We are used to thinking of the Japanese as uniquely healthy and long lived. What isn’t generally realised and I certainly had not realised, is that their longevity is relatively recent. In 1970, their mortality on an age-adjusted basis was the average for the entire OECD area. So what has made the difference?

In a study from the University of Copenhagen, as well as work by the FAO quoted at length by The Economist magazine, the Danish research makes the convincing case that what has made the difference is the increased consumption of meat and dairy products by the Japanese population since 1970. In addition, several studies have identified that a vegetarian diet makes a population more prone to strokes.

As usual when discussing diets and health, a sense of balance and perspective is needed. But the basic facts are clear; in a quoted study of 48,000 British citizens, vegetarians emerged as unusually resistant to heart disease but prone to strokes.

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The end conclusion given in the article is that US levels of meat consumption may be too high for heart health but too little may be unwise not just for iron and other essential nutrients but also because the cholesterol contained in meat and dairy products may be needed for the walls of blood vessels.

Since the Japanese diet moved to include more meat and dairy, the death rates from strokes has tumbled from being way more than twice the OECD average to being roughly the same as other rich countries, while the heart disease and cancer rates are below the international norm.

From an Irish farmer’s point of view, the message is important. The dairy sector has the National Dairy Council at home as well as Ornua and the International Dairy Federation abroad to stimulate nutritional work.

Butter has convincingly won the battle with margarine while the world’s dairy co-ops have placed infant formula from milk at the centre of the desirable nutrition debate. There is no similar industry effort on behalf of beef and red meat. The effects of its absence on farmers’ incomes and consumer perception are all too clear.