It’s called the Blue Zone diet. The diet is mostly plant-based. The daily food intake of people living in Blue Zones is about 95% vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes. They do not eat much meat, dairy, sugary foods or drinks, and processed food.
Do Blue Zones eat eggs?
Eggs are consumed in all five Blue Zones diets, where people eat them an average of two to four times per week. As with meat protein, the egg is a side dish, eaten alongside a larger portion of a whole-grain or other plant-based feature.
Does the Blue Zone diet work?
A diet rich in whole, plant-based foods like the Blue Zones diet can help lower your risk of heart disease, lower cholesterol levels, lower blood sugar levels and prevent cancer. A study of more than 130,000 people found that eating more plant protein instead of animal protein reduced the risk of heart disease.
What makes Blue Zone successful?
The Blue Zone regions are home to some of the oldest and healthiest people in the world. Although their lifestyles differ slightly, they mostly eat a plant-based diet, exercise regularly, drink moderate amounts of alcohol, get enough sleep and have good spiritual, family and social networks.
What is the Blue Zone diet? – Related Questions
Do Blue Zones drink coffee?
Coffee is a daily ritual in blue zones areas, as well. Sardinians, Ikarians, and Nicoyans start their days with a cup, lightly sweetened without cream. In addition to a daily cup of coffee, blue zones centenarians drink water, tea and wine.
Do Blue Zone people drink alcohol?
You can consume alcohol and live to a happy 100, even up to one drink daily for women, two for men. We know from blue zones centenarians that this is true: People in four original blue zones areas drink alcohol moderately and regularly. The trick is to drink one to two glasses per day with friends and/or with food.
What makes people happy in Blue Zones?
In the original blue zones regions, where people live the longest, healthiest lives, people tended to be happy. Their environment and culture nudged residents into positive behaviors that improved life satisfaction.
What factors contributed to the people of the Blue Zones happiness and longevity?
In Okinawa, the term “moais” refers to groups of five friends that committed to each other for life. Social support and a sense of community is essential in all Blue Zones areas, and research has linked this to good health, happiness and longevity.
What were common factors in Blue Zones?
Buettner listed nine factors, including: moderate, regular physical activity, life purpose, stress reduction, moderate calories intake, a plant-based diet, moderate alcohol intake, especially wine, engagement in spirituality or religion, engagement in family life, and engagement in social life as the lifestyle habits
Why would someone want to live in a Blue Zone?
Longer, healthier life. Not just longevity for the sake of a number, but vitality. Engagement with family, friends, and daily routines into your 90s and beyond. Lower rates of chronic diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, cancer, depression, and dementia.
Do Blue Zone people take naps?
Taking short mid-afternoon naps is common in many of the Blue Zones regions, Buettner says. “People who report napping at least 20 minutes, five days a week, have about a third lower rate of heart disease than people who just motor through the day,” he says.
What ethnicity live the longest?
Racial gaps in life expectancy have long been recognized. The same CDC data show that nationally, Hispanic Americans have the longest life expectancy, followed by white and then Black Americans.
How much sleep do people in Blue Zones get?
The centenarians from the blue zones regions of the world sleep about 7 to 9 hours per night and take frequent naps, further decreasing their stress load and reducing the risk of heart disease by 34 percent.
How many meals a day are in the Blue Zones?
It’s typical for people who follow the Blue Zones diet to eat three meals a day and maybe a snack or two. Focusing on how hungry or full you feel and making healthy food choices is more important than timing your meals and snacks.
Do Blue Zone people drink wine?
Centenarians from the blue zones regions of the world often drink up to two glasses of wine every day as a way to “downshift” from the stressors of daily life. Sardinians, in particular, drink the garnet-red Cannonau wine.
Which Blue Zone is the healthiest?
He has discovered five places in the world – dubbed blue zones – where people live the longest, and are healthiest: Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece, and Loma Linda, California.
Is oatmeal on Blue Zone diet?
In Loma Linda, centenarians often eat a hearty breakfast of oatmeal or a somewhat non-traditional tofu scramble. Put together a hearty meal using any of the four Blue Zones Breakfast Basics: cooked whole grains, fruit & veggie smoothies, beans, and tofu scrambles.
Do Blue Zones eat dessert?
Instead of sugary treats, Blue Zones residents tend to snack on foods like nuts, packed with fiber and healthy fats, or reach for nutritious fruits for some natural sweetness.
What kind of bread do they eat in blue zones?
People in Blue Zones areas eat very little bread, but when they do, they predominantly eat sourdough. Unlike other breads made from white flour, sourdough bread doesn’t cause spikes in blood sugar. Substitute sourdough or 100% whole-grain bread for white bread, and be mindful of your serving size.
