Blue zones are the mystical places on Earth where longevity is the norm. It’s 10 times more likely to be a centenarian in the blue zones. Their life expectancy is a dozen more years than ours.
So, it’s only natural to be curious about these places, the people who live there, and the habits they follow to live a long life.
Dan Buettner is a longevity expert who coined the term blue zone, he has been researching these zones for more than three decades and has written over 8 books that can help you add some blue zone magic to your life.
Here are the longevity-boosting eating habits he follows daily for a better health span.
1. The Secret Ingredient For Better Longevity
The first meal of the day will set the tone of the entire day, if you eat an unhealthy and heavy breakfast you’ll feel lethargic throughout the day.
Its effects will hamper your productivity which leads to a slow work day. So, it’s essential to start your day with the right nutrition.
Buettner starts his day with a dish that the world’s longest-living family used to eat every day. The Melis family, nine siblings with a collective age of 861 years who live in Sardina highlands ate this meal every day for lunch.
A chunky minestrone made from three beans and garden vegetables. There are different variations of this dish but the one thing that remained constant is the beans — garbanzo, pinto, white bean.
Buettner uses these three beans, five colorful vegetables, herbs, and spices to make this delicious longevity-boosting dish.
He makes this magical minestrone every weekend and meal preps it for daily breakfast in separate glass containers. He enjoys it with sourdough toast dribbled with olive oil.
Also, he eats beans twice daily as they are a common factor in all the blue zones. These nutrient-dense foods lower inflammation and protect you from cholesterol and diabetes.
Here’s what you can do:-
- Add beans to your recipes to make them healthier and more flavourful.
- Keep boiled and ready-to-use beans on hand for better meal prep.
- Try to eat them at least once daily.
2. An Everyday Diet Habit From The Blue Zone
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
Buettner doesn’t break his fast till 11 am. He starts his day with a hearty brunch that comprises magical Sardinian minestrone and toasted bread.
When you eat is just as important as what you eat. Most centenarians ate twice a day in a window of 10–12 hours.
Who would’ve thought that centenarians didn’t have allocated snack time to stuff their faces with junk food? It’s a shocker.
Intermittent fasting has been long linked to longevity, it improves cellular damage, boosts heart health, and gives you anti-inflammatory benefits. Buettner follows this eating pattern by having two meals daily at 11 am and 7 pm.
Intermittent fasting is an eating habit that’s taken the world by storm. Thanks to its innumerable qualities, it’s become uber popular in the last few decades.
Also, it’s one of the best habits to maintain a healthy weight and keep your caloric intake in check. And the golden seal of approval from the blue zones has made it an evergreen diet trend.
Here’s what you can do:-
- Try to fast for at least 10 hours every day before you break your fast.
- Sip on tea and coffee during the fast to feel full.
3. The Only Restriction You Need To Follow
Blue Zone diet is simple and realistic and you can follow it easily without any hassle. There are only a few main food groups that they use.
And meat isn’t one of them.
It’s surprising because meat is an integral part of many cuisines. Most dishes are made around protein but not in the blue zones.
For centenarians in blue zones, meat is a delicacy that they enjoy once every week. They happily eat legumes, vegetables, fruits, and nuts in a protein-hungry world.
Adventist community in Loma Linda , a blue zone in America get their diet straight from the bible as legumes, seeds, and green plants.
Protein is essential for muscle growth but you can get the necessary dosage from a plant-based diet. That’s not a myth but a fact.
Buettner eats a 98% plant-based diet as he believes the best way to enjoy meat is once a week.
Here’s what you can do:-
- Cut out processed meats from your diet and switch to healthier options like chicken, pork, and lamb.
- Have one meat-free day every week, to enjoy a plant-based diet to the fullest.
4. An Eating Principle For Longer Healthspan
Buettner advocates that one must follow this basic principle to play a fair shot at longevity.
Stuffing yourself to the brim is the underlining rule for many holidays. We celebrate till we can no longer button up our trousers. Overeating shoves your longevity in the far unlikely future as it leads to obesity.
In Okinawa, they follow an eating practice that helps them combat overeating easily. They say, “Hara hachi bu” before eating.
This is the 80% rule, it teaches us to stop eating when we’re 80% full because it’s possible that by then we’ve eaten to a 100% capacity.
It takes our brains more than 15 minutes to register that we’re full, so the wise elders of Okinawa made it a point to remind themselves to stop when they were no longer hungry.
Here’s what you can do:-
- Eat more mindfully to know when you’re getting full.
- Have screen-less meals to focus better on your diet and eating habits.
- Stop eating when you’re no longer hungry not when you’re full.
5. A Delightful Evening Routine In The Blue Zones
The Melis family enjoyed their lunch with a small glass of wine daily. A 3oz glass that they sip on leisurely throughout lunch.
Wine for them is a social lubricant that helps everyone feel comfortable and not a poison to drown in one's sorrows.
Red wine is rich in polyphenols that prevent damage from oxidative stress and initiate anti-aging activity that supports longevity.
Centenarians take wine as a medication and not an indulgence, they sip on small glasses of wine for hours, connecting with folks over this delicious drink.
Buettner advises to have a small dose of red wine to boost longevity. He recommends limiting red wine to 1–2 glasses every day.
Here’s what you can do:-
- Enjoy a small glass of red wine every day.
Conclusion
You won’t guarantee longevity just by eating a blue zone diet, you also need to focus on improving your lifestyle.
Exercise, social connection, and hobbies all play a vital role in boosting longevity. And it helps if you know your life’s purpose.
Till then you can add these easy food habits to your diet to live a long life.
- Limit your meat consumption to a few times a week.
- Fast for at least 10 hours every day.
- Sip red wine daily with dinner.
- Follow the 80% rule.
- Eat beans daily.