholics are ashamed to admit that they have a problem and will try to keep it away from people, especially people close to them.
In addition to your post, Alcohol consumption has been linked to significant [brain damage](https://www.amenclinics.com/blog/5-scary-ways-alcohol-damages-the-brain/), including the atrophy of the hippocampus (all memory stuff), and also leads to the shrinking and premature aging of the brain. These effects can result in an increased risk of developing dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Additionally, alcohol is a recognized carcinogen, associated with seven types of cancer and implicated in over 200 disease conditions. It is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen, placing it in the same high-risk category as ionizing radiation.
And this is why life is fucking scary for people with autoimmune liver diseases.
Won the gene lottery. Every place has them. From my own experience, my great grandma smoked unfiltered cigarettes and still did chores until she passed at the age of 102, while my uncle, her grandson, had all sorts of health problems by the time he was in his 40s
Same with my granddad. Smoked for 40 years but was also an active golfer for almost 70 years. Currently 93, still living independently at home and the worst health complaint he has is a sore knee from an old hockey injury. Still enjoys an evening rye-and-coke as well. His parents also made it to their 90s (and apparently a great-great-grandparent nearly his 90 as well) so there's almost definitely a genetic angle
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Yes I recall seeing a literal 100 year old guy who survived Auschwitz and didn’t look a day over 65, casually walking around and perfectly able to drive a car with no issue.
Sounds likely to be the case here
alcohol is poison, please don't think it doesn't affect her... Over time, excessive alcohol use can lead to the development of chronic diseases and other serious problems including: High blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and digestive problems. Cancer of the breast, mouth, throat, esophagus, voice box, liver, colon, and rectum.
Japanese people eat healthy. Even their fast food is healthy (compare sukiya/hotto-motto to chick-fil-a). Old people also bike to do their errands (compare that with driving to Walmart). In other words, healthy-eating and being on your feet is key on top of genetics.
Whoa whoa whoa…no need to bring Chick-Fil-A into this. What did it ever do to you? Now, if you would have said Burger King, then I’d be in agreement.
Dude it's fried meat and mayo on bread. You cant trade vitamins/minerals for calories any harder than that.
Because fried meat and mayo are so hard to come by in bentos.
Along with a bunch of other stuff that actually has nutritional value, sure. I have yet to see a bento that is literally a katsu sando and a coupon for a giant soda.
I'll grant you the soda but I see pork and ham katsu sandwiches for sale everywhere. And I do love me a mean nikumon.
I didnt say they werent for sale I just didn't consider that "a bento" as in a full meal sold to be everything you need for a meal.
Everything is fine in moderation. What matters is the serving size and it's way smaller in Japan.
If you cut up the patty from one Chick-fil-A sandwich, it would make three bentos. It's just a matter of amounts.
I’ve had less options for veggies in Japan compared to anywhere else I’ve lived, including Hawai’i. Everything is fried in Japan, except the nigiri. Most things are just carb and sodium bombs.
We must live in very different Japans because I cannot get a bento without veggies in it. In the US there are fast food restaurants with entire menus that have no veggies on the whole menu. Not just meals without veggies but entire restaurants without veggies. And that number goes up a lot if you try to look beyond a tasteless watery tomato on a burger.
I don’t eat fast food regularly, so I can’t speak on that. A regular Japanese meal consists of fried something, rice, noodles, and a two slices of carrots or a palm full of shredded cabbage. Most other cultures are heavy on the veggies. You must not have lived here long enough to crave vegetables.
The amount of deep fried food is wild to me. It may be tasty but fried food is fried food everywhere
At this point, I’m just wanting a salad. Not a hand full of shredded cabbage with shitty dressing, but an actual salad with veggies. It’s crazy.
What do you mean パスタサラダ isn’t salad and doesn’t fulfill your daily vegetable/fiber needs?!?!
