I announce Singapore is a new Blue Zone it's in the book it's a manufactured Blue Zone my specialty has been solving ancient Mysteries National Geographic Explorer Den buettner is back with a new Netflix documentary live to 100 secrets of the blue zones this time he has newly discovered the sixth Blue Zone and it is Singapore in this video we are going to focus on the foods that centenarians in the Blue Zone have been eating all their lives we will focus on top 5 foods that are inspiring achievable and affordable for anyone around the world adopting
some of their habits you may also be able to live healthily and happily till the age of 100 and Beyond what is the Blue Zone blue zones are a handful of places around the world where people live longer than average seemingly without any strict diets expensive supplements or rigorous routines what differs is that Americans May pursue Health but the people in these blue zones the longevity ensues these long-lived people are simply a product of their environment the original five blue zones are Okinawa Japan Sardinia Italy nikoya Costa Rica icaria Greece and Loma Linda California United
States these areas have culture and tradition that organically help their residents lead healthy lives with the new Blue Zone Singapore it is a manufactured Blue Zone where health conscious policies help their residents achieve the same result healthy long lives so let's discover what the habits are with an emphasis on the dietary habits that you can easily take home with you but first let's quickly discuss the crucial exercise walking every time they go to work or a friend's house or out to eat at occasions of walk they're doing housework and yard work by hand they tend
to have Gardens out back so my Team figures they're moving naturally every 20 minutes or so when you add up the caloric spend throughout the day it's way more than if they worked all day when they went to the gym and along the way they're keeping their metabolism at a higher level so they're burning fat without thinking about it since 1960 Singapore's life expectancy has grown by 20 years now the average life expectancy is 85 years which is one of the highest in the world over the past decade the number of centenarians in Singapore doubled
the key reason for singaporeans to see a huge jump is because its citizens are kept active driving your car is taxed walking is subsidized they're very hard on drugs Singapore has walkways that protect residents from the Sun helping them get to between ten thousand to twenty thousand steps a day in Singapore driving a car is taxed heavily and walking is subsidized with its efficient transportation system in Parks when we explore other blue zones we see similar active daily habits even at the Golden Age the residents continue to enjoy working or moving about all day long
this keeps the metabolism high from dawn to dusk did you know that the bare minimum exercise for adults is 15 minutes a day but only 23 percent of Americans reach the minimum so let's all get moving which should also help us eat and digest our Foods blue Zone's top 5 Foods over two decades of research Den Butner reverse engineered longevity he identified blue zones and examined what Top Foods the centenarians in blue zones have been eating throughout their lives here are top 5 foods for longevity that you can Implement in your kitchen today first eat
plants if you want to know what 100 year old ate to live to be a hundred you would have to know what they were eating their whole lives so we've got dietary surveys over the past hundred years in all five blue zones and we found that overwhelmingly they're eating a whole food plant-based diet in the blue zones people enjoy a remarkable variety of garden fresh vegetables in their Prime season and cleverly preserve the Surplus through pickling or drying ensuring a year-round Supply astonishingly their diet primarily consists of plants comprising roughly 95 to 100 of their
daily intake Among the Stars of this green lineup are the vibrant leafy greens like spinach kale beet and turnip tops chard and collards when it comes to cooking oils Blue Zone residents lean towards plant-based options while our research team can't definitively claim that olive oil is the sole healthy plant-based Choice it's undeniably the most popular one Within These communities research findings demonstrate that consuming olive oil can boost good cholesterol levels while reducing bad cholesterol in Korea we discovered that middle-aged individuals who consumed approximately six tablespoons of olive oil daily seem to reduce their risk of
mortality by half for those of you who can't part with meat entirely there are some encouraging news they do eat meat but surprisingly little meet about five times per month and we know that because we've done a worldwide average of these dietary studies in all blue zones over the last hundred years so meat is kind of a celebratory food in four out of the five blue zones meat does find its way onto the plate but here's the twist it's used sparingly meats are reserved for special occasions as a small side dish or as a flavor
