Blue Zones Diet: How the World’s Healthiest People Live
Do you wish you could live until you’re 100?
When it comes to this question, I find that most people fall into one of two camps: they either think it would be beautiful to have such a long life, or they find the idea scary. They’re picturing a decrepit old lady who is totally dependent on everyone, existing rather than really living.
Now, I don’t know what God has in store for me. This may be my future, but if it is, I’m sure that He will use it for good as Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
But I also know that God has given us all that we need in the world to give ourselves a chance of living a healthy life, no matter how long we’re here.
So in that spirit, today I want to talk about the Blue Zones.
The Blue Zones were inspired by demographic studies in the Journal of Experimental Gerontology that identified Sardinia as the place with the highest concentration of men who have lived to be 100 or older. The researchers drew blue circles on their map to show the villages where people had extreme longevity, hence the term Blue Zones.
National Geographic Fellow and best-selling author Dan Buettner did some additional research and identified five places in the world where people live the longest and also happen to be the healthiest.
By looking at the behaviors of the people living in these Blue Zones, we can get some ideas on how we might extend our own lifespans and, therefore, impact more lives.
The five blue zones are:
· Sardinia, Italy: In the Ogliastra region of Sardinia, men in particular enjoy a very long lifespan thanks to their mountainous environment and farm work.
· Okinawa, Japan: The world’s oldest women live here, where they eat a diet rich in soy and practice meditative exercise like tai chi.
· Ikaria, Greece: On this Greek island, they eat a Mediterranean diet with lots of homegrown vegetables and red wine.
· Nicoya, Costa Rica: Here the people have a strong sense of life purpose, a diet based on beans and corn tortillas, and lots of physical activity.
· Loma Linda, California: A religious group here called the Seventh-day Adventists are strict vegetarians and enjoy deep social connections in their tight-knit community.
The Blue Zones diet
The Blue Zones diet is also called the longevity diet because that’s exactly what this way of eating is associated with. This is the way some of the healthiest people in the world eat, and it largely involves a whole food plant-based diet.
So, without further ado, here are the main takeaways from the Blue Zones diet:
Eat a plant-based diet at least 95 percent of the time. In the Blue Zones, people eat a lot of garden vegetables that are in season, especially spinach, chard, and kale, plus a lot of fresh produce in general.
Meat only as a treat: People in the Blue Zones eat meat around five times a month, and they eat around 2 ounces or less of it each time. It’s used more to flavor dishes or as a celebration, like having some pork or chicken on a holiday.
Bring on the beans!: In Blue Zones, it’s all about the beans, whether it’s lentils and garbanzos in Mediterranean zones, soybeans in Okinawa or black beans in Nicoya. Incredibly, those in the Blue Zones eat more than four times as many beans as Americans! Fiber-rich, filling and low in fat, these cheap and versatile foods are a meal staple in every one of the blue zones, where people eat at least half a cup of beans per day.
Watch out for fish: A lot of people think fish is healthy, but in the Blue Zones, they eat less than you’d think – no more than three small servings a week. Not only that, but they’re largely eating smaller fish that don’t have the high levels of mercury and other chemicals seen in fish further up the food chain.
Go nuts: The average nut consumption of Blue Zones centenarians is around two ounces per day, which his roughly a handful. Almonds, walnuts and cashews are some of the best choices.
Beware of bread: They do eat bread in the Blue Zones, but it tends to be either 100 percent whole wheat or sourdough rather than white bread.
Skip the eggs: Although people in some Blue Zones do eat eggs, they only have them a couple times a week as a side. Plus, their eggs are free-range. But because eggs are linked to kidney problems in women and other types of heart problems, they aren’t recommended in the Blue Zones diet. Three a week is the recommended maximum for those who do eat them.
Dairy is not your friend: Cow’s milk didn’t play a significant role in any Blue Zones diet. In the Greek and Italian Blue Zones, they occasionally consume goat and sheep milk, but only fermented in the form of yogurt or cheese.
Drink up: There are just a handful of drinks people consume in Blue Zones: water (of course!), coffee, tea (especially green) and red wine – people in most of the Blue Zones drink one to three small glasses of red wine each day!
You may have noticed that two of the Blue Zones are in the Mediterranean, and you’ve probably heard about the virtues of the Mediterranean diet. That diet has a big focus on plants, but they also eat some fish and seafood. I’ll be devoting an article to that topic soon, but for now, I want to mention that it’s the veggies and nuts in the diet that make a difference – the fish and seafood do not seem to help.
Want to learn more?
By the way, if you’re as fascinated by this topic as I am, I highly recommend watching the Sardinia episode of the Down To Earth docuseries on Netflix. The whole series is great, but this particular episode focuses on the Blue Zones aspect of Sardinia. It’s fascinating to watch how these elderly people are not just living a long time but actually doing it with gusto. It’s so inspirational!
The Blue Zones lifestyle
Of course, diet is only one part of a healthy lifestyle, and I wouldn’t be Wholistic Bella if I didn’t talk about the Blue Zones lifestyle on a holistic level ;-).
· Movement: The people across all the Blue Zones live a low-stress yet active lifestyle. They move constantly, but they’re not going to the gym – it’s built into their daily life, whether they’re walking with friends around their village or herding sheep.
· Being religious: Blue Zones tend to be religious or spiritual communities, which isn’t surprising because being religious has been linked to a reduced risk of death. It’s the social support and lower depression rates that may be behind it.
· A healthy social network: No, we’re not talking about Facebook – those around you physically can affect your health. For example, if your friends are obese, you’re at a greater risk of also being obese. These people are surrounded by others with healthy habits.
· A life purpose: Lots of people living in Blue Zones have a life purpose, which increases their psychological well-being.
As you can see, it isn’t really just one particular factor that helps people live longer – it’s a mix of eating a plant-based diet, exercising regularly, and having good social, spiritual and family networks.
I don’t know what the future has in store for me, but I do know that life is a precious gift from God, and I want to do everything I can to treat mine with the reverence it deserves.
I don’t just want to survive – I want to thrive and savor every moment, just like the centenarians living in the Blue Zones, and it’s something I want to do at every age.
God gave us free will, and it’s up to us to choose how we live wisely.