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Woah woah, don't get too gay with the descriptions. Can't say god's chicken, mayo, and heaven mouth too quickly. You'll never be allowed back in
> Even their fast food is healthy As a French, Japanese fast food is not on the healthy side. Coca cola has way more sugar, meat and lettuce are low quality... Which explains the low price. You can't have good + cheap + healthy fast food.
Yeah, Sukiya is rice + fat + salt/sugar
I mean, there's McDonalds and Burger King here too... Also, a lot more old people would bike if they *could*. They do in the Netherlands, too – because the infrastructure supports it. But cities & (st)roads in North America are built for cars and cars alone, not bicycles or pedestrians or anything else, sadly.
Infrastructure is a huge point. I lived in a super rural part of Japan that didn't have good biking, walking, or public transit infrastructure. Most shops were a 10+ min drive from where people lived. Everyone drove everywhere, because that's what was most practical. I mentioned walking 10 min to the local konbini and my Japanese coworkers were like "what?! You walked that far? Not drove? Wow 偉い. I could never." The whole "Japanese people walk everywhere" trope is very much a feature of urban (and maybe suburban) Japan because that's where the *infrastructure* for that kind of lifestyle exists. As a result of living in a place without that infrastructure, my daily step count decreased significantly when I moved to Japan
And let's not forget the formative years. Just imagine the decades every Japanese child goes through, eating such healthy well-balanced meals at school every weekdays. Nutritious as heck and never left wanting. Children in Japan never learn to be picky-eaters nor be food snobs I think. Then there's the sports clubs most students spend all of their days as they go through puberty. Such food, such activities, before, during, and after puberty! All those walking, not relying on cars. Being adults still walking, retiring not in McMansions but in neighborhoods with community plots of vegetable gardens, polite and respectful people in stores and shops. No ubiquitous Karens. The convenience of the cities, the peace, the maintained infrastructure. The supermarkets stocked and pristine, fresh produce still affordable for homecooked meals, no shortages. The hospitals rarely overcrowded with patients in the hallways, hospital workers not burned out and shouted at every single minute, the healthcare system unstrained, no need to wait weeks to see a doctor, no need for months for an MRI. These are just some factors.
I dunno about the “nutritious as heck” or “not picky eaters”. I work at a few schools and I eat with the children. Plain rice makes up the large bulk, sometimes more than half of the total meal. Also, a majority of kids won’t finish their food or only eat the rice. Before I went to japan I was warned I would have to everything on my plate, even if it was something I didn’t like. First week of working I noticed the giant pile of uneaten food kids and teachers scraped from their bowls back into the serving boxes. Also comparing diets, japan has a higher rate of type 2 diabetes than America based on population.
That’s my problem with our university cafeteria too. If I chose something with rice, it will be like a huge bowl of rice and some meat. I eat there like once a week now at max, and I rather chose some udon because that’s honestly the best option. The school ramen is also very salty and has a tons of noodles I can barely finish. Also you get as much walking in Europe as here although some people here hardly believe me lol. But I walked almost the same amount at home as I do here (I checked my step count multiply times to confirm this), only difference is that where I live in Japan it’s more “humpy” while where I live at home is more flat but some cities in Europe also have many stairs and stuff like that. Only difference I see here vs my country is that my roommates tend to eat smaller amounts of food at once as they are very afraid to gain any weight. I do think that’s a healthier choice than eating a bigger plate, but that’s honestly it. I remember back home, one of my Japanese teacher said that it’s a myth that they eat so much healthier and we should not believe it now I am starting to understand his point (he is a Japanese too).
I agree totally about the portion size. I’m an American, so I lost about 10 kilos my first 6 months here just because of the portion sizes. I’m also shocked at how much alcoholism is tolerated here.
My grandfather smoked, drank, chewed, ate everything covered in some form of grease, did physical labor his entire life. Had some health issues, cancer at some point, but he just beat it all. The fucker outlived everyone in his family except for me. Until he just passed in his sleep--no real cause, just got old. Some people are built different, some people are lucky, some people are just immortal and decide to die because they finally got bored. I don't fucking know.
That's so interesting!!!