enhancer for their meals research even suggests that 30 year old vegetarian Adventists May potentially extend their lifespan by up to eight years compared to their meat-eating counterparts so there's flexibility Within These dietary practices to suit individual preferences I now hear your question but do we not require some protein beans get a daily dose of beans one handful of nuts is worth about two years of life expectancy and if you're eating a cup of beans a day you're probably not only getting all your protein in most your fiber but also It's associated with living an extra
four years beans served as the Cornerstone of longevity diets worldwide black beans and nikoia lentils garbanzo and white beans in the Mediterranean and soybeans found in extra firm tofu in Okinawa in the blue zones people consume at least four times as many beans as the average American beans are true superfoods they boast an impressive composition approximately 21 protein 77 complex carbohydrates the type that provides sustained energy avoiding the quick spikes from refined carbs like white flour and just a small fraction of fat moreover they're a rich source of fiber two-thirds of their calories come from
complex carbohydrates that is the number one food stuff for longevity beans are not only cost effective and versatile but also come in various textures delivering a higher nutrient density program than any other food on the planet furthermore beans Encompass most of the essential vitamins and minerals you need Whole Food people in blue zones traditionally eat the whole food Singapore is no exception in this new Blue Zone the government actively supports this practice by subsidizing nutritious Whole Foods this incentivizes people to buy Whole Foods with abundant nutrients over more highly processed foods a concise definition of
whole food would describe it as a single ingredient item whether raw cooked ground or fermented and avoid of extensive processing typically Blue Zone dishes consist of just a handful of ingredients skillfully combined remarkably the majority of the foods enjoyed by centenarians in the blue zones grow within a mere 10 mile radius of their homes their diet includes raw fruits and vegetables self-ground whole grains cooked at a leisurely pace and the incorporation of ancient fermentation techniques to enhance nutrient bioavailability this practice is seen in their consumption of tofu sourdough bread wine and pickled vegetables with a
noticeable absence of artificial preservatives in their diet snack on nuts snack on nuts when it comes to snacks eat two handfuls of nuts per day a handful of nuts is the average amount that Blue Zone centenarians consume almonds in Korea and Sardinia pistachios and nikoya and all nuts with the Adventists the Adventist Health study too found that nut eaters outlive non-nut eaters by an average of two to three years for an optimal nut mix consider including almonds rich in vitamin E and magnesium peanuts abundant in protein and folate a vital B vitamin Brazil nuts notable
for their selenium content a mineral with demonstrated Effectiveness in prostate cancer protection cashews a great source of magnesium and walnuts packed with Alpha linoleic acid the sole omega-3 fat found in plant-based Foods notably walnuts peanuts and almonds are particularly effective in helping to lower cholesterol levels slash sugar in Singapore what Den Butner calls Blue Zone 2.0 they have manifestly produced the outcome we want they just live in a place where healthy food is subsidized and junk food is taxed it applies to sugar intake on a systematic scale Singapore's government reduced the amount of sugar in
sweetened Beverages and added healthy food labels to items with limited amounts of sugar fat and sodium Dan points out that this helps the citizens to mindlessly consume less sugar people in the blue zones eat sugar intentionally not by habit or accident they consume about the same amount of naturally occurring sugars as North Americans do but only about a fifth as much added sugar no more than seven teaspoons of sugar a day it's hard to avoid sugar it occurs naturally in fruits vegetables and even milk but that's not the problem between 1970 and 2000 the American
food supply witnessed a staggering 25 increase in added sugar content this translates to approximately 22 teaspoons of added sugar per person daily hidden sugars can be found in soda yogurt and sauces excessive sugar consumption has been linked to immune system suppression insulin spikes leading to diabetes reduced fertility weight gain and even a shortened lifespan limit sugar added to coffee tea or other foods to no more than four teaspoons per day skip any product that lists sugar among its first five ingredients while food is just one piece of the puzzle contributing to the centenarians in blue
zones the presence of a robust support system access to Quality Healthcare like in Singapore and Loma Linda and intergenerational gatherings in all blue zones play pivotal roles in fostering happy and healthy lives people who wake up with a direction in life are living about eight years longer than people who are rudderless nonetheless making positive changes to our diet might be the simplest step we can take towards achieving a healthy long life
