The King of the Blue Zones, Dan Beuttner, says anyone who wants to get on the path to a longer life through plant-based foods need look no further than his ‘master’ list of super-staples. And stoke up for the whole day at breakfast!
Dan Beuttner’s Blue Zones Breakfast Stew…
Beuttner has one piece of advice for those who want to live longer, healthier lives. And it could fit comfortably on a bumper sticker.
“We have a saying: Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper,” Buettner, who coined the term ‘Blue Zones’, told CNBC Make It.
“In Blue Zones, they are eating the biggest meal of the day for breakfast, and then eat smaller meals as the day progresses, oftentimes eating an early dinner and then not eating until breakfast the next day.”
Well… Family doctors, along with diet and nutrition experts, also go by that ‘rule’. Even my Mom stood by it.
Nevertheless… It’s good advice. Especially if you follow the dietary they espouse in the world’s Blue Zones, where folks typically live significantly longer than elsewhere, and have healthier, happier lives.
The Super-Six
Beuttner has expounded at length, in previous books, online posts and interviews, about the proper foods to eat for a long, happy life. But he’s now boiled it down to a Top 6 which are common to all Blue Zones:
- Beans
- Vegetables
- Rice
- Fruits
- Miso
- Oats
…Any or all of which can be included in that all-important breakfast feast.
A breakfast challenge
“People should avoid most of what is marketed to us in America as breakfast foods such as pop tarts, sugar laden cereals, yogurts and granola,” Buettner says.
“I often start my day with a minestrone stew full of vegetables and beans,” Buettner says.
Then he tosses the ball into our court: “I challenge everyone reading this to try eating minestrone stew or rice and beans as their breakfast for a week and see how they feel.”
My take
I’m not quite ready to take on Beuttner’s challenge. But I’m intrigued. But I’m old enough that any-thing which can prolong my life while making me happier AND healthier has a definite attraction.
At this point, I’m just managing to keep up with science’s latest recommendations for a dietary re-gime that focuses on the healthiest Western World foods – the kind I’m used to for breakfast, lunch and supper. And preparing myself for the inevitable segue to a plant-based diet as climate change continues to make summers hotter and dryer, and winters colder and wetter…
~ Maggie J.