#6: What Are The Healthy Foods?
Every meal is a choice. And you’d be surprised how impactful a single meal can be in the context of longevity. But the reality is that one, single meal has the potential to make you either live longer, or less or just have no effect on your health whatsoever.
Since we’re all about living longer, what are the foods that we should look into eating on the daily?
Let us assume that we’re eating three meals a day and keeping hydrated with at least 2 L (women) and 3 L (men) of water per day.
Plant Foods: Eat Daily
1: Beans
Recommended intake: 3 servings per day
Beans have historically been associated with better health. Outcomes of the largest study testing how effective beans were at preventing cancer found that beans were so powerful in this context, it had experts recommend that beans and/or wholegrains be consumed with every meal.
We often say that your plate should contain a large proportion of vegetables, but should also include a sizeable portion of protein too. Luckily, beans are technically part of both groups. But they are also loaded with fiber, folate (vitamin B9) and potassium.
Legumes have been associated with slimmer waists, lower blood pressure and may even match (or beat) calorie cutting for slimming tummy fat, if not also regulating blood sugar, insulin and cholesterol levels.
Top choices: tofu and tempeh (both high in protein), lentils, chickpeas, black beans, Adzuki beans, green beans, black-eyed peas, snow peas, or green peas. Pastas made with bean-flours can be used (in moderation).
2: Fruit
Recommended intake: 3 servings per day (1 of which is from berries)
The largest study investigating diet and mortality established a link between fruit intake and longevity. And for this reason, experts have recommended at least three servings of fruit per day (so one with every meal).
But technically we need four servings per day, because if you fancy living long, then you need to make berries an everyday thing in your diet. Berries are the healthiest fruits in the world, partly due to their plant pigments. They average nearly 10 times more antioxidants than other fruits and vegetables (and exceed 50 times more than animal-based foods).
Top choices: blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. Then, apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, clementines, dates, figs, grapefruit, kiwi, lemons, limes, mangos, nectarines, olives, oranges, papaya, passion fruit, peaches, pears, plums, pomegranate, prunes, watermelon
Blueberries get an honorable mention here. Blueberries are pound-for-pound the best fruits out there. They reduce inflammation while curbing sugar cravings. Blueberries are also loaded with antioxidants that keep your cells healthy. Have them as a snack or in some Greek Yogurt.
3: Vegetables
Recommended intake: liberal use of green vegetables + 2 servings of crucifers+ 2 servings of coloured).
Leafy greens turned were found to have the strongest protection against major chronic diseases, including up to about a 20 % reduction in risk in cardiovascular events per serving.
Top choices: arugula, collard greens, kale, spinach, Swiss chard.
Cruciferous vegetables protect us from DNA damage, prevent cancer spread, prevent autism, treat type 2 diabetes, protect us from pollutants and improve the activity of our liver detox enzymes. This property, it is often thought, is attributed to sulforaphane (almost exclusively found in crucifers).
Top choices: bok choy, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, watercress
Coloured vegetables offer a wide array of health benefits, depending on the colour (different colours = different anti-oxidants found within the food). Therefore, go crazy. Add as many varying colours in your plate as possible.
Top choices: artichokes, asparagus, beets, bell peppers, carrots, garlic, mushrooms, onions, purple potatoes, pumpkin, sea vegetables (like nori), squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini
4: Nuts And Seeds
Recommended intake: 2 servings per day (1 from flaxseeds)
The simple act of adding nuts in one’s diet, without any further adjustment, cuts the risk of stroke in half.. Additionally, those eating more nuts each day had a significantly lower risk of dying prematurely overall. Nuts are a favourite amongst the world’s centenarians, and are consumed in all five Blue Zones.
Unfortunately, not all nuts get the green light here. Be sure to get your fill of these glorious foods from my top choices listed below:
Top choices: almonds, almond butter, brazil nuts, coconut, hemp seeds, flaxseeds, macadamias, pecans, pistachios and walnuts.
You can also opt to drink almond milk and/or coconut milk in place of animal-based dairy, although soy milk has more protein.
5: Whole Grains
Recommended intake: 1 servings per day
Whole grains contain complex carbohydrates, protein, healthy plant fat, and antioxidants and other health-promoting nutrients. There are some diets out there that advise against eating grains, but this advice is not based on science.
