If the old maxim is true and wisdom is born with age, the longest-lived people are one of the best resources to ask anything. From lifestyle to mental health, work, and overall outlook, living experiences help everyone become an expert in time.
Fortunately, research is being done on how to track these wise and older people and collect their life advice. The Blue Zone project, led by founder Dan Bettner, has identified five places in the world where people live the longest. Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Icaria, Greece and Loma Linda, California. Next, he and his team studied these communities and focused on the various life advices we had to learn from them.
Of course, that advice includes knowledge of how to eat for optimal health. The blue zone community has a lot in common with respect to eating habits, The best habits they share are simple: they are all mostly plant-based..
The longest-lived people mainly eat plant-based diets.
“People in the blue zone eat an impressive variety of garden vegetables depending on the season, and then pickle and dry the surplus for enjoyment in the off-season,” says the project. “The best longevity foods are leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, beet and turnip tops, swiss chard, and coraldo. When combined with seasonal fruits and vegetables, whole grain and beans dominate the blue zone diet all year round. increase. “”
These long livers eat meat, but as a small aspect, they are very modest. Instead, protein comes from beans, nuts, seeds, and greens-all foods can support weight loss.
A link between a plant-based diet and weight loss.
A plant-based diet has already been proven to help with weight loss by countless other studies. Perhaps the amount of evidence linking plants to underweight is due to the current cultural shift to meat substitutes.
As far back as 2010, studies have shown that meat consumption is associated with weight gain, even with the adoption of other healthy weight loss techniques. Then, in 2018, a comprehensive review of several studies showed that a plant-based diet correlates with improved overall health, including successful weight loss attempts. Just recently in 2020, another study was published linking a plant-based diet to weight loss.
Studies have shown for some time that at least plants are the answer. But thanks to the Blue Zone project, I can be confident that this idea is based on something that goes beyond academic research. It is confirmed by the wisdom of the longest-lived people in the world.
Cary Roberts
Cary Roberts is a food writer.read more