The 'Blue Zones' diet: Foods that help people live to
100
Jake Whitman
TODAY
Jun. 2, 2017 at 5:16 PM
There are five places on earth which have the highest percentage
of people who live to a healthy and happy 100 years. They're called the
"Blue Zones" by National Geographic author Dan Buettner, who has
explored their secrets to a thriving longevity in his book, "The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World's
Healthiest People."
Buettner has discovered what he believes is the answering to
reaching such an old age and being healthy right up to the end: diet. So he has
set out to capture the recipes of the world's longest living people.
"Individuals get lucky, but populations don’t,"
Buettner told NBC's Maria Shriver in the TODAY series, "Eating to
100." "There’s too many people to chalk it up to collective luck, or
even genes," said Buettner.
No matter where people live, these foods make up all longevity
diets: beans, greens, grains, and nuts.
"They know how to make them taste good and they know how to
optimize them for their health," Buettner said.
In our series, "Eating to 100," Buettner and NBC's
Maria Shriver visit three of the Blue Zones:
Ikaria,
Greece
On the remote Greek island of Ikaria, people outlive the average
American by more than a decade. On Ikaria, 97 percent of the people are over
age 70 and Buettner found only three cases of dementia. By comparison, there's
a 50 percent change of dementia for Americans who reach 85.
A common side dish is wild dandelion, boiled like spinach. These
greens have 10 times more antioxidants than red wine, according to Buettner.
Chickpeas, also a favorite on Ikaria, are the cornerstone of every longevity
diet in the world, he said.
Costa
Rica
(In Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula, about 1 in
250 people live to 100, compared to 1 in 4,000 who make it to 100 in America.)
The Nicoya Pennisula is famous for beautiful sandy beaches,
exotic wildlife and people who seem to defy the limits of age. In Nicoya, about
1 in 250 people live to 100, compared to 1 in 4,000 who make it to 100 in
America. Their diet of rice, beans and tortillas would be viewed as unhealthy
in America. But it's way better than you think.
"If the average American could add a cup of beans a day, it
would extend their life by four years," said Buettner.
Loma
Linda, California
An hour west of Los Angeles is Loma Linda, California, where
nearly half of the city belongs to the Seventh -Day Adventist Church. It's home
to one of the highest concentrations of Seventh-Day Adventists in the United
States. Most of the church members don't eat meat or fish and they never touch
alcohol or cigarettes. And they live about seven to 10 years longer than the
rest of Americans, according to the Adventist Health Study.
In Loma Linda, eating healthfully
is part of the religion. Their diet is inspired by the Bible, the
diet of the Garden of Eden. Their meals rely on beans,
nuts, slow-cooked oatmeal, whole wheat bread and real soy milk. They also drink
six to eight glasses of water a day, as prescribed by the church's founder,
Ellen G. White, who established the faith over 150 years ago. Also, the
citizens of Loma Linda are always on the move, taking afternoon walks and
adhering to a strict lifestyle.
It's never too late to start living like the people of the
"Blue Zones," Buettner believes.
"You can be 90 years old and go plant based and you'll add
to your life," he told TODAY. "It's not as hard as some might believe
— once you've tasted it."
