Blue Zone Myths with Nutritionist Mary Ruddick
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ต.ค. 2024
- Nutritionist Mary Ruddick travels the world studying traditional diets and their impact on health. Here she reviews her time in Ikaria, the famous "Blue Zone," and sheds insight on the myths surrounding the Ikarian diet.
Absolutely love and appreciate your work, and so accurate!!! 👍 I live in NY but I'm originally from Portugal where I lived until I was 12. The way of life back then was pretty much like Ikaria. We ate fish if you were close to the ocean, raised pigs (which we ate nose to tail and it was preserved in salt for winter) chickens, cheese was always around, and people walked everywhere. Not so much like that today.
Thank you!! I LOVE Portugal!!
Portugal is one of my favorite countries, and food is fantastic. Best pan roasted octopus I have had in a long time.
I live in the Alentejo region in Portugal, it is almost impossible to find vegetarian food unless in a major city, people eat meat constantly! But they also eat a lot of sugar combined with fat (bad combo), and a lot of alcohol, so unfortunately very unhealth these days. I believe people were incredibly healthy before the advent of sugar and probably ate a shit ton of meat.
You should move back
I was in the US Navy and we visited Greece in the late 1970's.
What I noticed was the relaxed and very personal community lifestyle, especially in the smaller cities.
They gathered in the evening for talking, playing card games, dancing, and other social interaction.
Of course, back then there were no iphones or other distracting technologies. Just people interacting with people.
So true. I believe the single fact of Greece's longevity is found in one word; Community.
1000%
Of course there were no iPhones because there was no cell phones.
my best friend is from ikaria and he told me a statistic that they have 4 goats per person on the island !!! you also have to say about their very slow pace .
Yes! It’s very relaxing to be there!
I love your nuanced approach. Food is important in context. Small production, communal meals, lack of garbage pumped into the environment
Mary, as sad as it sounds, I long for a day when I shine with the contentment and health you display daily. It really is my only goal for my next 47 years. I have never known that calm you exude.
Thank you!
This was so interesting to watch Mary! Maybe you can go to Costa Rica next? It would be interesting if you had a conversation with Paul Saladino since he also dispels myths about the blue zone regions. Also I think you need your own Blue Zone traveling show :)
Thank you! That would be wonderful! I am planning on finishing my Blue Zone tour after travel restrictions lift. In the meantime, I am headed to Africa with Paul in February!
@@MaryRuddick777 I'm so excited for you! I still trying to learn how to incorporate aspects of this lifestyle and really want to move away from California but it's hard to decide where
Call it “Into the Blue, with Mary Ruddick”. It would be great if you could sneak into the kitchens to learn some popular dishes for us to try back home.
Greek here. I would be incredibly surprised if there was a region in Greece where they don't eat meat. Meat is a huge part of Greek food culture.. Heck our most famous dishes are meat based. That being said, in the every day home cooking life, at least where i live in northern greece we eat meat only 2 times a week at most. I guess it varies from house to house and region to region but meat is a big thing in food culture here. If it wasn't vegetarian diets,options and restaurants would be much more available, which they aren't. Im a vegetarian and it wasn't until recent years that this idea of vegetarian and vegan diet became more popular here. Especially in special days and celebrations, a feast without meat is unheard of. In easter especially its a national tradition to eat lamp and all kinds of meats.We have a lot of dishes who are plant based, meat-free etc and are a big part of the food culture as well, but nothing is excluded and everything is usually balanced. Greek diet consists of pretty much everything.
When you say, you eat meat only a couple times per week, what type of meat are you referring to? Fish, beef, lamb, goat, or ? (When you used to eat meat.)
@@amysho2192 We would usually eat fish at Tuesday or Wednesday and then Sunday would be the beef-pork-chicken day of the week. The rest of the days it's plant based meals (like lentils,beans,yemista etc). Usually it's chicken and beef, pork not so often.
Italian here. Meat being a big part of the culture is true, but that doesnt mean we eat meat everyday. A couple of times a week like you said. My grandmother used to tell me that when they ate meat on sundays they had to kill a whole animal and share it around the whole village
I think in the poorer parts of the mainland, like the Peloponnese, they ate little meat historically, but that certainly has changed now. Bread, cheese, olives, wild “horta”… Certainly it’s different today in many ways. I went to Greece for the first time in 1975: you hardly saw fat people, especially men. Nowadays I think in 2000 Greece had the highest rate of child obesity in Europe? It was sad to see.
Sounds reasonable. How about eggs and dairy? Are they consumed on a daily basis? I would be interested to know what a typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner look like on a non-meat day.
I wonder if it’s not the lack of meat that keeps people healthy, but rather the quality of the meat, being locally raised using traditional methods. I suspect that is something worth looking into.
Yes, I would say pasture raised, fresh meat is what keeps these people in particular, happy. I know that’s what my diet consists of, Fresh Meat, particularly Red Meat and I feel the healthiest I’ve ever been. Quality matters most!!
Thanks for the perspective. I appreciate that you took the time to learn about the culture before commenting on it. I remember eating all kinds of organ meats on my grandparents farm when I would visit.
Thank you so much!! Sounds like wonderful fond memories!
I am Greek from Thessaloniki, and would comment that the Greek diet is balanced. Yes, we eat fish, chicken, lamb, rarely ate beef growing up, but ate tons of salads with tomatoes, cucumbers, tons of youghut with honey and walnuts, tons of olives and olive oil, and cheese. We also ate lentils and pasta. Growing up we did not eat meat every day. I am 55 years old and a fitness enthusiast. Tried the carnivore diet and got fed up with eating red meat every day. It just does not feel natural.
