Due to the different geographical location and natural environment, the living environment of human beings is very different, the types of food and dietary structure obtained are different, and the nutritional and health status is also different. However, whether in western countries or eastern countries, there are a group of people who live long. They have formed their unique eating habits through long-term evolution and selection, which is the secret of their health and longevity.
Criteria for longevity population
Around the world, there are a considerable number of long-lived elderly people of different nationalities and religions. According to the regulations of the United Nations, the standard for longevity areas is that there should be more than 75 centenarians per million people; According to the World Health Organization, countries with an average life expectancy of over 70 years are longevity countries.
The diet mystery of "the hometown of longevity"
At present, five places in the world have been recognized as the hometown of longevity by the International Association of Natural Medicine. They are Bama in China, Hotan in Xinjiang, China, Hanseatic in Pakistan, Georgia in Transcaucasia and Bill Kabamba in Ecuador.
Hansa, Pakistan
The Hanseatic Valley is adjacent to Xinjiang, China. In Hanseatic, the local people almost never get sick. They can still work in the fields at the age of 80 or 90, and many people can live a healthy life for hundreds of years. According to the field investigation by British medical experts, Hanseatic people mainly eat plant food, and like to eat coarse flour, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, potatoes, sesame seeds and so on. I like to drink a moderate amount of wine "Hunza water" made of grapes, mulberries and apricots. In addition, there are many glaciers and rivers near the Hanseatic Valley, which are rich in minerals and can be drunk all year round. Unique natural conditions are very beneficial to the health of local people.
Ecuadorian Bill Kabamba
There is a village named Bill Kabamba in the southern mountainous area of Ecuador, which is recognized as the oldest place in the Western Hemisphere. There are about 5,000 people, and there are more than 20 people over 100 years old. Bill Kabamba is mainly a vegetarian, who likes to eat beans, corn, bananas, sweet potatoes, rice, mangoes, etc., and rarely eats animal food and high-calorie food. The spring water that locals like to drink has high mineral content and ideal proportion of iron and magnesium.
Georgia in Transcaucasia
Georgia is located in Transcaucasia. In many world-famous Changshou villages, many people can live to be 130 years old or even 140 years old. In Georgia's hometown of longevity, Abaha Gia, local residents eat bread and porridge made of corn flour every day, drink at least two cups of milk and three or four cups of yogurt, do not eat sausages, bacon or ham, and rarely eat cakes, potatoes, animal fat and candy; Do not drink coffee, mainly drink local "Georgian tea". The drinking water of local people is slightly alkaline, with a pH of 7. 2~7。 4. It is similar to the pH of human blood, so that the blood vessels of these longevity people remain soft, their blood pressure is low and their pulse is normal. Therefore, scientists believe that weakly alkaline foods are beneficial to longevity.
Bama, Guangxi, China
Bama Yao Autonomous County is the only place in the chain of five longevity towns in the world where the number of elderly people has increased. It is located on the slopes of Guangxi Basin and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. The dietary characteristics of Bama people are low in calories, fat, salt, vitamins and cellulose. Two porridge and one meal a day are naturally in a state of food restriction. The staple food is mainly corn porridge and rice porridge, supplemented by natural foods such as sweet potatoes, vegetables and beans, and sesame oil is often used in cooking. Sesame oil has the highest content of unsaturated fatty acids in all common edible vegetable oils, and it is also the only water-soluble vegetable oil in the world. Bama county is called "natural oxygen bar" because of its mountainous territory and fresh air. The contents of manganese and zinc in farmland and vegetable fields in the northern mountainous area of the county are extremely high, while the contents of copper and cadmium are low. The research shows that the distribution of soil with high manganese and low copper is negatively correlated with cardiovascular incidence, and positively correlated with the density of long-lived elderly people. Zinc is called "flower of life", which can improve human immunity and maintain normal metabolism.
Hotan, Xinjiang, China
Laiyisu Village in Hotan, Xinjiang is another longevity town in China. At present, there are 2400 people in Laisu village, and there are 16 people over 90 years old. The food of the residents in this village is mainly cereals, among which cereals are mainly naan and steamed bread, and pasta accounts for 69. 5%, but also like to drink local tea, do not like to eat too many sweets.
In addition to the world's hometown of longevity, there are longevity countries and regions in both the east and the west, and their diets also have their own characteristics.
