9 Diet Tips to Living Longer

The editors of Cooking Light have done a comprehensive job in providing 9 researched diet strategies in Nutritional Tips for 2009 over at CNN Health. Dan Buettner was part of the panel of experts, bringing some Blue Zones lessons to the table.

The best advice, particularly in the convoluted world of nutrition and diet, is always simple. A plant based diet is an essential part of any nutritional program, with overwhelming evidence from the four Blue Zones (Loma Linda, Nicoya, Sardinia and Okinawa) pointing to the regular consumption of vegetables and fruit aiding longevity. It's important to note that you don't have to become vegetarian to do this, indeed not everyone living long and healthy lives in the four Blue Zones is vegetarain. However, meat consumption should become occasional instead of default. Think about eating a good lean free-range steak at a family dinner or on your birthday and put down that Cheeseburger you're about to wolf down on your lunchbreak. Heather Bauer, R.D., C.D.N., founder of Nu-Train, a nutrition and counseling center in New York City, and author of "The Wall Street Diet reminds us that" "Any way of eating that doesn't allow for the occasional indulgence is not sustainable."

Now that's good advice. Check out the other 8 strategies plus a whole feast of recipes, and ideas how to apply them pracitcally, here.

5 Ways to Blue Zones Your Thanksgiving

The tryptophan in turkey and a plate loaded with carbohydrates often leads to soporific thoughts after the Thanksgiving meal. But what about the other ingredients in the feast? How can you add a few Blue Zones ingredients to your Thanksgiving and keep yourself and your loved ones in longevity zone?

It's not too difficult. Just be sure to include these foods and beverages on your table, and you can feel good about the health benefits of these Thanksgiving staples and practice the healthy eating found in the Blue Zones.

Red wine (Sardinia) The red wine commonly enjoyed in Sardinia has two to three the amount of procyanidins as other wines.

Sweet potatoes (Okinawa): A staple food for Okinawans until recently, these tubers are rich in antioxidants in the form of beta-carotene and vitamin C. For real authenticity, see if you can find the purple Okinawan variety.

Goat cheese or pecorino cheese (Sardinia):Along with some whole-grain crackers, serve some goat or pecorino cheese. Both are eaten in Sardinia, and pecorino cheese is high in omega-3 fatty acids and both cheeses are excellent sources of calcium and protein.

Go Vegan (Loma Linda):Many of the Seventh-day Adventists of Loma Linda, California, don't eat meat, and their plant-based diet offers many benefits in the form of longer (and healthier) life. Fill up on the sidedishes and enjoy the meat, if you must, as a condiment.

Take a walk (all Blue Zones):All the Blue Zones populations get outdoors, naturally. So after your meal, gather up your friends and family and take a walk. The exercise (and sunshine if it is sunny) is the perfect way to end your celebration.

How to Eat Healthy for less!

If the recent economic downturn hasn't left you trying to figure out ways to count costs, consider yourself pretty much alone. There are a few, simply ways to trim your food budget, and just possibly trim your waistline in the meantime.

1: Buy local. Choose produce that is in season and locally grown.

2. Focus on the grains and not protein. Rice, pasta, and grains are a good way to round out a meal. Try to choose whole grain foods whenever possible.

3. Invest time, not money. Forgo the convenience foods and focus on preparing dishes yourself and involve your family. While it might seem daunting to give up prepared foods, the premium you pay for someone to prepare foods for you will be invested instead in spending time with your family and cooking healthy alternatives.

 

For more information from the USDA, click here.

 

The Health Foods of Summer

Summer is the best season to get outside, hit the bike trails, and enjoy a glass of sangria at your favorite outdoor cafe. It’s also a great time of year to savor fresh fruits and vegetables. While it’s always smart to indulge in fresh tomatoes and watermelon at the local fruit stand, there are probably a few summertime treats you’re not including in your daily diet. Here are my recommendations.

Pomegranate Juice
Pomegranate juice is full of antioxidants. But, it also has a rich, syrupy taste that can turn people off, i.e. me. A great way to cut the syrupy taste and keep the health benefits, is to mix a few ounces of pomegranate juice with some sparkling water and a slice of lime. Add vodka to that glass and you’ve got a happy hour worth repeating!