Same age as you George. What stands out for me most about what you said you ate is the lack of processed foods. I grew up in a low income house in the UK. We ate mostly home cooked food but more and more processed as time went on. By the time I had left home most of my diet was ready meals and quick meals like pasta/pizza/rice dishes. That's when weight gain and health issues started. Cutting out grains, sugar and anything but foods found in nature 8 years ago turned that all around. Today and for the last 4 years I eat 80- 90% animal foods (lots of red meat/organs) and fruit makes up most of the rest apart from some honey,tiny bit veg and some wine😋.
I have found Greeks eat more from each "food group" than most cultures, and I speak of this often. There are places in Greece (and seasons) in which I see variations. Ikaria is one of these.
Living to 100 is not a mystery- no processed foods, plenty of sun, active outdoors, good social life
Sounds like you can't maintain a healthy weight without exercise which is a big "tell".
@@Michael_Lakyou absolutely can. But what is true is no amount of exercise can overcome a poor diet
Really? 1) You explained that the younger generation is not as healthy as the centenarians, 2) you use a menu from a modern taverna as evidence that it’s not the diet that contributes to their longevity. Well, don’t you think that it is the younger generation that dines in the tavernas and the very old stick to their older meagre diet?
This a small snippet of footage from my time there. More will be released later. What I have seen is animal food consumption decrease (dairy, egg, meat, fish) and potato consumption increase. This is true in the home and in the restaurants.
I also noticed this idiosyncrasie, looking at a local restaurant menu is the wrong to have a fair idea of the local diet, in the restaurant they serve the sunday meals not the everyday ones. The sure way to shorten your life is to eat every day at the restaurant.
Thank you so much I love love love what you are doing .
Thank you!!
Thank you for making this amazing videos about Ikaria. It’s tragic how people have misrepresented the Mediterranean diet over the past 50 years, mostly to sell cheaper more profitable products. Your videos help people rediscover what the true Mediterranean diet really is
Good point . We need more people rediscovering traditional Mediterranean life style diets. Americans have completely distorted this subject from the other side of the Atlantic and many of them never traveled outside America.
Also huge part of long life is life style, exercise low stress low pollution and family and comunity connections which all so called blue zones have. Places far from the cities and that have not been yet introduced to westernized junk processed food live longer. That’s pretty much it
@@YVM3311 Ya true. The so called “blue zones” all have one main thing in common, they’ve been relatively unaffected by modernized Western society. They’re still eating their traditional foods, prepared traditional ways. I just hate the framing by American nutritionists of what they think the true “Med diet” really is. It’s not just olive oil and beans as they present it, it’s fatty lamb meat, fresh seafood and pecorino romano too
Dear Mary, is it lobbying for meat or just misinformation, or American diet influence, but after watching more documents about Ikaria and talking with Greek people, It looks like they DON’T “eat meat to every day” and DON’T “eat animal fat to each meal”. Maybe youngsters 20-30 year old, but those 80-100 year old definitely don’t. Dear Mary watch other videos to find out more about Ikaria diet, may be helpful to your diet 🤣👍
I think based off my little research that I have done, the reason the blue zones have longer lived people isn’t dependent upon the diet of the people but rather the quality of their lives. They live slower, more socially connected lives. They are active throughout the day, they spend more time outside than most people. The diets of all the blue zones are different in various ways, but none are exclusively plant based.
True people like to think its just one thing that will change your health when in reality its a whole life style. I don't know many people that would give up there fast paced life to heard sheep/goats in the hills of some island.
@krystelhardesty9960 this is true. But the myth makers want everyone to believe blue zones exist because they eat little to no meat. And that is the one and only reason for long happy life. Not only an exaggeration, but an outright lie. 😕
It’s both the diet and the lifestyle. If the diet wasn’t important, the Mediterranean diet (a diet known to be a healthy choice for scores of people) wouldn’t exist.
We cannot downplay the importance of diet, lifestyle, or mindset. All are of utmost importance.
People in Hong Kong have hectic lives, eat more meat than anyone, and live longer than anyone.
Thanks for bringing us the truth about their diet. Why are we continually lied too about proper nutrition in the western world?🤔😡. Thankfully there are a growing group of people, like yourself, spreading truth! Btw, your happiness is infectious and we really enjoy listening to you😊❤️
Thank you!
I thought the blue zones are more about what the centenarians in these areas ate and what their lifestyles are like. Not everyone in the country.
Thank you for taking us with you to Greece, I love it. And thank you for accurate information on the "Blue Zone" there.
Just saw your interview with Dr. Paul Saladino and had to check out the more detailed footage. Debunking the blue zones has become a hobby of mine, because as a health coach I see so many people with misconceptions about what a healthy diet should look like. Thanks for sharing!
I am from a mediterranean island near greece and there are good number of centenarians here.
Today yes if there is no fish or meat every day lonch and dinner then its considered not so good. My grandmother on the other hand when shee was young they ate mostly fish, sometimes lentils, beans and dairy, but usualy chicken was reserved only for sundays. Red meat maybe once a month. That being said red meat and eggs was considered luxuries in other words the more the better.
New generations definitely are not suffering worse health because of meat, we can all se that today people eat too much processed carbs and sugars and not enough movement. I live on Island and here its rare to be fat, people who come from nearby city they are mostly fat.
Thank you for sharing. I’m an American Greek and have been to the mainland and several islands. Meat is a huge part of the Greek diet. Along with, as you mentioned cheese and wine. 😁
Do you know of a good quality wine in America?
