social media is buzzing about eating for longevity thanks to the new Netflix show about Blue Zone so what are the diet secrets of communities that live to a 100 years young well let's bust out that Veno baby cuz we're going to find out hey everyone I'm Abby sharp welcome to aby's [Music] Kitchen today I'm going to be eating a blue zone of improv diet and discussing how specific dietary patterns may help you live into the triple digits but before we get started don't forget to subscribe and also check out my free Hunger crushing combo ebook
in the description below for some balanced meal inspiration I can't promise that you'll make it to 100 with these recipes but it's definitely an evidence-based chance so super quickly here blue zones is a term coined by Dan Butner to capture the specific geographical areas in the world with the most centenarians AKA the greatest concentration of people who are living past 100 so the five blue zones include okanawa in Japan NOA in Costa Rica accaria in Greece Sardinia in Italy and lomalinda in California and despite being situated literally all around the globe there were nine major
similarities or pillars in these communities as it pertains to movement outlook on life diet and connection I'm going to explain these with some examples as we go along but let's hop until breakfast because your girl is hungry so according to Dan's research a really Common Thread amongst a lot of the blue zones is the frequent consumption of coffee especially as a social experience with family and friends love this journey for us because as you guys know I need my coffee and apparently in aaria Greece they boil their coffee grounds instead of filtering them which is
said to just kind of like increase the beneficial antioxidants which are associated with a reduced risk of chronic disease interesting as for breakfast we are going to NOA Costa Rica for something called Gallop Pinto so basically we got some black beans we got some rice salsa all cooked together and then you can add in whatever veggies you've got I've got some bell peppers and some frozen squash and then sometimes it's served with eggs which I'm going to do to add a little bit of protein in there but sounds super simple and delish so in the
show Dan talks a lot about the importance of beans and legumes across blue zones especially in in Costa Rica the Mediterranean and in the vegetarian community of lomalinda California and this totally makes sense as one that he found that people lived in extra eight years for every ounce of legumes that they ate it also makes sense because we've all learned from a very young age that beans beans are good for the heart and I don't know I will take a little bit of farting for good heart health plus a huge bonus in this economy when
animal costs are literally through the roof okay so this was insanely easy to make Brody you get one I get one cuz in the blue zones it's all about Community it's all about sharing so grab that grab that let's take a little taster it is hot as hell it's actually pretty good very easy to drink I I didn't even put anything in it it's got like a nice smooth taste to it I love that bib up because I this is the wrong outfit for this meal I made him extra sloppy for me I know how
you skid like them sloppy that is so good the rice I wouldn't have thought i' do the rice but the rice I'm here for it's good you know normally whenever I eat breakfast or lunch I'm like sitting here scrolling through Tik Tok or reading comments or answering emails on my phone Etc but today we're living like the Blue Zone and that means really making an effort to slow down live presently in the moment and making major efforts to reduce stress and I don't know reading vicious troll comments as I try to have a basic meal
isn't exactly relaxing nor is excessive social media use generally good for public health so bye-bye loging off it's going to be a lonely meal but I think I'm going to enjoy it m m m coffee first now family is also a huge part of the blue zones there's a lot of generational housing going on and taking care of one's Elders is really built into the culture so like they don't put granny in a nursing home when they can have her move in with the rest of the gang get me out of here I'm not sure
I'm ready for that but I can give Grandma sharp a call I guess I got to turn on my phone for this Grandma where are you hi Ma happy birthday yeah you want to come by like oneish we got a hole we got a hole in a stuffy we need to deal with major emergency yep yep okay love you bye it is officially soup season and despite living in yearr round gorgeous Sunshine the sardinians Apparently love their Minon soup and I love that because it is a built-in hunger crushing combo with the beans that we
discussed and lots of fiber and antioxidant Rich veg and honestly one of my favorite meditative activities is to make soup so one of the tenants of the blue zones is to live with purpose whether that's investing in faith spirituality advocacy work or passion and cooking has really always been a passion of mine and it's one that I rarely get to exercise now that I have kids so making slow food like soup to me can be a really meditative ative experience now another thing that Dan points out is that folks in the blue zones are not
low carb they eat carbs they love life especially the Italians they do however focus on higher fiber or fermented carbohydrates more often so things like sweet potatoes in the okaga uh whole grains in lomalinda and sourdough Breads in Sardinia and again this makes sense yuck because the research suggests that folks who eat the most fiber reduce the risk of dying by 23% compared to those who eat the least now I feel like a whole grain bread would be slightly higher in fiber to pair with a little soup action but I am personally obsessed with sourdough
and it's uniquely beneficial because the fermentation increases the bioavailability of the nutrients it also lowers the gluten and the bread's glycemic index while feeding the good bacteria which is also associated with longevity okay so I know you guys were cring ining with how full I just packed that pot but I pulled it off guys and I used up all the left of reng in my fridge so that is a very big win in my books another big win is how ridiculously delicious and nutritious this looks that is so good oh that flavor just like it's