Swiss Chard
Swiss chard tastes an awful lot like spinach and it’s in season from June to August. This long, leafy green, with a spray of red, white and yellow fanning leaves, is a bitter green packed with nutrients. It’s great cooked with a little olive oil and lemon. Swiss chard is fiber rich, and contains nutrients that have been linked with preventing digestive tract cancers. It also contains loads of vitamin A that may reduce your risk for developing cataracts.

The Return of the Family Dinner

Want your young daughters to stay off drugs? Encourage them to eat dinner at home.
A recent study, including 800 Minnesota school kids, examined the relationship between family dinners and alcohol and substance abuse in adolescence. The study found that young girls who routinely ate dinner at home, with their family, were less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. Young boys, did not appear to be any more resistant to drugs and alcohol based on sit-down meals with family, but other positive affects were documented.

Girls who ate dinner with their families at least five times a week during middle school, according to a report published in the Star Tribune, were “much less likely to drink, smoke or use marijuana five years later.

My Big, Fat Greek Pantry

There has been a lot said over the last decade about the virtues of eating a Mediterranean diet. Principally, research suggests that people who live in the region have lower rates of heart disease and improved longevity.

What does a Mediterranean diet look like?
Traditionally, Greek food relies heavily on fresh vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, and whole grains. Foods are cooked in olive oil, and fish are favored on a daily basis over meat and poultry. Yogurt and cheese are sparse parts of the diet, used to flavor dips, and salads. Alcohol intakes is moderate and usually wine and ouzo, a anise flavored liqueur, the Greek national spirit, is favored over beer and other liquors.

I feel great! I must be...hungry?

Feeling hungry is not fun or pleasurable, (if you’re me), but it might make you happier.
When our bodies send out hunger signals, levels of a ghrelin, an appetite stimulating hormone, increase. According to a recent study, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, ghrelin’s staring roll may not be letting you know it’s time for a snack, but fighting stress.

The study
Using mice, researchers played with ghrelin levels by restricting calories and giving injections of the hormone that overtime made the mice numb to ghrelin’s appetite-rendering affects.

How did the mice feel?
Appetite aside, the dominating mood of the study was downright depressing! Mice with low levels of ghrelin activity were suicidal, (if pushed into deep water they didn’t try to swim), scared, (when they were put in a maze they hung by the entryway), and lonely, (they didn’t play with other mice).

Those mice could use a pick me up...
Interestingly, mice who showed symptoms of ghrelin-induced depression responded very well, (they perked right up), when they received anti-depressant medication.

Eggs, toast, and a side of ghrelin please...
Mice with high ghrelin levels swam like champs and took to the maze, searching eagerly for an exit. They socialized and were not afraid to explore new social environments.

Also...
Sleep studies have found that ghrelin levels increase between midnight and dawn in thin people. This may be caused by a flaw in the circadian system of obese individuals. A different sleep study, led by professor Cappuccio of the University of Warwick, found not getting enough rest may lead to obesity by increasing appetite (brought on by hormonal changes), during the day. While lack of ghrelin may cause depression, lack of sleep pumps more ghrelin into our systems which equals, “I’m hungry.” Constantly feeling hungry may also mean your body is creating less leptin, a hormone that plays a key role in regulating energy intake and energy expenditure, including appetite and metabolism.

The lesson here? It’s all about balance. Get a good nights rest and eat healthy to keep hormones, hunger, and mood swings in check.

The Benefits of Gardening

Most women in my family are blessed with a green thumb, most. I, on the other hand, can’t seem to keep a cactus alive. But now that I know the longevity benefits that come from cultivating the gardener in me, I’m going to attempt to turn this black thumb emerald green!

What are some of the health benefits that come from gardening?

• Stress reduction.
• Gardening is a great way to get physical exercise without really trying.
• It increases balance and flexibility.
• Gardening is good for spacial awareness, and it cultivates a nurturing attitude towards nature and the environment.
• Gardening gets you outside where you get the added benefit of sunshine and vitamin D.
• Free food! Yummy tomatoes, squash, basil, peas, oh my!

So where to turn if you lack the touch with mulch, seedlings, saps, plants and pods like me? I found a great website aptly titled Garden (it's the National Garden Association website). This is where I began my journey down the path of improving my plant cultivating skills. What did I learn?