As a Greek American (dad moved to the US in his 20s from a small village in northern Greece) who spent many summers in Greece and ate mostly Greek food at home, I would say that this video is limited. Only restaurants are ate at in this video , not at the homes of locals. At my home, we did have meat but it wasn't the main dish, it accompanied many other dishes including salad, cooked greens, gigantes, feta, yogurt and lots of bread. I think that the laid back lifestyle, limited processed foods, family connections, lots of walking and sense of purpose is what makes for such a happy life. When I would visit, my Greek friends and cousins would ask me to join them for walks through the hilly village. That is what we did for fun. People met at the coffee shop daily in the afternoon, and we always had breakfast on the balcony with the sun coming up. Laundry was hung outside and naps were taken after lunch (which was ate outside on the balcony too). I think it is less about some magical food and more about a lifestyle.
blue zone author is a vegan, enough said, but also you do have to ask 100-year-olds how they ate 50 year ago, not a twenty year old lol
Right and they were not vegan or vegetarian but eating meat only once or twice a week because it was just too expensive. But dairy and eggs were eaten daily
Thank you SO much for sharing the truth about the Blue Zones and what true healthy nutrition and lifestyle choices are, Mary! I'm learning SO much from you! You are a gift from God!
Can't believe this video doesn't have millions of views. Keep up the great work DR.
So true. I believe the single fact of Greece's longevity is found in one word; Community. I still can't keep my eyes or ears off of this wonderful woman!
the direct source from the island says that centenarians DO NOT eat in those restaurants and rarely shop in supermarkets. They live in remote areas , grow and eat their own food . So, I am not sure your story makes sense.
That may be. Many Greeks do not eat out often or use "grocery stores" outside of cities. Do be mindful that "not often" does not mean "ever." Even in America, it was unusual for adults to eat out more than once a month until the last three decades. When I speak of restaurants on Ikaria, I am speaking of something that looks very different than most of us are use to.. it is usually a few tables under a tree outside of a family's house. The grandmother is cooking in the house, and there is not usually a menu. There are usually few options (an appetizer, a main or two, and sides if it is a warm season). Dessert is usually fruit (if in season) or yogurt. Many of these "restaurants" had very old patrons sitting under the tree slowly drinking wine. They would often walk home for meals, but not always.
Something you misunderstand here is that the main food of the islands are vegetables and fish, the meat for the locals are every Sunday and at the festivals, but the island with tourism must serve meat for tourists
I guarantee I was more surprised than you are, as I have been living in Greece for years. This island is not for tourists. This island is unlike other Greek islands in that the sea is rough. The Ikarians eat far less fish than most Greeks. Meat has been eaten everyday in each of the houses I have visited.
@@MaryRuddick777 Sorry but your study of restaurants and coasts is missing the boat. The blue zone centenarians are in the hills not on the coast or close to restaurants. They eat from their gardens and fields. They are extremely self sufficient, and they eat a lot of beans. The reason they don't eat meat as much, is not ideological, its economical and practical. If they eat goat regularly they need large herds, they don't have enough food for large herds, most have only a few goats. They are too precious to eat often, as they provide the milk. I had a very old grand parents who lived to 90+ and they were the same. When I was given a slice beef at the Sunday meal at their house, it was cut about as thin as a cold cut today. The science is in as well, a variety of beans and vegetables, and red wine, all support gut biome, which friendly bacteria boosts the immune system, and reduces diseases of inflammation. Excessive meat eating brings in more bad bacteria leading to increased inflammation (this is hard to miss in the literature). A key of the blue zone centenarian is extremely low inflammation. The science debunks your claim of having talked to persons of low inflammation. You did not get to the more self sufficient centenarians. I suggest you visit those with the large gardens and few goats, then review their inflammation markers.
@@robertshaw1635 the body doesn ' t lie, plants are poison for most of the sickest people. That is my experience and almost everyone i know that almost died from a disease have the same experience. There is a reason for that if plant based diet were the optimal diet for human plants would be able to heal us from the worst disease which is not the case. We can tolerate some plants if we are healthy but an animal based diet or a carnivore diet is needed for healthy longevity. Otherwise people don t live long or they have health problem at the very least at the end of their lives
Mary, this is FANTASTIC! I hope you are able to release more videos like this. Thank you!
Loved your interview with Paul last week! It truly was the best interview he’s done on his podcast. I listened twice. Can’t wait to see how the Africa trip goes.
So excited for you all!
Thank you!
I understand from people who live there that the western influence is creeping in - especially with the younger generations.
Also, the diets that were more plant based have to do with WWII privation - however, I would not read restaurant menus for any concept of everyday eating - generally restaurants are for special food, special occasions & I imagine in Ikaria most especially for the tourist.
Those who live there & do in depth travel/food vlogs, blogs & books, those who are hanging with families & in remote regions more or less back the 'blue zone' concept - I will say though that your average article tends to just ignore that they do indeed eat dairy, almost every meal!, & add in meat/animal to dishes frequently, plus seafood, & usually a family roast every weekend & then there's the saint day feasts which are epic!
I've read some ideas of the 'blue zone' diets & they will have people eating edamame!!! So ridiculous....
Thank you for video - dream of mine to visit Ikaria :)
Did I miss in your video when you interview the centenarians about their particular diet? Or you are attributing to them the diet of the common people within the Blue Zone?
I don't think traditional Ikarian diet has a lot of meat, maybe younger generations eat more meat, but older people used to eat meat only at Xmas and big holidays, no more than once per month.
