You get a lot of discussion of Okinawans in public health circles, both for their diets and the fact that traditionally, they stop eating before they get full. IIRC, they’ve got a greater life expectancy than anybody else. They eat tons of veggies and sweet potatoes, some beans and soy, no eggs or dairy, less rice than the rest of Japan, a lot of pork, and fish.
Probably whichever comes closest to the Paleolithic diet. (Which lets out India, Japan, and everybody else who eats a lot of rice.)
I read an article on longevity and diets once and it mentioned Okinawa as one of the top ones for the reason you mentioned. The other “nationality” that it focused on was Sardinia.
Really?! :eek:
I read an interesting article in National Geographic last year about the cultures that have not only long life expectancies, but in which seniors typically stay active and healthy long into their twilight years. Traditional Sardinians, Okinawans, and Seventh Day Adventists in California were some of those profiled, and the factors they all had in common was they had diets full of nuts and vegetables but little meat, all were cultures in which close-knit families were the norm, and all placed an emphasis on staying active. One Okinawan profiled, for example, was I believe in her late 90s, and not only was up and running around – she had recently gotten a boyfriend, begun wearing makeup, and seemed mentally sharp as a tack. A Seventh Day Adventist profiled in the article was about the same age, had been a vegetarian for decades, and every day bustled around running errands and taking care of ‘the old folks’ at the local senior center – many of whom were decades YOUNGER than her.
Genetic factors may be in play for the Sardinians and Okinawans, but surely not for the Seventh Day Adventists, who are a religious and not an ethnic group.
BTW: here’s an article from the BBCwith a lot of the same info as in the NatGeo article.
I can see an argument for that diet being best for supporting people long enough for them to reproduce, but most people expect a little more out of a diet than that. And again, it’s putting the cart before the horse: If the Japanese really do turn out to live longer than most peoples, then you shouldn’t throw them out of consideration because they don’t match a particular theory; rather, you should re-examine the theory.
My exact response when I read the thread title. Just “Greece,” with no embellishment.
Must be the olive oil and fish…
Joe
I’d be tempted to answer Japanese, myself, just based on gut feeling.
Japan has been the world leader in life expectancy rates for quite a while.
How would you account for that?
Aaah, but do they spend their last years as mad as the Hatter? Because that would be swings and roundabouts, IMO.
Still, Japan, and more specifically Okinawa, gets my vote. Followed by the general “Mediterranean” diet, with (whole)wheat, olive oil, wine, greens and tomatoes as major features.
I would put Indian food out of the running because of the clarified butter already mentioned. Also, most meals are served with something deep fried, especially in the north. Seriously - breakfast, lunch and dinner all included either deep fried food, heavily buttered food or a combination, with sweets after. For example, breakfast was often puris (deep fried flat bread) and a potato subji or eggs with toast and lots of butter. If you have a snack, it would often be deep fried, then lunch was usually curries (which are pretty darned healthy) with parathas (fried in butter) or chapatis (not fried with butter, but usually brushed with oil) and sweets after, some of them deep fried and all very heavily sugared, after. Don’t get me wrong - I had some of the best food I’ve ever eaten on that trip. But it was very eye-opening. And colon cleansing.
Has anyone mentioned Hunza?
The pickling (which is intertwined with the sodium content) is what makes it less than totally healthful. Still: Cabbage and cayenne pepper!
The Mayo Clinic endorses a diet of Mediterranean food as being particularly heart healthy.
Who has the unhealthiest cuisine as a nation? (That is, omitting fast food or industrial-packaged products from consideration, and focusing on traditional vernacular cuisine, i.e., home cooking.)
I’m thinking Polynesia.
Not if you follow BrainGlutton’s criteria. The obesity and diabetes problems in Polynesia are largely the reult of moving from a pretty healthy traditional cuisine to one laden with fatty and sugared industrial-packaged products (mutton flaps, corned beef, fruit in syrup etc).
I understand authentic Thai food is pretty fattening.
(Scroll down to the letters.)