Into the BLUE

Did you know there are five spots in the world where people live the longest and healthiest lives? Here’s what we can learn from their diets

Taking a trip abroad this summer? Depending on where you have decided to go, you could bring back more than a sun-kissed tan, souvenir snaps and happy memories. Incorporate some local eating habits into your diet and you could add years to your life – and super-healthy ones at that, especially if you’re off to the Med.

The Blue Zones are five destinations that have been identified by writer Dan Buettner as having an unusual number of people living longer than average – often past 100 years. And these residents enjoy supercharged wellbeing into older age, too. The actual locations are, arguably, less important than what they can tell us about a healthy lifestyle – in a nutshell, it should be largely plant-based. It’s probably no coincidence that in two of these regions, the islands of Sardinia and Ikaria, people eat a largely Mediterranean diet – we’ve known for years that this diet is the optimum for good health.

‘The diet is largely plant-based,’ explains GP Dr Sarah Brewer. ‘It combines relatively large amounts of vegetables, fruit, olive oil, fish, garlic, wholegrains, beans, nuts, seeds, bread and potatoes, a relatively low intake of red meat and a moderate consumption of red wine. It does not include large portions of pizza or pasta!’

And the beauty of it? ‘It’s relatively easy to start getting the health benefits,’ says Dr Brewer. ‘Simply eat more fruit, vegetables, beans and potatoes and more nuts and seeds. Select wholegrain bread and wholegrain cereals. Use olive oil rather than other cooking or dressing oils. Eat more fish and low to moderate amounts of dairy products and poultry. Eat only a little red meat, eggs four times a week or less, and wine in low to moderate amounts.’