I think the secret is the pace of life and the vegetarian based nutrition.
Oh my goodness. Once a month 🤣
Funny... You look vegan or vegetarian.
I absolutely LOVE THIS!! 🙏🙏 so valuable! Thank you for your effort Mary, I would love to see also other blue zones - Sardinia, Okinawa etc - it that on your bucket list? 🙏😊🌸
Thank you, Katherine! I am actually in Okinawa now!
P.S. Okinawa had been the only Blue Zone that I had not spent significant time in thus far. I'm currently sitting on 7 years worth of footage from all of my Blue Zone research & research in 70+ indigenous communities across 6 continents. Time is a factor at the moment, as well as my priorities (clients health is always first when I get back into wifi zones, rather than clipping film footage). I do have film editing on my docket though!
@@MaryRuddick777 wow that's amazing! 😯🙏🤍
@@MaryRuddick777 Sure, totally understand 🙏 At the same time, I'm looking forward to the conclusions whatever time it takes 🤍😊
Just found you on livervking. You are a legend. Beauty
Judging what local centerians eat by what the local restaurant serves seems odd to me. Many many tourists come to this Island so of course the food will be basically Greek. I visited the blue zone in Costa Rica and one of the first things you see as you drive the peninsula is a KFC joint that does not mean that the healthy old people grew up eating fried chicken. We also visited the Blue zone villages in Sardinia. Same thing there the restaurant serve regular Italian fare not the meals people grew up eating 100 years ago. I am not a vegetarian myself but half of my wives family lives in Lomalinda CA. They are all 100 % vegetarian as are most of the Adventists that live there and they are the longest living people in the US as a group.
Try watching the entire video instead of cherrypicking the part of the video you disagree with.
@@johnnypenso9574 you replied to a comment my husband left 7 months ago. He won’t be reading it he passed away in June .
@@janettebuba126 I'm very sorry to hear that. My condolences.
The restaurant owner said they eat more like Paleo than Vegan. So Dan Buetner made everything up to sell books?
Wikipedia says Buettner is a storyteller not a scientist or Anthropologist.
Amazing video! Thank you for sharing these insights - very interesting learning about both the food and the lifestyle. Look forward to the next video!
Thank you, Brett!
Our food system 'experts' are so corrupted by money and ideology. This 'visiting the blue zones' is a great idea!
I belong to the Society of Actuaries ( Im not an actuary). Dan Buettner gave the keynote lecture at our conference. I had the chance to speak with him before he departed to Greece. I mentioned that the Orthodox keep a fasting schedule that accounts for almost half the days in a year. They abstain from meat, eggs and dairy and fish without a backbone. Fish is allowed on some days more so during the Nativity Fast then the Easter Fast. There are other rules and restrictions.
Of course not everyone is religious there or strictly keeps the fast but I think it needs to be factored in when analyzing their diet.
Buettner was grumpy.
we ( French riviera Alps. Corsica, Italy, Greece) don't fast that much and non clerical citizen still reach 100. I think our "secret" is the opposite of restriction it is equilibrium
Because he knew what he was teaching, was not the truth, so dishonest
Yes. I have seen the same all over the world and throughout many regions of Europe. It is part of why I find this fascination with "Blue Zones" rather silly@@hugtango
To me, if someone is grumpy it tells me that their "diet" is not optimal. An optimal diet provides us with the building blocks to produce all of our feel-good chemicals. The unmodernized tribes I visit around the world display the very definition of regal. They are the opposite of reactive.
Living in Greece for so many years, I have seen many fasting seasons. In my experience, the Greeks are eating fish during the fasting seasons now. I cannot speak for the past, and there are always variations by village and by person, but this is what I have seen.
Wondering if the research for the blue zones research was done there during Great Lent or one of the other longer fasting periods. They would be primarily Greek Orthodox there. And for those who follow the traditional fasts of the church, it’s basically vegan (some seafood allowed). There are two long fasting periods, one for seven weeks before Greek Easter, one for about six weeks before Christmas, and a two week one in August. Then there are weekly fasting days, on Wednesdays and Fridays. So during those periods, they would not be eating meat or cheese. If the boys zone research as done during those times, the results would have been misleading.
How do they and other meat-eating cultures known for good health prepare their meat? Asking from the view point that grilling meat creates toxic carcinogenic compounds.
They cook their meat very slowly over long periods of time. There is no char. The carcinogens you are speaking of are actually in anything charred, not just meat.
Animal testing has shown exposure to high levels of chemicals such as these is linked with cancer, but these are levels of exposure much higher than humans would get from eating meat. Some studies do appear to have shown that meat that has been burned, fried or barbecued is associated with higher possibilities of certain cancers, but these links are hard to prove for certain.
With cancer, the whole picture is important. Many cultures smoke heavily but do not have the rates of lung cancer we have in the States.
The "carcinogens" produced in meat were given to rats in doses 1000 to 100,000 times the typical human exposure
For more fascinating "Blue Zones" information by the radiant Mary Ruddick, check out her two-part discussion with Brian Sanders on his "Peak Human" podcast:
Part 1: th-cam.com/video/t_Ud_sL05Ws/w-d-xo.html
Part 2: th-cam.com/video/IzkYAIcNZr0/w-d-xo.html
Fabulous discussion. The first I heard of Mary and I was instantly captivated by her intelligence and compassion.
