Jun 25, 2023
We all know that we can eat all the best organic broccolis in the world and never have had a single junk food but still have health challenges
It is not just the food on your plate that keeps you healthy nor being at your hundred percent fitness level that will help you live longer.
Gene might play a role, but it is a variable depending on conditions.
What really matters is to find the right balance in all different areas of your life. The food on
your plate is only your secondary food.
"We hunger for play, fun, touch, romance, intimacy, love, achievement, success, art, music, self-expression, leadership, excitement, adventure, and spirituality. All these elements are essential forms of nourishment.’ - Joshua Rosenthal
Different researches show that the very few regions in the world with the highest percentage of centenarians (people who live up to and above their hundreds), being healthy and not spending the last few years of their lives being ill, have very similar common trends or lifestyle similarities.
They not only live healthy and happy but at their hundred years old, still ride bicycles and do their normal work.
Why is it so?
People in these regions don’t go to the gym and lift heavy weights nor run miles each day, they are physically and naturally active. They wake up early morning, walk a lot, maybe take a nap during the day and sleep early at night. They spend a lot of time outdoors. These people have a strong community life, support each other, and are socially active. They also have high family values and commitments. They have a healthy spiritual belief and practice it. They have a purpose in life supported by their spirituality and family ethics, that makes them wake up everyday. They are still needed. They still work when they are old and do not spend the rest of their lives in elderly homes, they are still useful and respected. Great grandmothers still cook and take care of their great grandchildren, always looking forward to the next day to see them again. The majority grow their own food or at least have a garden and eat a plant based diet. They do not eat too much meat. Their big meat consumption is during festivities, celebrations or special occasions. They have one another to share their thoughts and challenges, a community to talk to or get advice from.
In these areas, living up and above hundred naturally just happens.
About 200 miles above the coast of the island of Sardinia in Italy, there is a cluster of 14 little villages, one of the five regions to find and study regions in the world to have the highest percentage of male centenarians, meaning number of people who live up to and above their hundreds, being healthy and die of natural cause.
People in this region not only live healthy and happy but are also rated as one of the regions who have the highest percentage of healthiest people in their hundred year old age, still riding bicycles and doing their normal work
‘Secondary foods don’t come close to giving us the joy, meaning, and fulfillment primary
food provides’ - Joshua Rosenthal
These primary foods are:
- relationships
- physical activity
- career
- spirituality
“To be in romance with life is religion.” - Osho
There is no magic formula that works for everyone.
Amongst many researchers in the quest of finding the secret of healthy human longevity, is The Blue Zone organization. If you are curious to know your life expectancy, you can take a vitality test on their website. This Vitality Compass by the Blue Zones® was built in collaboration with the University of Minnesota and has been cited in the Wall Street Journal as the best in class of online longevity calculators. (disclaimer: this link is not sponsored by the Blue Zones®)
How I can help:
What makes IIN health coaches different is that we look into all areas of the life cycle
including the food that you eat together and not separately in order to give our clients the best
support towards their wellbeing. It is always based on the individual and not just a theory.
IIN’s mission is to play a crucial role in improving health and happiness and, through that process, create a ripple effect that transforms the world. As an integrative nutrition health coach, I encourage you to explore what works best for your body and I empower you to trust your body.
Contact me for a free initial consultation to explore how you can support your life cycle
or for a referral, if you want to become an internationally certified integrative health coach.