03/14/2026
Important enough to post!
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DyUTbZ2jo/?mibextid=wwXIfr
The intake of legumes—beans, chickpeas, split peas, and lentils—may be the single most important dietary predictor of a long lifespan.
The longest living populations reside in the Blue Zones and not only have daily exercise and social support and engagement, but, nutritionally, they all center their diets around plant foods. The population with perhaps the highest life expectancy in the world doesn’t eat any meat at all—the California Adventist vegetarians.
Would just moving along the spectrum towards eating more plants and less animal foods actually improve lifespan? Study participants were given more points for eating plant-based foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, beans, olive oil, and potatoes, and lost points for any animal fats, eggs, dairy, or any type of meat or meat products, including fish. Eating more plant foods, processed or not, resulted in higher scores and longer lives, compared with consuming any kind of animal products. The maximum score was 60, but even scoring just 40 or more was associated with a 40 percent drop in mortality.
This is evidence that increasing intake of plant-based foods and reducing consumption of foods from animal sources may offer a survival advantage for a longer life.
Watch the videos on NutritionFacts.org to learn more:
“Increased Lifespan from Beans” at https://bit.ly/2q7l6OZ
“Do Flexitarians Live Longer?” at https://bit.ly/2OkZKsG
“Paleo Diet Studies Show Benefits” at https://bit.ly/2EFPL1p
PMIDs: 15228991, 24210636, 11434797, 24871477