@@kateaye3506 Same here. She's awesome. Here's another neat "Blue Zones" resource, if you're interested: benjamindavidsteele.wordpress.com/2019/05/28/blue-zones-dietary-myth
@@kateaye3506 Hey, as an aside, do you have cold hands or feet, low energy, or any known thyroid issues?
@@karlhungus5554 Stop the flouride, which causes Thyroid snags, Brain snags and Brittle Bones. The u.n. labels the industrial waste as a "nutrient". No kidding. Must detox. It accumulates! Drink distilled water, only.
Suggestions.
@@anotherone5926 I don't use fluoride, but you're right to avoid ingesting it. Using it topically might be okay, but I still avoid it.
Superb insights!! Looking forward to the follow up. BW
Thanks for the great info and the great video
Amazing work!
Thank you!!
Sounds like a wonderful lifestyle! ❤️
I think you have a misconception, you assume that what people eat in restaurants is what they eat in home cooking, and this is not true.
Thanks for watching! I spent a lot of time in peoples homes. This video is only a small snippet of our footage. The rest will be produced later.
One thing ,u mention the younger people are suffere from many of the illnesses as the rest of the world, people say 40 ish or younger do to the import of foods common to the west. But then u interview a local guy I forgot his name Neco ? But he is in the above age bracket of unhealthy which u earlier cited and it seems your research was interviewing and eating in restaurants. It seems to me, restaurants , though they would be using fresher ingredients are also able to supply meats everyday ,where at home say a family owning say 20 goats , is surely not going to butcher regularly, there goats to eat meat everyday ,in fact Dian Kochiles Online Webinars ....u should interview and locals families who largly eat at home..., and OLIVE OIL, IS NOT INTRODUCED LESS THEN 100 YEARS AGO ,BUT THOUSANDS OF YEAR
Sheep lamb and goat are red meat...
In most of the world, yes. However, in Greece, red meat = beef only. The Greek language has far more words than the English language, and is much more specific. A lot gets lost in translation.
I'm Greek, Mary is spot on. For Greeks Beef is considered Red meat, and we consume heaps of milk. in 2007 "pre-crisis" Greece was 5th "314+", now it has dropped to 227+/- kg/per capita/yr, due to the crisis. ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-milk-consumption "Milk, excl. butter, based on FAO, UN data".
In order: Finland, Sweden, Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece etc.
your smile is insanely contagious! couldn't help to smile through the video, great work
Nice legs too
It's not a myth, it's a "gone through the tangent" because when it is about the "Blue Zone", the centenarians serve as the representatives of it, but it should be understood that nobody thinks that everybody in the Blue Zone has the predominantly vegetarian diet. The purpose is to show that all or most of the centenarians in the "Blue Zone" eat the predominantly vegetarian diet, not the rest of the population of the zone. So, there is no myth, maybe it has mistakenly been said that "people in the Blue Zone eat vegetarian and so they last long", but that is the wrong wording, not a myth.
And of course, if you were sincere, you would not be implying that the diet containing mostly animal food that the common people eat in the Blue Zone is the same diet that most of the centenarians eat. That is really the formation of the myth.
I was also thinking, that if nightshades and lectins have been around for a 100 years, the people who are 93 have been eating them their entire life without issue.
Why would it stop being a blue zone, and why would people start having issues with digesting them even though the current elderly generation seems to have no issues with them at all.
Would it not start showing signs in the generation that exclusively ate that way? Why would that be the main factor for the next generation that probably doesn’t .
I’d say it’s because the next generations don’t exclusive eat ikarian blue zone food. They eat fries, burgers, non fermented starches, sugar, processed dairy, junk.
How do you know that the oldest people were the vegetarians?
@@suzukiselina if your question is directed at me, this is my reply. I spoke of centenarians because they are the ones who prove to live long. I have not said that there may not be young vegetarians.
@@Music1art What if the centenarians are not vegetarian? Or if there are different diets among the centenarians? My point is, are you sure that the longest lived are the vegetarians?
@@suzukiselina I speak of what the National Geographic and many other official scientific, and medical sources say. If you don't trust them, you may want to ask them how they got that information and make a trip to prove it to yourself.
I suspect there is more than diet at play in the longevity of the Ikarian's. Environmental factors (clean air, sunshine etc.), favorable genetics, and happiness combined with less stress, and number of hours they sleep likely played an important role as well.
Thanks, Mary. I love the food and lifestyle of the Ikarians. After watching your video it makes me want to visit! And I look forward to seeing more of your videos. PS. I saw your chat with Paul S. Yours is an amazing story. Have a lovely day! :)
I would like to see the government policies on farming practices using glyphosate like products that Americans typically use. I don't necessarily think it is the way the food is prepared but more so that the food in certain places is safe from toxic chemicals used in firming practices. Is also, large manufacturing of food completely depletes the nutrient contents thereof
I agree. I think we are going to be settled where we live for many years, so I want to start setting up my little plot of land to be able to grow some veggies for us, also raise some chickens and quails, and even grow some stuff indoors, like herbs and maybe some other veggies inside during the harsh winters. I'd also really like a goat or two, for milk (and they keep the grass mown!) Most of our property is hillside though, it needs cleared but I'd love to turn the hillside into a big garden. And get some organic seeds because you are right, the produce we have today (at least here in the states) is not the same produce we had even 50 years ago.
Elena Paravantes (also a nutritionist) from Olive Tomato blog who grew up in & currently lives in Greece is adamant that they ate/eat mostly of beans & veggies with meat once-twice/week. Makes sense that poorer areas traditionally have not eaten as much meat,
I think many points were missed. I visited Ikaria myself and had a chance to talk to the locals. A huge component the new gen has is the SUGAR drinks. The other was the starvation of the past. Being a super poor island there was limited pleasurable food, but just the basics. We see the same in many blue zones.