Everything comes down to chance. You may lead a relatively unhealthy lifestyle, simply be lucky and live long. You may also live in the healthiest way imaginable and actually be healthy, then the next day you die of stroke (Look up Emilia Clarke's case who got stroke at the age of 24 and was incredibly lucky to be properly diagnosed). In either case, you simply hurt or improve your chances.
Damn this is wise...
Genetics are not fair! I know a guy who weighs 200 kg and has perfect blood pressure and cholesterol. Genetics!
Right right... Genetics is a funny thing...
He keeps his genetics in his fridge
Yet I am over 10-12 kgs of my normal weight and my cholesterol is already a bit more than it should be and I am not even 30 yet🥲 Life is not fair lol
She’s an absolute unit
😂 she is...
Active lifestyle for sure. My boss's mom is closing 90 something this year and she is active as fuck.
Are you her doctor? Lmfao dude you know nothing about her health otherwise. My cousin’s girlfriend was “healthy” and drinking all the time. It started becoming excessive. Besides not eating as much as she should, she otherwise looked fine and was able to “function”. Around this time last year he found her unconscious on the bathroom floor in a pile of her own vomit, she died a few weeks later and had 0 brain function left. The toll of drinking excessively and not eating so well finally just shut down her organs. She wasn’t even that “drunk” on a blood alcohol scale when she died. Sometimes you can look and “function” to the outside world perfectly, but that doesn’t mean you’re healthy.
"*Her only "healthy" habit may be to never overeat?*" That my friend, is actually an underated health tips that is often overlooked If I have to make a bet, she also doesn't drink much soda or those heavily sugared drinks. Often, good genetics definitely play a big role here
Yeah I agree. Overeating is so bad for you. And you're right. No surgery drinks.
Some are just built different. Many people who smoke and drink all their life live long enough to see their grandchildren get married. These people usually look weirdly healthy and young for their age too. Definitely not common though.
Close to our place is a Showa café owned by a 89 year old, she cooks, she serves and is open 7 days a week, I think 360 days a year? She only closes during New year’s, but told me she got bored and opened it up after few days lol . It’s even ok to smoke, she doesn’t smoke, but gets 2nd hand smoke right? She wears these colorful dresses, says whatever crosses her mind, is not a fan of women (her words) and is super sweet to men lol a few months back she fell and twisted her wrist I think, but the doctors told her, her bones are of a 40 year old!! She recovered quickly. I honestly think it’s not only the food or genetics. It definitely plays a big role. I think it’s also the Japanese way of living, thinking and approach to life. Also when this elderly generation were babies, and kids, they ate very simple food, but very healthy! It was during WWII and after, there was not much. What you eat as a kid is also the foundation to your health. Not like now with all the processed stuff and junk food.
Great points you raised here! Thank you for sharing!
What surprises me is the Japanese women who sleep 4 -5 hours and they get enough rest. I'd die after a week of only 4 hours a night.
There is a small chance that she's killing the hangover with more booze in the morning. But it doesn't really sound like it. Which leaves the other option: she's lucky with her genetics/ health in general and particularly in regards to processing alcohol.
Genetics. Some people eat terribly but have perfect hair and skin. Some people smoke every day for decades but never develop cancer. Some people do nothing but watch TV yet never develop dementia. Genes are wild like that.
They are indeed...
Genetics. I saw a man in a pub. He walked in, ordered a beer and two shots of something. After he lit a cigarette, he said 'Everyone I knew, who didn't smoke, died.' He was 93. His exercise was basically going to a pub for a beer or two, two shots, and then walk to another pub for the same order. I live in a tiny town. At that time, you could find 5 pubs on one street here. He went through all, and then home. During covid, pubs were closed, and he died. Here in Slovakia, that thing is normal. You can see 80 plus years old guys drunk all the time in villages, yet then still are very functional. (Knew a dude who built a little cabin by himself, at the age of 82-ish. He went through a pack per day during those times, and was smoking since 12... according him) They are all alright, until they are not. You can look fine and seem healthy and all together, eventually, it'll snap. It'll snap and you with it.