been cooking all day long a little dunk I'm not scared of s I'm crying cuz it's good but also cuz I definitely burnt the roof of my mouth worth it all right it is cool but it's not raining outside which is a huge bonus for a fall here in Canada so I feel like this calls for some joyful movement and this is really Central to the experience of communities in different blue zones so movement is intuitively and naturally built into their day often from doing like functional activities like gardening or dancing in the evenings or
just like walking up and down steep streets from the markets now I'm lucky to live in a somewhat walkable City so I do try to walk whenever possible and I do know that safe spaces for exercise are a privilege so obviously please just do your best with where you live poppy Poppy's my guard dog here she's not very good at it probably if we were to get into trouble I would be the one rescuing her but the girl needs to walk so let's move our bodies come on pops okay let's get started on dinner here
in inspired by okanawa Japan so in the show they reveal that purple sweet potatoes make up about 67% of the okanawa diet talk about not keto now purple sweet potatoes apparently have about twice the antioxidants as you know regular sweet potatoes thanks to the bright colorful anthocyanin compounds so I looked far and wide for a purple sweet potato I literally called 20 different grocery stores apparently they're not easy to find here in Canada so I did have to just settle for the regular old yam actually this is a sweet potato just a regular one but
anyway that's going to be my base and then on top I'm going to do some kind of like stir fry situation with tofu and some veg in there plus some miso soup on the side minimally processed plant-based proteins like tofu are really popular in the blue zones where generally meat consumption is quite low and again this totally makes sense soy products are rich in antioxidants called isoflavones which help to reduce the risk of heart disease and even some cancers like breast endometrial colon stomach and prostate cancer and fermented soy which is something that youd find
something like miso is associated with greater lifespan this looks and smells amazing and really could not be simpler to pull off super inexpensive super great for just using up whatever little leftovers and goodies you've got that is good another concept that is Central to the okan food philosophy is is something called harachi boom which not only sounds super adorable but essentially it means to eat until about 80% full in Dan's words it allows us to feel satiated without stuffed now when we think about our hunger and soti cues I do think that for a lot
of people it can be helpful to use the hunger fullness scale and harachi Buu is probably not going to feel the same to everyone and I also don't think that we need to make a hard and fast rule of like 80% but the idea here is to listen to your body and until content rather than letting yourself get to the point of feeling stuffed and uncomfortable oh how have I not made miso soup from a packet before this is so good all right lovely last but not least my favorite course dessert and we are living
our best lives here because that is what we do in the blue zones so that means a little Veno and I picked myself up these little Greek honey donuts called lum lumu luku mes lukumades lukumades please don't please don't kill me guys I I'm not Greek and that is hard to say lumu lumu lumu cadis lumads Google embarrassing let's let's listen lumu CAD pronounce it l oh ladis ladis lukumades how do you say it lukumades okay lukumades I got that and they look delicious they're basically like little honey soaked Donuts I mean how can you
go wrong with that and I got me some red wine what am I doing oh Abby this is so embarrassing I didn't even I didn't even take the the amate move I didn't even take the the wrapper off put it right I wasn't paying attention I was just talking yeah we will fix this guys we will fix this problem I haven't even had anything to drink yet this is a problem all right let's screw in again that's what she says anyways back to honey so honey is actually huge in the blue zones because it's rich
in antioxidants and it's been associated with lower blood pressure and heart health ditto with the wine um moderate wine consumption is also a very common fixture in a lot of blue zones again likely because of its antioxidants levels which basically LED itself to this j-shaped curve we see with alcohol consumption benefits and risk so there's like a sweet spot of about 100 gram of alcohol per week or about six glasses of wine per week where we see the lowest risk of heart disease or death folks who completely abstain have slightly higher risk and those who
drink a lot more have significantly higher risks I personally don't Advocate trying to get your antioxidants from wine but what I do think maybe really important and maybe playing into this longevity enhancing role here is that with with that glass of wine often comes human connection and socializing so one teaching that I find is quite consistent across blue zones is a recognition that social connection is really important for our health in the okanawa they call moay having a group of five friends in LMA Linda they've got a very strong faith-based community and they've got like
shared choir practice and in Sardinia they live with multiple Generations Under One Roof now research consistently shows that social relationships and Community actually extend our life so I say eat your dessert laugh with your friends and family and enjoy life and on that note Brody I know it's a Tuesday night but I feel like we deserve this little dut action look how cute these little things are that is good oh this is a good pairing and I didn't even know it m honey and red wine they best friends and that my friends takes us to
the end of the day and I don't know if the wine is talking but honestly I feel great obviously longevity is a very complicated topic and I had a lot of fun testing out some staple meals and habits from the blue zones we have covered a lot of points throughout the day but I want to quickly recap on the nine pillars of the Blue Zone lifestyle that likely contribute to their long vibrant lives joyful movement living with purpose stress reduction mindful eating focusing on Plants moderate wine consumption belonging to a community putting Family First and
investing in social networks all I know is that Toronto is in no way conducive to most of these pillars so I might need to start learning like Italian or Greek but on that note that is all that I have for you guys today if you are from a blue zone or who have visited one I would love to hear your thoughts and EXP experiences in the comments be sure to subscribe and I will see you next time on Abby's kitchen bye