Thank you for showing what they ACTUALLY eat! The books and recipes out there are misleading. Life is balance and they eat balance and live a balance life.
All the propaganda out there is trying to knock us off balance. 😔
yeah, today. they should have asked a 90-year-old what he ate most of his life. not a young dude.
If lectins and nightshade have been around for a 100 years in these areas, then the people who are 93 have been eating them their entire life! So how do you then estimate them being the culprit and they won’t be a blue zone for much longer? If they caused an issue with digestion and health, it would have been affected the generation around this age, yet they are all the healthy ones.
Maybe the nee generation isn’t eating ikarian food exclusively anymore, and are also eating fries, hamburgers, processed sweets, commercial pizza, non aged dairy, sugar etc.
She’s completely wrong, lectins are not and never were the problem. The more vegetables you eat, the better. Especially greens and herbs. These people eat fresh vegetables and fruits and meat and honey, wine, what not that is grown all on the land and harvested right there with no additives and all organic. She’s pushing the meat narrative for some disordered reason but that’s not the main point. Eating plant based is amazing.
Your assumptions are correct, because of disgusting western influences, the beautiful cultures of longevity it’s promoting ingredients and what not are being ruined by western SAD influences.
It’s the quality of all the ingredients including the meat and dairy that promote their healthy lives. Also the majority of plants they eat and variety.
The animals are not streeeaed and they eat healthy natural wild diets that their species should be eating and are not raised in slaughterhouses where they develop cancer and other diseases and are stressed the hell out and pumped with cortisol knowing they are going to be slaughtered. Those animals live peaceful lives and are slaughtered quickly I’m assuming which preserves a lot of factors. Their animals diet is probably most important.
Mary, thank you for everything you do and share with us. 🙏🏻 please continue, this information is so needed,. Maybe a documentary in your future? You are appreciated.
Thank you so much! Hopefully so!!
You went to one restaurant and drew a conclusion off a menu that has to be diverse to attract customers? Deciphering Blue Zone diets from such a limited perspective and a conversation with a 30-year-old? Clever way to write off a vacation as ‘business research’!
At the end she says people eat meat with every meal and everyday. Yet the interview with the guy translating he says they eat meat 4 to 5 times a week. Every meal and everyday would 21 times a week.
Its because they eat fish and dairy on the other days ;)
@@ninguemjao1519 that's fine if it's true. But that's not what was said and if your a nutritionist the devil is in the details. My problem with this particular video is that it's not showing the whole truth. If you go to Okinawa right now where there's a blue zone. You'll find fast food restaurants and alot of fat Okinawans. That dosent mean they've got to 100 on fast food. Yes the restaurants on Ikaria were serving meat based traditional meals. But the island come along way. And meat would have been much more seldom in the past. Plus some of that is about serving to tourists. They hardly used to have fish because most of the inhabitants lived inland to escape pirates. It seems it's all in how you chose to report things or look at them and through what filters and what presumptions. It's easy to ignore small aspects. The researchers for the Blue Zones book spent a lot of time with locals and I feel give a much more level idea of what people really ate.
@@Δενβρισκωνικ Many of the facts about longevity secrets came from talking to people who were 100 years old and teasing out the particulars about theres lives and diets. How do you feel the lifestyles of the Centenarians differed from today? Is longevity decreasing in those areas due to changes?
@@Δενβρισκωνικ what other foods would be consumed in a day? Fruit,which veg etc? Thank you
@@Δενβρισκωνικ thanks so much
I love your videos. I was wondering if arthritis is common there and if so, why that is.
Hi Mary. I love your work and your radiant smile - it's magic! Can't wait till you post some of your African tribe footage. You are like the 21st century Weston Price! I got a quick question I was hoping you could answer for me, drawing from your vast personal and clinical experience. I have been trying a Weston Price style high fat diet for years, but always lose too much weight and get tired from it. My wife does fabulous on it, but as soon as I take out the starches, I lose energy and weight. I do have sxs associated with HPA axis dysregulation or adrenal fatigue or whatever they call it these days. Chris Kresser says low carb is not a good idea for such people, but I always think that ketosis should be the ancestral norm for humans. Is an ancestral style food low-carb high fat/protein diet not for everyone? Thanks!
Hi! It fully depends! I use both energy systems when working with people. Consider joint my Nervous System focus session so I can go deeper!
Also, people that live on or near the water, ocean, rives or lakes, live longer as well
Half Italian, grew up in Nizza on the Mediterranean Sea. For my grand-parents (born in 1910s), a fresh meat meal was not everyday. They were peasants, and ate lots of greens, veggies, legumes, olives, olive oil, seasonal fruits, home made red wine they drank with water. They would have eggs when the hens layed the eggs. Some dry cheese. Fish from time to time. Fresh meat was a LUXURY then, reserved for for wealthy people. Peasants would prepare salted meat (pork, rabbit) : it was dry and it was supposed to last all winter. Most of the time, peasants relied on their animals in order to have milk, eggs, wool and help in the fields (it also took a long time to fatten a pig). They sold the eggs/cheese/wool/vegetables (that they cultivated with the help of their farm animals) on the market. Fresh meat was to celebrate a rare occasion, and was a big deal. In the 60s, meat became more available and everybody wanted to have the posh lifestyle and eat meat everyday. But as you can see, the original blue zone diet of Nizza was way more plants than meat.