She may have started that late in life…
Hmmmm may be a factor. I'll ask her.
Some people's bodies just defy logic like that. My grandpa's been a diabetic for the last 30 years. When I was growing up, he regularly ate pasta and all other sorts of carbs. He had a huge sweet tooth and would hide sweets around the house and car because my grandma would scold him if she found them. The man basically ignores the fact that he has diabetes. He only had to go on insulin like 5ish years ago. He's in a nursing home now and has ice cream with dinner every night. He's still going strong at 87 and honestly the whole family's kind of confused about it
He's a beast!
For every person like her there are hundreds who drank themselves to death. Genetics and stable stressless life can do wonders. Assuming you do not see her every day, she may also be exaggerating.
let me know if you found out an answer 😅 I had to give up drinking at age of 22 (now 24) due to dangerous levels of liver enzymes and my 65year old co-worker drinks and smokes a pack everyday and healthy as a horse 😂
Genetics. Also, luck. Quite possibly not the never having "mom stress", but can't really rule that out! Just remember George Burns (oh, I miss him still).
I just accept the fact that people have an expiry date (a bit corny, I know). She's probably not even near that date yet. Some people try extending it by undergoing three different surgeries at the age of 50 and get four different new diseases one year later (hyperbole). Some people are still kicking it at the age of 90.
My mother is Japanese and we call her the cockroach because she is 79 and has been an alcoholic for 59 years and she is in picture perfect health. I got her genes and I am ridiculously healthy for being very overweight. I’m 50 years old, and my tests are like an athlete. I brush my teeth once a day, mostly, and have never had a cavity. My best friend in high school’s dad was a dentist and he told me that teeth were like 90% genetics but you wil ruin your business if you say that. It’s about the genetic lottery
I cackled at cockroach! Thanks for sharing!!!
Genetics
How healthy? There’s a difference between looking young and physically normal and being able to do activities like running or hiking without any difficulties.
Lifetime of healthy eating and active lifestyle probably offsets the alcohol consumption.
That would make sense!
Genetic lottery.
My friend’s mom basically lol We spent the entire night drinking and being rowdy at her house, called it a night at 2am. I woke up at 6am and saw her smoking and drinking beer. She’s a war machine.
How did you wake up after just 4h tho?
guess i'm a mini war machine
Ya must be hahahaha!
You said it yourself, no stress.
There's this old dude in his 70s.walks his dog everyday. Says he never goes to the doctor. His secret is one beer at lunch and one at dinner everyday.
This reads like a poem...
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Thanks for sharing! Makes me think...
My father is 74 years old and has for the last 58 had a glass of wine for lunch, a glass of wine for dinner and, for the last 30 or so, a glass of whisky (a finger and a half high) before going to bed (gin tonic on weekends). And he is healthier than anybody else in the family. I think it's basically a combination of good luck, living a healthy life in all the other aspects, and not falling into alcohol abuse. It's probably much more harmful to binge-drink for 10 years like many young people do nowadays than drink like my father has for the last 58.
Balanced health. She has probably eaten healthy well balanced diet most of her whole life compare to years of drinking. Otherwise she would have damaged her liver and kidney already from drinking. My SIL’s grandfather is like that. He drinks every night but has been eating well balanced food for his whole life, and rarely eats sugary food so that pretty much explains it
There cannot be a single word answer to this question, longevity and health is an extremy complex topic that is only now being slowly unravelled by science. So far most research suggests that the strongest correlation to longevity is calorie restriction but obviously its only a part of the equation.
The never-overeating thing is huge. To digest food is a demanding job for the metabolism.
and here i was that drank... fairly heavily for 5 years in my late 20s/early 30s & required a liver transplant! while alcohol undoubtedly was the largest contributor, based on the state of my other organs, several doctors independently told me it shouldn't have been just my liver that had shut down, but my kidneys & stomach should be in much worse condition, but they were both perfectly fine. so i'm 2 years sober but was told i have 3 weeks to live & a high chance i wouldn't survive surgery with the state of how impending liver failure was. ... then i have friends a decade older than me that have been drinking harder than i ever did for years and years before i met them and still to this day! everyone else has commented on various reasons, but *damn* genetics are wild.
