This is the fifth article in our Blue Zone series.<\/p>\n
We are here today to talk about Sardinia: the very first Blue Zone ever to be identified.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n A population that enjoys nearly ten times more centenarians per capita than the US.<\/p>\n And the home to the world\u2019s longest living men!<\/p>\n Here we will discuss how the Sardinian Blue Zone was first found, discover the real truth about the Mediterranean diet, and share some of the Sardinian secrets to longevity.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s get started.<\/p>\n Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n The Sardinian Blue Zone saga began in 2004 when scientist Gianni Pes decided to prove what he already knew anecdotally\u2014in certain areas of Sardinia, an unusually large number of people lived extremely long lives.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n Pes set out to visit all of Sardinia\u2019s municipalities.\u00a0 When he and his team discovered a town that met their longevity criteria, they simply marked it on their map with a blue marker.\u00a0 When they were finished, the Sardinian Blue Zone\u2014an isolated cluster of villages in a mountainous region of the island\u2014had been established.<\/p>\n One of the most interesting facts about Sardinia\u2019s longevity profile is its gender equality\u2014men and women equally<\/a> live long lives, whereas, in most regions of the world, women are blessed with a natural \u2018longevity advantage.\u2019<\/p>\n Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n Here are some of the simple\u2014but profound\u2014principles by which the Sardinians live their daily lives. They:<\/p>\n Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n The longevity enjoyed in Sardinia has piqued great interest in their lifestyle\u2014specifically in their diet.<\/p>\n To put the discussion of the Sardinian diet in context, we need to understand a crucial fact: the traditional Sardinian diet\u2014the one that today\u2019s centenarians ate for the bulk of their lives\u2014bears little resemblance to the much-touted Mediterranean diet of today.<\/p>\n The Sardinian\u2019s diet began to change in the early 1950s for most of Sardinia.\u00a0 However, that changed occurred at least a decade later in the mountainous regions (i.e. the Sardinia Blue Zone).<\/p>\n For the first 30-40 years of their lives (and perhaps even longer, since the transition was likely<\/strong>\u00a0slow and progressive), the Sardinian centenarians of today were eating a traditional diet much different to what is now commonly known as the Mediterranean diet.<\/strong><\/p>\n The traditional Sardinian diet contained:<\/p>\n However, the modern day Sardinian diet is:<\/p>\n On the bright side, consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables has risen over 60 percent and lard consumption has dropped 80 percent.<\/p>\n Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n When you look at the Sardinian diet in this historical context, you can see that the traditional diet has little in common with the popular Mediterranean diet of today.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the health benefits of its most celebrated ingredients \u2013 i.e. olive oil, red wine, and fish may be\u2014at the very best\u2014overstated.<\/p>\n For starters, fish consumption was virtually non-existent for decades in the Sardinian Blue Zone by virtue of the fact that it is situated in an isolated mountainous region with no access to rivers.<\/p>\n When it comes to olive oil, we have established that ALL oils\u2014including olive oil\u2014are detrimental to your health.\u00a0 To learn more, check out our article Why You Should Opt out of Olive Oil<\/a>.<\/p>\n That leaves us with red wine.<\/p>\n There is simply no scientific evidence that red wine consumption has had a positive effect on Sardinian longevity.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n In fact, red wine consumption is the same in the Sardinian Blue Zone as other parts of the island where the populations do not enjoy the same longevity.<\/p>\n Many argue that it is red wine\u2019s resveratrol content which explains its health benefits. However, studies show that resveratrol\u2019s antioxidant properties appear to be effective only in vitro<\/em>.<\/p>\n Equally, as we have discussed previously, you cannot isolate a single nutrient; a food with high resveratrol content (like grapes) is probably also rich in other health-promoting phytonutrients.\u00a0 In other words, it is not just the resveratrol that \u2018counts<\/a>.\u2019<\/p>\n It is true that red wine might protect<\/a> us somewhat against cardiovascular disease.\u00a0 But this is likely because of the polyphenols\u00a0in grapes rather than its ethanol (alcohol) content. \u00a0So just eat the grapes!<\/strong><\/p>\n On the negative side, however, it is essential to stress that even moderate alcohol consumption appears to increase the risk of several cancers, specifically breast cancer:<\/p>\n What is true is that drinking wine often goes hand in hand with getting together with loved ones and laughing\u2014both factors which are themselves associated with longevity!<\/p>\n All of this information gives us the answer to our question: what is the Sardinian centenarian secret<\/em><\/strong>? It appears that their long lives cannot be explained by a consumption of olive oil, fish, and red wine.<\/p>\n The \u2018secret\u2019 stems much more from their \u2018frugal\u2019 traditional diet, a healthy, active lifestyle, and a positive approach to growing old.<\/p>\n The outlook, habits and traditional diet of the Sardinians are well worth exploring\u2026no matter where you live in the world.<\/strong>How the Sardinian Blue Zone Was First Discovered<\/h3>\n
What Can We Learn From the Sardinians?<\/h3>\n
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What the Sardinians Eat: Then and Now<\/h3>\n
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Health and the Mediterranean Diet<\/h3>\n
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