At least this is an honest take, from someone with first-hand knowledge. I actually really liked the recent documentary series on Netflix about the Blue Zones, but it clearly had a vegan agenda. Which bummed me out, because the only way we will ever get the full benefit of learning to live this way (for those who want to) we need the truth, not someone's idealogy.
I definitely believed that all the official blue zones have a diet that relied heavily, or even mainly, on plants/beans/legumes and even in some of them some grains/grasses like corn or rice. But it was just dishonest to claim they NEVER ate any animal products
I was like, "why are these people doing all this work, raising all these goats and sheep, and in Nicoya they raise head of cattle, for no reason other than to be busy?" lol. I knew they were at least eating the eggs from the chickens running around, and they had to be consuming some of the milk (probably raw) and even making cheese with the other animals. I figured maybe they slaughter them for meat, once they were no longer able to produce milk and/or offspring. And fish. Islanders don't just pluck seaweed out of the ocean, they'd surely have some fish/shelfish? And in Okinawa, they actually eat pork I believe a few times a week.
No. They were simply economically poor folks.
Respectfully, this analysis completely misses the mark. The BZ book flat out says the Ikarians drank goat milk twice a day, so I don't see how you can say they omitted it. Also, you're looking at a restaurant menu. The people Buettner visited couldn't afford restaurants. They were peasants living in old villages, feeding their families from their farms or what they purchased at local butcher shops and farmers markets. Buettner specifically spoke to the centenarians, not the younger generation that hasn't reach BZ status yet, the ones eating more of the way you pointed out here. Buettner also wrote that it's not just the diet that contributes to the longevity, but also the lifestyle, connections with family, naps, herbal teas, exercise, sense of purpose, and low stress. In other words, the BZs are not a myth at all and this video did little to convince me otherwise.
💯
Agreee 100%, well said!
Blue zones have been completely DISPROVEN.
Yes, but he gave the impression that they did not eat meat at all, which is totally false. Why did he do that? In ancient history of those blue zone areas, people consumed a lot of fish, a lot of fish, they also ate lamb, goat etc. I think that with her eating meat at restaurants, she was showing that they did eat meat from their own areas. Meat was not something that was imported, but a lot of people herded their own animals, which they consumed for their families. Really sad that he did not tell the entire truth, no one there was vegan. They have eaten meat and fish for thousands of years, farmed their own land. Today, we have been pushed and steered from farming, being steered to living in cities where most people do not have room to farm. Look at New York, there is very little room and if you do want to do that, you would have to be rich to own land there. It is truly sad, we were not supposed to live like that. And what they did not eat was a lot of processed foods. But something interesting, they did eat cured meats, cured with salts and the like, because of lack of refrigeration. Someone is not looking at the true history of food eaten around the world. If they did they would not see people just eating vegetables. I really don’t understand why the truth is not told
@@lola0600 When did he say they don't eat meat? He has consistently said they DO eat meat (except in Loma Linda), but on average about 5x a month.
Thanks for the video.i should go there myself and see
I wonder if these people are also adopting vaccination practices of the west, which is making the people sick
As a biologist I truly appreciate your deeper dive into the topic of health . I say health because you are illustrating diet is just one aspect. I have also heard about the seasonal diet changes. I would like to pose the thought that the seasonality may really just be a diversity of diet which could mean if the year around diet were consumed daily it could have a similar benefit. Of course seasonality also means vine/tree ripened which tends to produce the best nutrition. In my realm of habitats and ecology there are always deeper levels of understanding to achieve with longer and closer examinations. Cheers!
There is nothing wrong with the meat they are eating. People think that a plant based diet means that's all you're eating is plants but this is completely incorrect. It simply means the MAJORITY of your food is coming from plants.
Can I just move there now? I'm done with winter ;). How rough are their winters? Anything like Wisconsin?
They do have snow in the mountains, but shorter season. Nothing like Wisconsin.
thank you for the infos !! Why everyone is looking at 15 min 56 ?? Lol
I really enjoyed this well made video as it is always interesting to see other peoples lifestyles.
But like many people I am a vegetarian and i am not going to eat meat to live longer or better.
It would be nice if you could make a video for non meat eaters or at least mention healthy diet tips for vegetarians.
Looking forward to your next video.
the constantly forced smile is just,… weird
Truth is a wonderful thing.
Nice breakdown of what actually goes on in a land that has been extorted for the vegoon narrative.
Great video Mary 😁
Thank you!
Good to see you here Blinky. Mate can you please ask Necro Kittie on my behalf, to let others know about this channel on discord...
@@HarrySerpanos
Done mate. 😁
Now you owe me 🤣🤣🤣
@@takeoffyourblinkers thanks Blinky
@@HarrySerpanos 👍
“my theory” → publish and let others be the judge.
Does anyone know what exact blue zone questionare she is refers to ? .. recent or the original one ? .. and /or how can is see it ?
I review it in another video here: th-cam.com/video/cekfblF8yw0/w-d-xo.html
Yep, pretty much what Mary R said in her video.
Just listened to your podcast with Paul Saladino, good stuff, you were an excellent guest!
I think this video isn't accurate.i come from an island next to ikaria.you have to go in the house to see what they eat there,most people especially the older they don't go to restaurants often.meat is expensive even if you have animals you don't eat meat every day maybe twice a week. they eat bread cheese paximadi,olives ,beans, especially fava beans ,fish is also expensive. may once a week.pasta, rice ,horta that they collect in the mountains, mushrooms the winter .milk eggs and vegetables from the garden.