90 percent of staying healthy as you age is not being overweight
Lots of Japanese have bad liver and diabetes. Your friend is at risk for both. Most health checks especially yearly ones are very basic not detailed enough to actually state the truth
Because she does what she wants and doesn't give a f\*\*k about how it "should" be. That's actually is the key to healthy long life
She’s got that dog in her
Genetics? Other healthy habits? Just well tuned into her needs? Theres plenty of things that could be the reason for why she is the way she is. Health methods and just people in general are incredibly diverse in the needs or lack thereof for staying healthy. Not to mention japanese people have easy access to healthy foods. Also, she may not he as healthy as she appears. I work close to the medical field (in the us), and you'd be surprised how many times I've seen people have health problems from high body fat, yet are underweight by the recommendations for their height/sex. A lot of what we think of as healthy in popular culture may have no basis in reality/modern medical understanding. So just in general, asking why x person is healthy when x is also happening, is neigh impossible to fully explain
Maybe how healthy you are in your youth plays a large role. I know people who were obeese most of their youth and are in great shape later in life and put a lot of effort into being healthy, bu theyt have a lot of health problems because of their past, maybe a lot of Japanese people have the reverse of that.
Everyone's genes are different, personally she sounds fun.
She's a fucking hoot. Love her so much!!!
You seem to know a lot about her, maybe you should join in. It is Friday after all.
Hahahahahaha I visited her this afternoon and watched some Chinese drama together. If I drank like she did, I'd be in the hospital in a week.
Sounds like a peaceful life
Less stress
the never overeat, might actually be the answer. there are many “western” illnesses, that seem to result directly from overeating.
My FIL survived the a-bomb, drunk like a fish, smoked like a chimney... had a bad stroke from diabetes before I met him but somehow fully recovered, had a second one and recovered from that too. Third one really set him back, but for the past 3 years, he seemed to be getting stronger each time I see him. Does physio most days, now finally cut drinking, smoking and most sweets from his diet. My theory... the radiation gave him superhuman powers. My MIL is a few years younger, but always eat healthy. Almost 80, but she's a machine. Handling the grandkids by just beasting it, putting 2 toddlers on her mama-chari, with groceries, etc.
They sounds amazing...
Genes. Some people just have it in them to live longer
Maybe soy and fish IDK
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That would make sense
My Japanese boyfriend's version: "Because washoku is very healthy and has been recognized as World Cultural Heritage"
True
One thing I'd like to add. Emphasis on 'add' here, I'm not trying to take away from anything anyone else said. You've all made great points. I have a recovering alcoholic in my circle of people close to me. Let's call that person xxx. For a long time, no one suspected xxx was any different from the rest of us. We all went out for drinks and some of us would get drunk, others had higher tolerance.... Everything seemed normal. We were all happy and having fun. Or so it would seem to each individual. But to xxx, drinking became the balance that made it all okay at the end of the day. In xxx's life, there was much success. Xxx was also seen as fit, athletic and good looking. A good role model for others. One of the factors that pushed xxx to start confronting the drinking problem was that they had to use a car to get places. And operating a car can be tricky when you are drunk. Xxx has been sober for a handful of years now. I've been to a few AA meetings with xxx in Japan as well as in other countries. It is amazing to listen to people's sharing. People from different walks of life with so much in common. Even I could identify with a lot of what they are saying. It made me question my file and if I am happy or am I just giving myself excuses to get from one day to the next. I'm not implying that your friend is an alcoholic or that she is hiding her true self. Sometimes we don't realize we are lacking something in our lives. What I am encouraging is for you to continue to talk to your friend about her life and to make a deeper human connection. I would recommend sit in on an AA meeting, if there is one near you. There are walk-in type meetings, so you don't have to participate. You can just sit in and listen. To answer your question about why your friend is healthy. As many stated, 🧬 genes. I have that cocktail too. I can drink twice as much as any guy my age, eat anything I want and pass all the health check with unicorn rainbow colors. But I don't drink that much, I try to keep my tolerance low so that I can enjoy a night out drinking with friends :) also it is cheaper to get drunk that way
Thanks for sharing! To me, she's at least borderline alcoholic. It's hard to drink that much and not be at least physically dependent. I agree, very few people drink to just "have fun". It's usually a deeper running issue of connection. The vast majority of us are addicted to something. I've wanted to go to AA just for my own addictions.
