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What do centenarians around the world eat?

MrsA2 said:
I thought there is a school of thought that it is, in some people, a build up of carbs over time that then go on to become a problem. So, yes a few carbs or occasionally, but constant, repeated over eating of them is best avoided by most.
Like with most things there is vast range between None and Too Many
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1) I did not mention over eating

2) overeating any food group will eventually take it toll.
 
MrsA2 said:
My step mum got to 97 with no diabetes and a maintained an average weight
I think for most of her life she was pretty strict about 3 proper meals a day (mostly meat or fish and 2 or 3 veg), no snacking . She would allow 1 biscuit with a coffee, never cake except birthdays. Fairly little prepared stuff.. cooked most from scratch. it was just continuing habits from her childhood and wartime and she never fell into convenience food habits .Fruit was only when seasonal and cheap. Exotic meant rare and expensive, not peaches or strawberres all year round.
She brought up 3 boys who are all slim and nondiabetic and now in 70s.

When I look back I think those "old fashioned ways" might have been right.
No nuggets or chips in oils, little processed foods, it was OK to be hungry until next meal time etc
Today advertising and marketing sells us food they want us to buy, supermarkets don't provide just what we need and no more, they are continually pushing more into us.

Sorry.. went off on a rant...!
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That sounds like the perfect recipe for lifelong health. Thanks for sharing!
 
lucylocket61 said:
Carbs are not damaging for those who are not diabetics. Just a dairy products are not damaging for those who have no lactose intolerance, or nuts are great for those without a nut allergy.

I wish we could get past the thinking that carbs are bad for everyone, at all times.
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Carb intolerance is a bit different from a nut allergy though and probably far more preventable. But I guess once someone becomes diabetic it is a useful way to think of it - that you now have an allergy to carbs so you keep away from them at all costs. But you unless you are eating a carnivore diet you will probably still be ingesting some small amount of carbs.
 
MrsA2 said:
My step mum got to 97 with no diabetes and a maintained an average weight
I think for most of her life she was pretty strict about 3 proper meals a day (mostly meat or fish and 2 or 3 veg), no snacking . She would allow 1 biscuit with a coffee, never cake except birthdays. Fairly little prepared stuff.. cooked most from scratch. it was just continuing habits from her childhood and wartime and she never fell into convenience food habits .Fruit was only when seasonal and cheap. Exotic meant rare and expensive, not peaches or strawberres all year round.
She brought up 3 boys who are all slim and nondiabetic and now in 70s.

When I look back I think those "old fashioned ways" might have been right.
No nuggets or chips in oils, little processed foods, it was OK to be hungry until next meal time etc
Today advertising and marketing sells us food they want us to buy, supermarkets don't provide just what we need and no more, they are continually pushing more into us.

Sorry.. went off on a rant...!
Click to expand...
It sounds rather like how I was brought up. My mum ate (and fed us!) that way all her life and lived to her mid 90s. I've slipped slightly as I've got older, but certainly haven't necessarily accepted or followed all the changes in dietary recommendations that we've had thrust upon us: e.g. low fat, constant snacks rather than 3 decent meals a day, and eating five a day fruit & veg. Which has held me in good stead when I started LCHF.
 
JohnEGreen said:
Christian Mortensen On his 115th birthday said "Friends, a good cigar, drinking lots of good water, no alcohol, staying positive and lots of singing will keep you alive for a long time"


Okinawa has the world's highest proportion of centenarians they mostly practice Hara hachi bun me which is a form of long term caloric restriction.
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Christian Mortensen sounds a lot like George Burns.
 
JohnEGreen said:
Christian Mortensen On his 115th birthday said "Friends, a good cigar, drinking lots of good water, no alcohol, staying positive and lots of singing will keep you alive for a long time"


Okinawa has the world's highest proportion of centenarians they mostly practice Hara hachi bun me which is a form of long term caloric restriction.
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They seem to consume a lot of K2 in the form of natto. A stinky bowl of muck.
 
Tophat1900 said:
They seem to consume a lot of K2 in the form of natto. A stinky bowl of muck.
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Read "the blue zone" by Dan Buettner "lessons for living longer from the people who've lived the longest". This tells you what centenarians in various geographical locations eat. NB I have no connection with the author or publishers etc.
 
Tannith said:
Read "the blue zone" by Dan Buettner "lessons for living longer from the people who've lived the longest". This tells you what centenarians in various geographical locations eat. NB I have no connection with the author or publishers etc.
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I've seen the site, but don't think I'd ever bother buying the book. Not my cup of tea reading wise. However, thanks for the suggestion.
 
bulkbiker said:
Its also been debunked quite a few times.
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The book or the site?

I can remember filling out the questionnaire which I thought was very basic and rather poorly done. It all seemed rather rubbishy to me.
 
Quality of life needs to go with longevity. All very well being Captain Tom but living as a near vegetable in a miserable nursing home is not something I would want, just to get the telegram.
 
bulkbiker said:
The entire "blue zone" hypothesis.
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Now that you mention it, I looked up the thread where I did the blue zones test.... which was about a year ago. Apparently I had 3yrs left to live due to a lack of fruit and vegetable intake. Absolute nonsense.
 
In an attempt to get back on track with @Cocosilk 's original question --

Cocosilk said:
This is fascinating. An interview with a man who studies them
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I have read that the Mediterranean Diet can help with longevity.

I don't know about specific ways of eating for longevity; I do know that my mother lived to be 90 and her diet was well rounded (like herself) but she did not eat a lot of fish, I don't imagine she ever ate olive oil; she did use margarine instead of butter, skim milk instead of whole, black coffee without cream, and she loved chocolate, chili dogs, and ice cream. My father, on a fairly high-carb diet due to diverticulitis, lived to be 89. His father lived to be 70-something, but his eldest brother died of a heart attack at 57 (he smoked).
 
What do centenarians around the world eat what ever that suits them depending on where they live and their cultural background so probably there are no dietary habits common to them all that explains longevity they more than likely eat and live like most of the people around them they just happen live longer than average lifetimes.
 
bulkbiker said:
Its also been debunked quite a few times.
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By whom (apart from yourself), and on what grounds. Evidence please.
And has it been debunked because the centenarians don't actually eat what the researcher said, or because the debunkers don't fancy changing their own diets?
I don't fancy eating bitter melons myself, but that wouldn't make me suggest that the centenarians didn't eat them, and the researcher was making it up.
 
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