Breakfast Habits from the World’s Oldest People
										Breakfast may be more important than you think.

Breakfast Habits from the World’s Oldest People Breakfast may be more important than you think.

No one knows just how long they’re going to live, but there are things that you can do to help prolong your given lifespan, like following a healthy diet and living an active lifestyle. There are also places you can live where you’re more likely to live longer. The Blue Zones, as they’re referred to, are Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece and Loma Linda, California.

“The Blue Zones refer to five areas of the world where longevity rates are longer than the average human lifespan,” says registered dietitian Sarah Schlichter. “Specifically, people reach age 100 at 10 times greater rates than in the United States.”

Maybe it’s some sort of magic that leads people in these five locations throughout the world to live longer lives, but it’s more likely that they follow active lifestyles and make healthy dietary choices.

While we can’t all move to one of the Blue Zones, we can follow some of their eating habits to see what they do and what they never do. Here are some of the best breakfast habits to follow if you want to live like the world’s oldest people.

This one seems like a no-brainer, but sometimes it can be hard to pass up an extra serving of food if you’re eating a really delicious meal, even if you already feel full. This isn’t the best practice to follow if you’re trying to live the longest life possible, as those who live in the Blue Zones of the world, where people live the longest, rarely tend to continue eating meals after they begin to feel full.

“People in the Blue Zones are believed to follow the Confucian mantra of stopping eating when they feel 80 percent full,” says Schlichter. “Of course, to do this, they are likely eating regular, balanced meals and not allowing themselves to get too hungry either.”

You’ve definitely heard it before: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. People who live in the Blue Zones, who are 10 times more likely to live to 100 than residents of the United States, take that to heart.

According to Schlichter, “[people in the Blue Zones] also allegedly eat their smallest meal late in the afternoon or early evening, which is counterintuitive to the ways that many Americans eat.”

Plant-based diets are rising in popularity throughout the country, making this habit a bit easier to follow. The diet consists of eating mostly, or entirely, foods made from plants, which still leaves plenty of options for breakfast, like whole-wheat pancakes or sheet-pan veggies.

“A cornerstone of the Blue Zones diet is including many fruits, veggies, sweet potatoes, nuts, beans, lentils and legumes daily,” Schlichter says.

That doesn’t mean that you have to go completely vegan, as the world’s oldest people also eat meat and dairy, although at far lower levels than in the United States.

“They do eat meat, but about once a week, and they stick to a 3-4 oz serving size. They do encourage eating fish daily,” Schlichter says.

It’s hard to cut out sugar entirely, as it’s naturally found in many foods, including an abundance of fruits. But if you want to live like the world’s oldest people, it’s important to not eat excess sugars that are found in a majority of junk foods.

“Many Americans know we should reduce added sugars but don’t know where to start,” Schlichter says. “In many of the Blue Zone areas, they have less access to added sugars so it’s an easier task. Their traditional foods don’t have added sugars, except maybe the honey they add to their tea.”

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