What do centenarians around the world eat?

[Cocosilk]

This is fascinating. An interview with a man who studies them

 

[JohnEGreen]

Well the Queen is getting very close to that age group now and one thing I do Know she eats very little of are carbohydrates.

Her daily diet is mainly carbohydrate-free, consisting of grilled meat – usually chicken – or fish (she loves sole), served with two vegetables or a bowl of salad. Fruit follows. She is not keen on wine, but often finishes the day with a Dubonnet and gin cocktail or so I have read.

 

[MrsA2]

Like vegetarians eat vegetables, do centenarians eat centuries?

 

[Struma]

My uneducated guess, Rice then Bread.
God Bless those that are edentulous.

 

[JohnEGreen]

My uneducated guess, Rice then Bread.
God Bless those that are edentulous.

They could always get someone to chew their meat for them. Or even put it through a blender.

 

[bulkbiker]

This is fascinating. An interview with a man who studies them

"Lots of meat"
"They all ate pig"
'Nuff said.

 

[Bluetit1802]

My grandma almost made 100. Her favourite dish was onion pie and steeped peas. She also swore by a small glass of sherry daily.

 

[Tophat1900]

My grandma almost made 100. Her favourite dish was onion pie and steeped peas. She also swore by a small glass of sherry daily.

Mine was a sherry drinker also, perhaps that is the secret

 

[Hotpepper20000]

My Maternal Grandma had snaps in her coffee once a day and lived to be over 90....... mmm I better start now.

 

[Robbity]

Like vegetarians eat vegetables, do centenarians eat centuries?

Carnivorous centenarians probably eat centurions...

 

[JohnEGreen]

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.

 

[ianf0ster]

This is fascinating. An interview with a man who studies them

I like to think that I have quite an open mind, but couldn't stand to keep watching after the guy not only said that white rice and starchy carbs were f=good, but also said Fructose is good , claimed it doesn't get processed in the liver, and that it gets turned into glucose in the upper part of the small intestine and that glucose is good for us since we need it as fuel!

 

[Hotpepper20000]

I like to think that I have quite an open mind, but couldn't stand to keep watching after the guy not only said that white rice and starchy carbs were f=good, but also said Fructose is good , claimed it doesn't get processed in the liver, and that it gets turned into glucose in the upper part of the small intestine and that glucose is good for us since we need it as fuel!

Can we have a eye roll emoji please

 

[Cocosilk]

I like to think that I have quite an open mind, but couldn't stand to keep watching after the guy not only said that white rice and starchy carbs were f=good, but also said Fructose is good , claimed it doesn't get processed in the liver, and that it gets turned into glucose in the upper part of the small intestine and that glucose is good for us since we need it as fuel!

Well, it's probably not untrue if the metabolic state allows it. Surely not for people with diabetes though. I just found this interesting that people can live to 100 and be eating carbs all their lives. But it's quite different from the rubbish we've all been fed in the form of processed foods, sugars and oils. So I guess if you manage to spend your life in a remote part of the world and grow your own food, the human body is capable of dealing with a certain amount of carbohydrate. It's a shame we've all been poisoned by an excessive amount of it early in our lives I guess.

 

[JohnEGreen]

Well, it's probably not untrue if the metabolic state allows it. Surely not for people with diabetes though. I just found this interesting that people can live to 100 and be eating carbs all their lives. But it's quite different from the rubbish we've all been fed in the form of processed foods, sugars and oils. So I guess if you manage to spend your life in a remote part of the world and grow your own food, the human body is capable of dealing with a certain amount of carbohydrate. It's a shame we've all been poisoned by an excessive amount of it early in our lives I guess.

Yet quite a number of centenarians do develop diabetes T2 they tend to get all the same illnesses every body gets but later in life.

 

[Cocosilk]

Yet quite a number of centenarians do develop diabetes T2 they tend to get all the same illnesses every body gets but later in life.

The first study I could find suggests 12.5% of centenarians have diabetes. And then 26% are probably undiagnosed.
But that still leaves a very large majority who apparently make it to 100 years old eating carbs but somehow do not develop diabetes. But I guess we will never know exactly how that happens with all the other variables, right?

I'm mostly thinking about this as a mother of three small children wondering how many carbohydrates and in what forms are healthy to eat so I can feed my kids in a way that gives them a better start than what I had.

 

[MrsA2]

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...!

 

[lucylocket61]

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.

 

[JohnEGreen]

Everything in excess can be damaging diabetic or not and a fair few people who are not diabetic after excessive consumption of carbs quite often become diabetic admittedly a lot don't but it seems a lot more are day by day.

 

[MrsA2]

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.

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