WTF Is the Blue Zones Diet? Why You’ll Absolutely LOVE the Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Can you eat eggs on the Blue Zone diet? ›

Eggs are consumed in all five Blue Zones diets, where people eat them an average of two to four times per week. Cut down your consumption of cow's milk and dairy products such as cheese, cream, and butter. Try unsweetened soy, coconut, or almond milk as a dairy alternative.

It's typical for people who follow the Blue Zones diet to eat three meals a day and maybe a snack or two. Focusing on how hungry or full you feel and making healthy food choices is more important than timing your meals and snacks.

In Loma Linda, centenarians often eat a hearty breakfast of oatmeal or a somewhat non-traditional tofu scramble. Put together a hearty meal using any of the four Blue Zones Breakfast Basics: cooked whole grains, fruit & veggie smoothies, beans, and tofu scrambles.

LITTLE DAIRY

People in Blue Zones areas have a diet that is 95% plant-based. Fruits, vegetables, beans, tofu, lentils, nuts, and seeds are rich with disease-fighting nutrients and the cornerstone of their diets. When they eat meat, fish, eggs, or dairy, they treat it as a condiment rather than the feature item.

Avoid dairy when possible. If cheese is a must, try ice-cube size portions of sheep (pecorino) or goat (feta) cheese to flavor foods. If you eat eggs, limit intake to three times a week.

You can use any type of pasta shape, but to make it totally blue zones, be sure to use pasta made of 100 percent whole wheat. If you are sticking to a gluten-free diet, you can also find pasta made from brown rice or quinoa. You can adjust recipe serving sizes for leftovers (and company!) in your menu.

The diet is mostly plant-based. The daily food intake of people living in Blue Zones is about 95% vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes. They do not eat much meat, dairy, sugary foods or drinks, and processed food.

People in the blue zones eat an impressive variety of garden vegetables when they are in season, and then they pickle or dry the surplus to enjoy during the off-season. The best-of-the-best longevity foods are leafy greens such as spinach, kale, beet and turnip tops, chard, and collards.

Breakfasts. Centenarians from the blue zones typically eat a mainly plant-based diet. They favor beans, greens, yams and sweet potatoes, whole grains, fruits, nuts, and seeds. This recipe combines a few centenarians staples.

Eat four to six servings of vegetables a day – blue zone diets typically include two servings per meal. Eat more beans, which are a powerhouse source of nutrition and protein in the blue zones areas. Try making tofu — not meat — the focus of your lunches and dinners.

Do people in Blue Zones drink coffee? ›

In addition to a daily cup of coffee, blue zones centenarians drink water, tea and wine. While coffee is often a hotly-debated health topic, it's shown to carry many health benefits. Most centenarians in blue zones regions drink up to two or three cups of black coffee per day!

Cording says that emphasis on eating until you're full—but not stuffed—can help with portion control, while plant-based diets can be helpful for weight loss and weight management. The diet is also high in fiber, which can help fill you up and prevent overeating, Cording says.

It is argued that the single, most complete food a human needs to survive is human breast milk. Other foods may be nutritious but inevitably lack certain vitamins, minerals, etc.

Minimize your consumption of cow's milk and dairy products such as cheese, cream, and butter. Cow's milk does not figure significantly in any Blue Zones diet except that of the Adventists, some of whom eat eggs and dairy products.

Centenarians from the blue zones regions of the world often drink up to two glasses of wine every day as a way to “downshift” from the stressors of daily life. Sardinians, in particular, drink the garnet-red Cannonau wine.

Eat four to six servings of vegetables a day – blue zone diets typically include two servings per meal. Eat more beans, which are a powerhouse source of nutrition and protein in the blue zones areas. Try making tofu — not meat — the focus of your lunches and dinners.

Yes! It doesn't matter what you cook your eggs with or in. Eggs are a ZeroPoint foods so they do not have any Points® values—even in a cake recipe. However other ingredients you're adding to your eggs may have Points, so make sure to track them.

Turns out, this is similar to the high-protein diet Blue Zone residents follow. They mostly eat beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains, incorporating fish, cheese, and eggs on occasion, but not often.