6 popular foods favored in lands with long-lived people

The longest-living people on Earth share many healthy habits in common, including a diet rich in whole, plant-based foods, healthy fats, and fiber.

Areas from Japan, Costa Rica to Italy with high percentages of people living to 100 are called Blue Zones. It’s not hard to incorporate Blue Zone foods into your life as most are easily accessible like beans, greens, honey…

Olive oil

It's no secret that olive oil is a staple of the Mediterranean diet, popular in Blue Zones including Sardinia (Italy) and Ikaria (Greece).

Olive oil can be used in salad dressings, sauces, and sautéing vegetables. It contains unsaturated fatty acids, which can help balance cholesterol levels, and antioxidants linked to a reduced risk of many diseases, including some cancers.

According toInsider, research shows that replacing butter or processed fats with olive oil is linked to better heart health.

Spices and herbs

An important element of Blue Zone cuisine is the creative and artistic use of herbs and spices. These foods provide nutrients and antioxidants with disease-fighting properties.

Herbs and spices make food taste better without the use of additives like sugar, salt, fat and artificial flavors.

In the Blue Zones, people also make their own tea from garden plants including rosemary, sage, and mallow.

Honey

Too much sugar can be bad for your health. It's also a key ingredient in ultra-processed foods, which have been linked to cancer, heart disease, and other health problems.

Blue Zone residents can live to be 100 without missing out on sweets, in part because they make a healthy habit of eating raw honey. Research shows that enjoying a little unprocessed honey provides antioxidants and can lower cholesterol.

Bean

The dominant food in the Blue Zones is beans. They appear in dishes like tofu in Okinawa, Japan, and minestrone soup in Ikaria, Greece.

Cheap, easy to buy, versatile, beans contain complex carbohydrates and fiber to help keep you full and provide balanced energy. They are also an excellent source of plant protein.

Nuts

The Blue Zone diet doesn’t mean giving up snacks. But you won’t see centenarians reaching for a bag of chips. Nuts are a favorite, from pistachios in Costa Rica to almonds in Italy and Greece.

They are a source of essential minerals and unsaturated fats as well as some protein. Nuts are high in fiber, which is important for gut health and metabolism. One analysis found that people who ate nuts could add 10 years to their life expectancy.

Starchy vegetables

In addition to green leafy vegetables, starchy vegetables such as potatoes and squash are also chosen by Green Zone residents for their source of complex carbs that provide energy.

For example, purple sweet potatoes from Okinawa are packed with vitamins and minerals and are an important food source in areas where other sources of nutrients are difficult to find. In Nicoya, Costa Rica, the traditional diet includes squash along with corn and beans. That combination provides all the essential amino acids needed to form a complete protein./.