Take Dayiwei Village in Okinawa, Japan as the representative. According to the survey of 1997, among the 3,500 residents in this village, 930 are over 65, accounting for 26% of the total population. 5%, the proportion of very old people and people who live long is very high. Japan is a typical longevity country, with the average life expectancy ranking first in the world. In 2002, the average life expectancy of Japanese women was 82 years. 3 years old, male 78. 32 years old. Nutrition experts around the world believe that the health and longevity of Japanese people are closely related to a reasonable diet.
The Japanese staple food is rice, the main course is fish, and the side dishes are vegetables, seaweed and fungi. In addition, a large number of seasonal wild vegetables are also consumed.
The western "high-fat, high-protein and high-energy" diet has always been the most concerned and criticized by the world, and it is considered as the root of "rich diseases", but in western countries, there are also people who live long. Among them, Crete in Greece and Greenland in Denmark are the most typical. The diet of residents in Crete, Greece is dominated by natural animals and plants. Most plants on the island contain linolenic acid, which is an important ω-3 fatty acid. Animals can provide Crete with meat products and dairy products rich in omega -3 fatty acids after eating the plants on the island. Olive oil rich in Crete is also one of the sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Eskimos living in Greenland, Denmark make a living by fishing. There are few fresh vegetables and fruits in their diet, and 35% ~ 40% of their total energy intake comes from animal fat. Many scholars have found that Greenland's food is mainly deep-sea fish and seals that eat deep-sea fish, and most of these deep-sea creatures are rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
Promote health through diet.
China is a typical oriental food country, which has long formed the dietary characteristics of "five grains" as the staple food, fruits and vegetables as the staple food and a small amount of animal food as the non-staple food. However, with the development of social economy, the diet of urban residents has a bad tendency of low grain and low beans, and it is necessary to learn from the beneficial experience at home and abroad.
Adhere to the diet structure of plant food.
The diet structure of the world's longevity town shows a high degree of consistency: mainly cereals. Eat more beans, potatoes, corn and fruits, and eat less animal food. Among them, the proportion of grain consumption in Georgia is about 65%, and the proportion of grain consumption in Hotan, Xinjiang and Bama, Guangxi is as high as 80%. In addition to grain, Changshou Township in Transcaucasia also eats some fruits, nuts, dairy products and eggs. Exclude other conditions (such as heredity, environment, labor, etc. ), the importance attached to cereal determines the degree of longevity. For a long time, China has formed a dietary feature with "five grains" as the staple food and fruits, vegetables and a small amount of animal food as the non-staple food. We should insist on taking plant food as the main body of diet, so that food production can meet the consumption demand.
Adhere to the reasonable collocation of plant food and animal food.
Long-term vegetarian diet will gradually destroy the function of the enzyme system responsible for food digestion in the human body, and eventually lead to many diseases, and the fat, protein, vitamins and trace elements needed by the human body cannot be fully supplied. Modern nutrition shows that only the reasonable combination of plant food and animal food can fully meet the human body's demand for various nutrients. People in longevity areas attach great importance to the collocation of meat and vegetables, and attach great importance to the intake of various meat (fish) foods. Moreover, the moderate increase in the proportion of animal food consumption is also one of the important signs of improving the dietary quality of residents.
The heat should be moderate, and the protein structure should be reasonable.
According to the survey of the International Association of Natural Medicine, the average daily calorie intake of people in the five longevity towns in the world is about 6,500 kilojoules, which is obviously lower than the standard of 8,000 ~10,000 kilojoules for ordinary people. Excessive calorie intake is an important cause of obesity and related diseases. The structure of protein should be reasonable. While ingesting animal protein, we should pay attention to the intake of plant protein and eat more soy products.
Low fat intake and reasonable structure, low salt intake.
Residents in western longevity areas have different fat intake, but they are all rich in unsaturated fatty acids. Controlling fat intake is an important condition to keep healthy. High-salt diet is closely related to the risk of hypertension, but the salt intake in China is too large, so it should be reduced as much as possible.
Pay attention to the intake of minerals and the reasonable collocation of acid-base foods.
Residents in the hometown of longevity pay attention to eating food rich in minerals. Pay attention to the intake of alkaline foods such as vegetables, which can be neutralized with acidic foods such as grains and meat to keep blood vessels soft.