There are claims that grains cause inflammation, but well-done studies that show that grains in their whole form actually prevent and decrease inflammation. Many studies, including Harvard’s Nurses’ Health Study, show that people who eat whole grains daily have longer lives; and a reduced risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and strokes.
In a three meal a day plan, try having your whole grain servings in the first two, leaving the last meal of the day as the meal with the lowest carb content (unless it follows an intense training session).
Top choices: barley, buckwheat, millet, oats, quinoa, rye, sourdough bread, whole-wheat pasta
6: Herbs and Spices
Recommended intake: use liberally
Berries are second only to herbs and spices as the most antioxidant-packed food category. These foods are, essentially, a whole pack of anti-oxidants in a pinch. Try and include a variety of them with every, single meal. Even in the ‘sweeter’ stuff, such as oatmeal, wherein you could use cinnamon.
7: Vinegar
Recommended intake: use moderately with every meal
Adding vinegar to meals not only lowers blood sugar and insulin responses, but it also increases helps you feel more full. This is only made possible because of a powerful ingredient found in vinegar. A polyphenol called resveratrol.
Many cultures have taken advantage of this and regularly mix vinegar with high-glycemic foods. Think sushi rice in Japan, a variety of sourdough breads in Europe made with vinegar, and dipping bread into balsamic in Mediterranean cuisines.
Animal Foods: Eat In Moderation
1: Dairy
Recommended intake: 3 servings per week
While dairy is often been consumed in long-living populations, it is not done ridiculously often. Still, in these populations where longevity is kind of a thing, cow’s milk is seldom consumed. Rather, they go for sheep or goat milk.
Research has shown how these cheeses actually enhance the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from other food because of their positive impact on the gut. In addition, owing to the reduced lactose content, they are far more digestible. The lactose content in this cheese is about 12 % less per cup, even less when it’s made into yogurt. Most natural (unflavoured, unsweetened) yogurt can be incorporated as part of a balanced diet.
Both sheep and goat milk also contain good amounts of pre-biotics which your gut buddies love dearly.
And if you’re looking for nice, low-calorie milk, make the switch from normal milk to soy milk now, before tomorrow.
2: Seafood
Recommended intake: 2 servings per week
America has burgers. Mexico has tacos. Malta has seafood. It’s our thing, it’s good for us, and we should be making use of it. On the subject of which people in the world truly lived the longest, pescatarians were the true winners.
Two or three servings of fish, per week, is considered ample to draw in most of the nutritional benefits of having consumed fish, regularly. And which fish are best? None other than the SMASH group (Salmon, Mackerel, Anchovies, Sardines, and Herring).
3: Eggs (Pasture-raised)
Recommended intake: 3 servings per week
Eggs are often a point of contention when it comes to whether they actually benefit your health or not. In truth, they offer the whole package. To repeat, all the important nutrients mentioned in the intro are found in eggs, and in the exact proportion we need them.
Merely eating two eggs per day covered a whopping 10 – 30 % of the vitamin requirement for humans. Egg consumption was even associated with a low risk of cardiovascular disease:
In 2018; the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition saw that there was actually no difference in cholesterol scores or blood pressure markings between people who ate 12 eggs per week and those who ate 2 eggs per week, even after a 6 month follow up.
Also In 2018; Heart, who examined the eating habits of 416, 000 people all aged over 50, found that subjects who routinely ate eggs had a lower risk of death from stroke (- 28 %) and heart disease (- 18 %) when compared to those who did not eat eggs.
4: Meat And Poultry
Recommended intake: 2 servings per week (opt for leaner cuts)
Yes, meat. No, not every day. I am an advocate for the use of pasture-raised meats, yet, most long-living populations consume such foods in low amounts, with blue-zone dwellers consuming meat once per week or on special occasions. My choice of meats includes:
Grass-fed beef/lamb; which is a good source of protein, vitamins, and the good things
Pasture-raised poultry; is an excellent source of lean protein
When going for meats, always go for grass-fed, which comes from cows having spent their entire life on a pasture, and is normally identified in its having less marbling.
The fat is often tinged with yellow, indicating a greater presence of Vitamin E and essential fats.
Animal sources, particularly beef, acquired from sustainable, regenerative farming methods, fed a natural diet, and touched by the sun are filled with nutrients. Yet, meats have been notoriously overconsumed in Western civilizations, much like ours.
One can apply one firm rule when seeking out a state of wellness: If it doesn’t nourish our bodies or our soul, eliminate it.
With the above list in mind, we now know what foods fit the bill.