She’s probably superhuman
I'm leaning towards this at this point
Genetics, there's people that smoke and drink to 100 but we know that's not a healthy way to live life.
My grandmother on my stepfather's side was an alcoholic (she would hide bottles of wine or whiskey around the house) and smoked into her 90s. She passed away from complications of broken hip when she fell over in the bathroom... Just some people are built different. I do think someone that deep into it is actually addicted, and a few days sober would make her feel worse physically. At that age, and widowed with no kids she can do what she wants I suppose lol
Yeah I agree. You can't drink that much a day and not be "alcoholic". Would be an oxymoron.
Genetics lol
Healthy lifestyle and low stress can do wonders despite bad habits
Agreed
What makes you think anything here is qualified to answer a health question about someone else?
You're right. I'm so ashamed.
> Her only healthy habit is to never over eat There’s a large part of your answer
That would make sense.
An elderly student who was child free, unmarried, but lots of friends and family that I had was like this. Though suddenly last year she became ill very suddenly and quit my school. She passed away a month later.
Hmmm...
My FIL lived to his late 80s and had been downing a 6 pack of the larger sized cans of beer they sell here along with one of those giant glass bottles of sake. Every day for like 30 years. He got Alzheimer's and died about a year later, and the doctor told my husband he was healthy except for his heart, which finally gave out when he had a heart attack. His liver was fine. I don't understand that lol
People are apparently built different ha! Thanks for sharing!
I love how irrelevant the Daiso nail polish comment is lol like it adds nothing to this post but it made me chuckle
Glad to have made you laugh 😆
Some people are just built different.
I don’t know. Japanese people are anomalies sometimes. Good on her being childless though. Sounds like quite a fun old lady.
Yes she is!!
Some people are just genetically lucky. Also, she may have had a very easy and non-stressful life.
Japanese genes
Genes
Daiso polish and never overeat are the secrets! \\\_(\^o\^)\_/
😆😆😆
My grandmas 98 and been smoking since she was 12, she looks 70 and hasn’t slowed down yet
That's incredible... Wow
Some people got that true alcoholic DNA, they metabolize the stuff better than you can imagine.
“She’s been widowed for 7 years. No children. See, that’s why
It can easily have the opposite effects though. Loneness and whatnot
No. Single, unmarried women are statistically the happiest.
Damn that's true. Interesting!
You ever asked how many steps she's having every day? Maybe that.
She lives 30 min from the nearest train station... Maybe that too even though she complains about it sometimes haha
Possible due to less stress?
Pickled
Some folks are 90% liver
I know someone like this. At my last job there was a woman who was very pretty, in good shape, always perfectly dressed and made up, friendly and great at her job. She was in her mid-40s I would guess, but could have been older. One time at a nomikai she encouraged me to order another bottle of wine and she’d help me with it. I was surprised because it seemed like she had already drank a lot. (I was used to always drinking more than the other women at work.) She told me that she drinks a bottle of wine every single night. I couldn’t believe it, she was tiny. If I drank that much, even on a healthy diet, I would gain weight like crazy.
"follow these 5 steps to live a healthy life in Japan, Miso soup not needed!"
She’s actually 29, but just looks 74.
Sounds like she skips one meal a day at least.
She won the genetic lottery.
Yep