The foods you eat every day play a major role in your health and longevity. In fact, one of the key habits of people living in Blue Zones is to eat mostly plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables and nuts.
In past interviews with CNBC Make It and other publications, many centenarians have credited their diet with helping them live long, healthy lives.
Four people over the age of 99 share what they always eat and what they never eat.
Elizabeth Francis, 115
Elizabeth Francis, The oldest person in the United States is 115 years old. ABC13Apparently, she eats “anything.”
But Frances “always grew vegetables in the backyard. You never saw her go to Chick-fil-A or any of the fast-food restaurants that I frequent. Never,” said her granddaughter, Ethel Harrison. TODAY.com.
Harrison noted that Francis never smoked or drank alcohol.
Deborah Shekelly, 102
Deborah Shekelly, 102, still helps run the fitness resort and spa. Three times a week. Shekely has been following a mostly plant-based diet since she was a child.
“I’m a pescatarian, and I’m fortunate enough to have never eaten meat thanks to my parents,” she told Make It.
Her typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner might look like this:
- breakfast: Yogurt, bananas, whole grains.
- lunch: Eat a salad at home or eat lunch at a restaurant, she said.
- dinner: Have a meal of fish, salad and baked potato, or try something new.
Her diet closely resembles the Mediterranean diet and includes fish, whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
Shirley Hodes, 106
Shirley Hodes is 106 years old. Speaking to Make It magazine in March last year, she said she plans to limit her intake of animal fats and only drink skim milk.
“I didn’t eat too many sweets and preferred a simple, balanced diet,” said Hodes, who followed guidelines taught in a Red Cross nutrition class she took during World War II.
Daisy McFadden, 99 years old
when Forbes said When Daisy McFadden died in 2010 at the age of 99, she shared what she usually ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Her diet typically included the following:
- breakfast: Oatmeal, cranberry juice, banana.
- lunch: Salad of beets, cucumber, tomato and chicken or fish
- dinner: Lean meat and steamed vegetables
- Dessert: Fresh fruit
“I don’t drink soda. Really? “And I never did,” McFadden told Forbes, citing water, juice, milk, and iced tea instead.
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