For my edible garden I’ll be using these great tips:

• Tomatoes - Plant them about one foot apart so you can use a string of 7-watt outdoor Christmas tree lights to keep them warm at night. Huh...

• Limited space for your garden? Too much shade? - For people with “limited space and too much shade,” make raised garden boxes, two feet high, four feet long, and two feet wide. “Around the outer edge of the planter plant corn and beans. In the box plant tomatoes. The corn shades the tomatoes and the beans grow up the corn plants but don’t affect the corn's growth.”

• Organic fertilizer anyone? - After cooking vegetables in water, especially beets, let the water cool and add it to your lawn and garden. The nutrients in the water make a great fertilizer.

Is green tea really good for me?

There is a lot of hype about the benefits of drinking green tea, is any of it true? I’m a coffee devotee but if there are great reasons to trade in French Roast for fresh brewed, I want in. Here's what I've uncovered about the health benefits (and risks) inside that cup of yummy green tea...

Cancer
Research suggests that polyphenol content in green tea is rich in antioxidant properties that prevent cancer. But in 2005, the FDA concluded that green tea drinkers were not reducing their risk for gastric, lung, colon/rectal, esophageal, pancreatic, ovarian, and combined cancers, despite what some previous studies had suggested. The good news is, the FDA also found that green tea drinkers may be reducing their risk for breast and prostate cancer.

Hearts and Warts
In 2006, the FDA claimed that there is no “credible evidence” that supports green tea’s supposed ability to reduce instances of Cardiovascular Disease. Later that year, the FDA approved a topical ointment based on green tea used to treat warts.

Antioxidants
Also in 2006, researchers at Yale University School of Medicine reviewed over 100 studies on the health benefits of drinking green tea. They examined why in Asia rates of heart disease and cancer are low, despite high rates of cigarette smokers. Researchers hypothesized that 1.2 liters of green tea, consumed daily, might provide very high levels of polyphenols and other antioxidants that improve cardiovascular health and essentially counteract the negative affects associated with smoking.

Pregnancy
Drinking green tea in excess can cause oxidative stress and liver toxicity. Some suggest exercising caution when you brew, and pregnant women are advised by some doctors to avoid green tea all together.

So can it make me skinny?
Some green tea fans think drinking tea increases endurance while exercising and improves fat metabolism. But research that backs up this claim is spotty.

Smoother skin?
Studies also suggest that tea extracts might be effective for treating patients who “suffer from damaged skin following radiation treatment for cancer.” This might be because tea is high in anti-inflammatory properties.

Are you a green tea believer? Tell us why you love green tea!

Red, Red, Wine

Let me start by saying I don’t need a reason to drink wine. It’s delicious, it pairs nicely with food, chocolate, friends, but it’s good to know that if I ever need a little motivation, I’ve got ample reason to hit the bottle (in moderation, of course).

Red wine is sometimes understood as the secret behind why French people can eat three square meals consisting of baguette, brie, croque monsieur, beef bourguignon, and not gain a ounce or develop heart disease. Red wine has long been championed as a contributor to the ‘French Paradox’ because it is high in flavonoids, a type of polyphenol and a vital antioxidant.

What are polyphenols?
Polyphenols are antioxidants found in the skin and seeds of grapes. When wine is derived, the fermentation process dissolves the polyphenols in the skin and seeds right into the beverage of choice. Red wine contains higher levels of polyphenols than white wine because the skin is not removed at any stage in the grape crushing process. Because antioxidants may protect cells from the negative affects of free radicals, and because cellular damage may be a contributing factor in the development of cancer, upping antioxidant intake may be a key stage in preventing the development of certain cancers.

Res-what-a-who?
Another great reason to drink red wine is it contains Resveratrol, a compound which may limit tumor growth and potentially prevent cancer. According to lead cancer research, this substance, found also in peanuts and raspberries, is essentially a part of a plants "immune system" and acts as a defense against disease. This antioxidant substance may also reduce inflammation.

And those French fries?
The alcohol in wine is beneficial, along with the antioxidants, because studies suggest it may lower cholesterol absorption. Pour yourself a glass of Shiraz before you reach for that burger and those yummy pommes frites! When paired with fried food, wine may soften the calorie rich, cholesterol dent.

Want to learn more? Check out this Blue Zones article on Resveratrol.