What can I learn from centenarians?
What can I learn from centenarians?
From a personal and family point of view, I can look to grandparents and aunts from my mother’s side. My grandmother, Ba-chan, lived to be 96 y.o. while two aunts are now 98 and 96 y.o. I can’t really take anything from my parents because they succumbed to automobile crashes either immediately or delayed by a few years. Ba-chan lived a busy but relaxed life, and always had her family nearby. Besides puttering around her home, she liked to talk with family and friends; her only hobby that I remember well was playing a card game that involved lots of loud talk, laughter and slamming her cards on the table while cursing in Japanese. From her tone of voice, I took it to be cursing but I can’t be sure because I know only a few words of Japanese. She immigrated to BC from Japan as young woman and as you would expect her diet was a mixture of Canadian and Japanese style food. Her supper might have had salmon, white rice and a variety of vegetables- cooked, raw or pickled. Salt would have been applied liberally, either from a salt shaker or in soy sauce (shoyu). She loved ice cream and would eat it every day if it was available. My aunts seem to eat very similar meals, with fish and chicken being the main meats for protein and beans such as soy beans in tofu being the vegetable protein. There always seems to be a good variety of vegetables, and the carbohydrate source is primarily white rice with some noodles thrown in.
Another source of information about centenarians is the literature gathered on older populations around the world. My first instinct was to look at Georgians of Eurasia, not the USA. They once had a reputation as having the oldest seniors in the world but that seems to have yielded to the idea many Georgians added years to their ages in order to avoid military service in the many wars that have been fought in that area. So now I have turned to people residing in the “Blue Zones” of the world. This concept appears to have originated in the work of Gianni Pes and Michel Poulain who identified Sardinia as an area with the highest concentration of male centenarians. In their work, Pes and Poulain drew blue circles around the most relevant and referred this as the blue zone. This has been continued by Dan Buettner who has spearheaded studies in these hot spots of aging and has written best selling books such as The Blue Zones, The Blue Zones Solution, Thrive and Blue Zones of Happiness. The five Blue Zones of the world are Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece, and Loma Linda, California. While my focus herein is on food, they identified a number of characteristics that appear to contribute to long lives of residents of the Blue Zones. Perhaps more importantly the centenarians in the blue zones areas enjoy lower incidences of chronic conditions including obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and dementia.
This what they call the Power 9 Lifestyle Habits of the World’s Healthiest, Longest-Lived People
1. Move Naturally. They don’t pump iron, run marathons or join gyms. Instead, they live in environments that require movement for everyday activities such as socializing, housework and gardening.
2. Purpose in life. They know what they are doing and why.
3. Down Shift. They participate in stress breakers. Okinawans take a few moments each day to remember their ancestors, Adventists pray, Ikarians take a nap and Sardinians do happy hour.
4. 80% Rule. Stop eating when your stomach is 80 percent full.
5. Plant Slant. Eat mostly plants.
6. Wine. People in all zones (except Adventists) drink alcohol moderately and regularly. 1-2 glasses/day in a social setting
7. Belong. Most Blue Zone centenarians participate in some faith-based practices or equivalent.
8. Loved Ones First. This means spouses, children and grandchildren are nearby and respected.
9. Right Tribe. The world’s longest lived people usually have circles of supporting friends. Various governments have acknowledged the importance of having connections by making loneliness a priority; for example, the UK appointed a Minister of Loneliness in 2016.
While all 9 points seem relevant, it’s 4, 5 and 6 that are germane to this blog. The key ingredients in the Blue Zone diet would be whole grains, nuts, beans, olive oil, fruit and vegetables. This is a starting list according to Stefani Sassos for Good Housekeeping.
Produce
Fruit: apples, bananas, berries, grapes, oranges, papaya, pineapple, plums, watermelon, etc
Vegetables: bell peppers, beets, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, chard, collard greens, cucumber, garlic, green beans, kale, onions, potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, etc.
Protein
Beans & legumes: black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils, etc.
Eggs (up to two to four times per week)
Fish (up to three small servings a week): anchovies, salmon, cod, swordfish, tuna, sardines, etc.
Goat milk and goat-based dairy products
Nuts: almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, peanuts, walnuts, etc.
Seeds: pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, etc.
Tofu, extra-firm
Grains & Pantry Staples
Barley
Brown Rice
Coffee
Dried spices and fresh herbs
Oatmeal, preferably steel-cut
Olive oil
Quinoa
Red wine
Tea
100% Whole wheat, sprouted grain bread, and sourdough bread
In the popular press, current healthy diets often emphasize or de-emphasize one of the macronutrients- carbohydrate, protein or fat. I haven’t yet found such a pattern among the five Blue Zones; perhaps a reader will be able to help us out.
Another thing to consider is that the idea of Blue Zones has been challenged by some who think that the data may be compromised by the lack of birth certificates in some areas. This possibility has struck close to home because when my maternal grandmother and her non-twin sister were asked their ages, they would tell you the same number. We never knew which one was correct.
Sources of information:
Stefani Sassos https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/a32686398/blue-zone-diet/
https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2019/08/06/are-supercentenarians-mostly-superfrauds/
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