A Bushel of Soybeans
IN PHOTO: Soybeans are shown on display in the Monsanto research facility in Creve Coeur, Missouri, July 28, 2014. REUTERS

A Seventh-Day Adventist centenarian from Loma Linda, California, attributes his longevity to a diet that is basically sources from the Bible. At 100, Dr Ellsworth Wareham could still drive on the freeway, do house chores and clean his yard.

Until he was 96, he still assisted in open heart surgeries, according to NBC. Wareham is being featured by National Geographic explorer Dan Buettner who searched for places where people have long lives.

Buettner calls then Blue Zones. Based on his study, Buettner discovered common lifestyles features in these Blue Zones, which are principles also listed in the book of Christians.

These include an active lifestyle and more plant-based diet. Buettner discusses them extensively in his new book titled “The Blue Zone Solution: Eating and Living Like the World’s Healthiest People.”

Bread they eat is made of lactobacillus, not yeast. That kind of bread lowers the glycemic load after a meal. They eschew meat, but eat a lot of beans.

He said Adventists base their diet on chapter 1, verse 28 of Genesis, the first book in the Bible’s Old Testament. Buettner is pushing for the concept of Blue Zones by encouraging communities to add more sidewalks, promote cycling and have healthier restaurant menu.

In Ikaria, Greece, another Blue Zone, it is a distinct version of the Mediterranean diet. That diet emphasises olive oil, vegetables, beans, fruit, moderate amount of alcohol and low quantities of meat and dairy products.

Okinawans from Japan eat something from the sea and something from the land to which they attribute long life. They also use a lot of turmeric, a cousin of ginger, as spice and drink green tea.

The Nicoyans of Costa Rica attribute their long life to their regular intake of Mazie Nixtamal tortillas that is made fresh daily using corn soaked in lime and water, which infuses the grain 7.5 times more calcium and unlocks certain amino acids usually not found in corn.

Meanwhile, Sardinians in Italy point to the Cannonau wine, which is rich in antioxidant sun-stressed Grenache grape, and pecorino cheese made from milk of sheep fed with grass. The cheese has high levels of omega-3 fatty acids.

To contact the writer, email: v.hernandez@ibtimes.com.au