LESSON 3 Adapt a Plant Slant

 

Many of the lessons learned from the Blue Zones are intertwined. By paying attention to lesson three and focusing on a plant slant, we will also be eating more nutrient dense food. This will fill us up with healthy nutrients and help us in implementing the Hara Hatchi Bu Blue zone Lesson Two: the principle of stop eating when you are no longer hungry, not when your stomach is full. When you begin to think about this more deeply, the Plant Slant can also connect to Lesson One: Move Naturally. Centenarians studied more often than not had gardens and worked in those gardens daily.

 

Most centenarians studied in the Blue Zones never had the opportunity to develop a taste for processed food. For most of their lives they ate small portions of unprocessed food. They only ate meat on rare occasions. Those who were strict Adventists avoided meat completely basing their food choices on Genesis 1:29

 

“Then God said, ‘Behold I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every one which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you.”

 

Studies of thousands of vegetarians actually found that those who limited their intake of meat lived longer. Garden vegetables, beans and whole grains are cornerstones of all the longevity diets studied.

 

The Most Impressive of all the Longevity Foods: Nuts

 

A very large study of Seventh Day Adventists showed that those who included nuts at least five times a week had a rate of heart disease that was almost 1/2 of those who ate nuts rarely. The ideal  serving amount seems to be two ounces. Those who did this added an average of two years to their lives. Nuts are rich in monounsaturated fat and soluble fiber. Studies suggest that nuts may reduce total cholesterol levels.  Studies concluded that although some nuts may be better, all nuts are good.