Have you ever wondered how people live more than 100? You may feel out of reach, with things like cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other terrible diseases that take so many lives. And yet, there are still many people around the world who live well into their 90s and beyond. But what are its secrets? And how can we apply these secrets to our own daily lives?
These are the same questions that Dan Buettner asked himself when he began his work of discovering the blue zones. Blue Zones are five world regions with the highest concentrations of people living to age 100: Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Loma Linda, California; Ikaria, Greece; and Nicoya, Costa Rica.
Buettner devoted his work to researching the people of these communities and discovered many commonalities among them, including their dietary patterns. These regions are mainly based on plants, eat lots of whole grainseat beans and legumes regularly, and even enjoy red wine regularly.
But what about the foods they avoid? It turns out that these Blue Zones also have a lot in common with each other when it comes to what they limit in their diets.
Read on to learn more about the foods you won’t see older people eating. And for more tips for healthy aging, check out Secrets of the diet of the longest living people in the world.
Fast food it is a huge contributor to many different diseases in America. In fact, regular consumption of fast food It has been found to increase blood pressure, raise cholesterol, lead to obesity, negatively affect your mood, and potentially increase your risk of heart disease.
More specifically, you definitely won’t find one of the longest living people eating a lot of burgers. The people of the Blue Zone regions are mostly plant-based and save the meat for special occasions. Even then, they rarely eat much red meat. One community, in particular, the people of Loma Linda, are Seventh-day Adventists and don’t eat meat at all.
According to an Adventist Health study cited by Blue Zone Investigatorsvegans and pesco-vegetarians were among the longest-living people in the world.
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People in Blue Zone communities significantly limit their consumption of processed goods, especially those with tons of added sugar. Although they consume a lot of natural sugar from fruits, oat grains and red wine, these communities eat much less added sugar of what we do here in the United States.
In fact, many researchers associated with the blue zone project suggest limiting your sugar intake to just 7 teaspoons, or 28 grams, per day. That’s significantly lower than the 50-gram limit recommended in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
As we mentioned before, the oldest people in the world do not consume a lot of meat, especially red meat. Along the same lines, these communities also stay away from processed meats such as deli meats, bacon and inlay.
Americans eat a lot processed meatsAnd while these are delicious and easy to prepare, they’re almost always loaded with sodium and other preservatives.
According to a recent study published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutritionprocessed meat had a more significant link to coronary heart disease (an 18% increase) than red meat alone (only 9%).
RELATED: The #1 Reason You Shouldn’t Eat Bacon, Science Says
And finally, definitely the healthiest people in the world will not drink much soda absolutely. Not only do they stay away from added sugar in general, but Blue Zone researchers found that consuming added sugar in the form of a beverage such as soda it was specifically harmful due to empty nutritional value.
In fact, drink soft drinks regularly It has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, more weight gain and increased appetite, and a shorter life expectancy.
