How to live longer: 10 diet secrets of people living longest and healthiest – more beans, nuts and sourdough bread, less meat, dairy, eggs and sugar

People in the earth’s five ‘Blue Zones’ live the longest, healthiest lives – frequently to or beyond 100 years, without chronic illnesses

In general, 95 per cent of their food comes from a plant or a plant product; meat is eaten no more than twice a week; and cow’s milk and eggs feature minimally

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If you want to live longer and healthier, recipes like Dan Buettner’s stuffed squash halves with blueberry wojapi, from his book “The Blue Zones American Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live to 100,” might help.

Tara Loader Wilkinson

Published: 7:15am, 27 Jan 2023Updated: 2:20am, 28 Jan 2023

We all want to know the secret to living a long and healthy life.

Scientists agree the answers lie in a complex formula that includes our social connections, sleep habits, happiness levels, the environment, and having a sense of purpose.

Perhaps the most important ingredient, though, is the food and drink we consume.

Dan Buettner, an American National Geographic Fellow, award-winning journalist and documentary maker, has highlighted the common denominators of diet-related longevity, and recently spoke about them on a podcast recorded by the Global Wellness Institute.

Dan Buettner (right) on the Greek island of Ikaria – a Blue Zone – with a 93-year-old Greek Orthodox priest. Photo: Instagram / @danbuettner

Buettner is credited with first identifying the earth’s “Blue Zones”, five places where people statistically live the longest, healthiest lives – frequently to or beyond 100 years and without chronic illnesses.

In 2008, he published his findings in his bestselling book, The Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer from the People who’ve Lived the Longest.