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Blue Zone - Lesson #3 - Slant towards Plants
Apr 30, 2019
Do I have to give up bacon?
You might.
And that’s how I lost 80% of my audience.
Let’s start over...
Do you have to give up meat in order to live a long, healthy life? Of course not. But it’s worth noting that each of the five of Blue Zones have a plant-based diet. Four of the five do include meat in their diet, but it’s the exception, not the rule. A typical Ikarian eats meat 2-4 times each month. When I was in Ikaria, I definitely saw plenty of goats and chickens running around and the Ikarians tend to these animals with great care. Rather than eating them, Ikarians use their animals for eggs and milk. (Goat milk is particularly popular and the Blue Zone book touts this as one of the key differentiators for longevity.).
But what about protein?
There are a lot of ways to get protein and none of the Blue Zones are lacking in this area. Eggs and dairy products are staples of the Ikarian diet. Okinawans favor tofu. Beans and nuts are common across all of the Blue Zones. Plus, they have not forsaken meat entirely, it’s just not an everyday thing.
Perhaps the more important aspect of the Blue Zone diet is the focus on whole foods. They avoid processed foods of any kind. This means eating whole grains, fresh garden vegetables, and fresh meats. Although four of the five Blue Zones include pork in their diet, they don’t favor bacon or any processed meats. 😞
Oh, did I mention nuts? Raw nuts. The book highlights the consumption of nuts as a potential secret to longevity with correlation to reduced heart disease. A word of warning when it comes to nuts. Many nuts come packed with sugar which defeats the purpose entirely. This includes peanut butter, so check your labels. Nuts are also calorie dense, so make sure you are attuned to the number of calories that you are taking in with your healthy snack. You can easily polish off 2000 calories of macadamia nuts while watching a single episode of Game of Thrones. (So I’m told.) And it goes without saying that you want to avoid the salt. Well, I just said it. Stick with modest portions of raw nuts and you’ll be ok.
Here are the strategies the Blue Zone book suggests for implementing a plant slant diet. I’ll cover some additional strategies in the video portion of this post.
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Eat 4-6 vegetable servings daily. Blue Zoners tend to eat 2 portions at each meal.
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Limit intake of meat. Try to limit intake of meat to 2 services per week and keep the portion no larger than a deck of cards.
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Showcase fruits and vegetables in your home. Don’t hide the healthy stuff in the produce compartment of the fridge. Put it on the counter where you can see it and ditch the candy dish.
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Lead with Beans. Make sure that beans (or tofu) are the cornerstone of each meal.
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Eat Nuts Daily. Caution…even raw nuts are high in calories, so pay attention to how much you’re eating.
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Stock Up. Keep healthy nuts and veggies on hand for snacking.
I know the idea of vegetarian eating is controversial and emotional for many. Heck, I’m married to a vegan and my diet is largely paleo, which is about as far from vegetarian as you can get. That said, I think there is no debating that eating fresh vegetables is about the best thing you can do for your diet, so do more of it. The nutrient-to-calorie ratio is simply too good. Have you ever tried to overeat on spinach? You can’t.
To my mind, the key is to be intentional about what you eat and, more importantly, what you avoid. Be aware of everything that you put into your body and have a reason for doing it each and every time. Your reason can be that you want something crappy every now and again because it makes you feel good, as long as you own that decision. If you find yourself saying that at every meal, you’ll notice this and adjust accordingly.
As with all things in life, avoid the extremes. You might want to avoid eliminating all meat from your diet on day one. (As if that was a possibility!) Even a drastic reduction in meat might cause you to swing heavily into other directions that are just as problematic. For example, when I reduce the amount of meat in my diet, I find myself gravitating towards dairy products. If I’m not careful, I can wind up eating more calories and cholesterol through cheese than I would if I just stuck with steak. I also find that when I reduce the amount of meat in my diet that I eat more sugary and starchy foods. All things in moderation. That seems to be what works best for me.
Check out the video portion for more ideas about how to apply the concept of mindful eating to your daily life.
Are you interested in becoming more intentional about your Life Design? If so, I have two excellent recommendations for you.
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Prosperous Journey,
-zog
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PhotoCredit: https://pixabay.com/users/susannp4-1777190/
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