I spent the bulk of my trips and time in Ikaria eating in houses. The culture there post-Blue Zone publication is weary of cameras. Even at the restaurants (which are for the locals and the local diaspora whom have moved away and have returned to visit - not for tourists), camera use was unwanted. Many locals would only discuss their life with me without cameras. All the families and houses I visited in the various seasons consumed their own goat and hunted meats. They used their own cheeses too. What I highlight here is my utter surprise by how little plant matter the Ikarians consume in compared to other regions in Greece. I do not state that they do not consume plant foods.
My grandmother lived to be 105. She ate food from the earth and stayed away from doctors and medicine
Hi Mary, I just started following you after your interviews and live with Harry Serpanos. I am wanting to make Russian Custard, but the GAPS recipe I have found is only egg yokes and honey. You mentioned adding cream and vanilla but no "sugar". What is the ratio between egg yolks and cream? Many thanks, and I look forward to more videos from you and collaborations with Harry!
Wasn't it wonderful!? To see Harry so joyful talking about his home...
So interesting ! Beautiful Island. Thank you Mary
Thank you Mary for putting aside bias bringing us the real information! Incredible xoxo
Beautiful people, beautiful land, beautiful culture.
Thanks, Mary! ❤️
How does one master talking while smiling and and showing all one’s teeth. Amazing
This is not the diet that kills, the stress is the killer.
Your smile is extremely pretty.
Yes blue zones are not vegan or vegetarian.
Thank you for your research and work! You make this world a better place. I'm a physician trying to spread the word about animal-based diets, avoidance of seed oils and refined carbohydrates, but 99% of my patients don't want to hear it. Maybe it's because i'm a pulmonologist and they don't expect a lung specialist giving nutritional advice. But i shall continue educating my patients.
Just because they are the majority doesn't mean they are right. Keep doing what you are doing 🙂🍖🐄
Maybe you should not educate your patience but yourself. Science is clearly not in your side and what you are advising is dangerous. It seems the patience that don’t want to hear about it are better educated.
@@juliawls I think you have a very strong agenda judging from your name, "eat plants", not a good thing to have name your account after something not grounded in much good research at all.
@@sealishproductions not much research? Have you checked the studies? There are thousands of randomized studies with control groups which support this. So yes, I do clearly have an agenda. This reminds me of the doctors still smoking and saying it was healthy even though the science was already there showing the opposite. Even the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified processed meat and meat as carcinogenic. Not to speak of heart disease, auto immune disease and diabetes which can be reversed on a whole food plant based diet. Please do your homework and instead of relying on youtubers and google check the studies. They are public and available to all.
… and all of this not speaking of the environmental, pandemic promoting and cruelty aspects of animal farming.
@@juliawls the fact that you bring up the WHO proves to me that you actually don't have any good scientific literature to share, give me one good study on how meat is a carcinogen and how it causes heart disease plz.
Also for your information the the American Heart Association recently changed their view on saturated fat, saying there is no evidence that it is bad for health.
I think its clear to say, that you have not done research properly, and also there are podcasts of people talking about this stuff, where they review actual scientific literature and link it in the bio for anyone to inspect.
I also do not understand what you mean by animal cruelty, i live near a farm with cows on it, and they are grazing and lounging around like no ones business. So when it is time for slaughter, I can imagine a bullet to the brain being not very painful at all, in fact I think it would be a very painless death, instead of dying from starvation or mawling by other wild animals, as that's what you vegans are promoting.
Also to say that meat CAUSES diabetes is extremely ridiculous and shows to me that you have no understanding of the how the body works. Almost all disease is caused by energy inefficiency, either inside the mitochondria or in one of the conversion pathways, or absorption paths of food.
This is caused by eating, grains which causes leaky gut and endotoxin, as for seed oils or any other inflammatory food, they damage the mitochondria and therefore cause metabolic inefficiency.
Its not the sugar per say that causes diabetes, its what you've had with that sugar, the seed oils, the grains, etc.
It can be said the same with meat.
Thanks for this video, you also have a wonderful atittude it makes it very nice as well !! I would love my parents to see this and understand, but they dont speak english. Have you thoght about some subtitles ? Spanish, Italian ? Very good information that needs to be spread :)
Wonderful video, thanks! I have a personal question: are you today totally pain free after your long illness? Or do you despite occasional pain manage to have such a wonderful smiling and happy attitude? I wish i could do that too 🙂
Thank you! I’m totally pain-free ❤️
Minerals are life. Salt water fish live in a mineral soup. Sea food a key to longevity.
Learn one thing ... She is not a liar !!
Hi! Thank you for this wonderful and informative video. I am visiting Ikaria for the first time and would love to go the restaurant you mentioned with the pork liver, pig head stew and goat in lemon sauce. 120 year old restaurant I believe you said. Could you tell me where it is? We are staying in Therma. We really want to eat the traditional cuisine. I am a WAP member and have been following Dr. Price's principles for years. Thank you for all of your researches and telling the truth about real foods!
But don’t also mislead people into think we’re eating meat like crazy cause we’re not. Resources are scarce out here
It's from the vaccines!
Restaurant food =/ what people in these zones eat @ home. Also, those who have documented blue zones have never denied that meat is consumed, or even consumed often. But the meat is consumed as a garnish, except during feasts, and it includes a lot of organ meats and so on. You're coming in with a clear bias and agenda, and it's painfully obvious.
The dietary survey was done during Lent. They ate lots of meat and diary when they aren't fasting (lent).
Also, they had pleanty of vitamin D in the form of sun light.