So many diets... so many health claims.

Whether its keto, paleo, clean-eating or low-carb, they all have their online advocates making attractive claims about how they can improve your health. So what's the truth in the matter? Is there a perfect diet we should all be aiming for?

What can we learn from lifestyle disease-free cultures around the world?

A good place to start would be to take a look at a number of ancestral communities who seem to be avoiding the 'diseases of civilisation' that we in the western world are struggling with.

1. The Kitavans

Melanesian island community with a very high carbohydrate diet - 69% carbs, 10% protein and 21% fat.
A typical day's diet will include: yam, cassava, sweet potato, taro, coconut, fish, fruit and vegetables
The carbohydrates they take in are generally high in resistant starch (our version of high-carb is not).
Kitavans display very low rates of obesity, diabetes, heart attack and stroke.

2. The Kuna

Island-living community from Panama with habitually high intake of salt within their diet.
They are free of high blood pressure however, and stroke or cardiovascular disease.
They also consume 10 times the amount of cocoa, 4 times the amount of fish and more fruit and vegetables than Kuna who have moved to Panama City (a group who have gone on to develop the much higher disease-risk rates of their city-dwelling neighbours).

3. The Maasai

A Kenyan hunter-gatherer tribe with a very high protein and fat intake - 66% calories from fat, with 33% from saturated fat.
They rarely eat fresh vegetables, with a diet consisting solely of high-fat milk, blood and meat.
Their levels of blood cholesterol are very low, despite taking in massive amounts of dietary cholesterol (600-2000mg per day).
They show little evidence of arteriosclerotic disease, with very low levels of stroke.

Each of these communities seems to have very different approaches to diet (by necessity, according to their local resources), yet each seem to be able to avoid lifestyle disease. What is it then that they're doing that we are not?

The Blue Zones

To shed some more light, we'll next examine the diets of some of the blue zones. These are the areas which have the highest concentration of centenarians in the world (with people living not just longer, but more healthful lives).

What do each of these zones have in common?

They tend to eat some meat, dairy and eggs (none of the zones are vegan).
There is no over-eating.
Foods are locally grown and sourced.
People regularly eat grains and legumes (beans, nuts etc).

So where are these magical-sounding, utopian places you may ask?

Okinawa, Japan
Nicoya, Costa Rica
Loma Linda, California
Sardinia, Italy
Ikaria, Greece

We'll take a look at a couple of these in particular:

Okinawa

Has the longest life-expectancy in the world.
The traditional diet incorporates sweet potato, fish, seafood, rice, pork, vegetables and soy.
There tends to be an element of energy restriction, with natural periods of low caloric intake.

Ikaria

Has a significantly higher proportion of over-90-year-olds than the European average.
Their diet is based on the Mediterranean approach, with a particular focus on fruit and vegetables, olive oil and fish.
The oldest inhabitants tend to report a healthy diet, daily physical activity, avoidance of smoking, frequent socialising, midday naps and very low rates of depression.

The other important thing that the Blue Zones have in common, that we can't replicate unfortunately (short of upping the UK's anchor) is that they are all on or very near the equator. This obviously has a significant impact on sunshine levels and all the health benefits that that tends to lead to (including the likelihood to be more active year-round).

This is all very interesting... but what can we actually take from it?!

Ultimately, if we look at each of the different cultures and regional approaches to diet above, its apparent that there is no one 'best' way to optimal health. Also, although we've only looked at diet in this blog, there are loads of confounding variables - in each of the blue zones they also benefit from low levels of stress, low pollution, lack of smoking, high levels of physical activity and of course... sunshine!

It's also obvious though that we are definitely doing something very wrong. The 'western' diet appears to be broken. None of the disease-free cultures eat anywhere near as much refined food as we do, with almost all of their diet coming from local sources. They all eat in an energy balance and levels of obesity are incredibly low. All the evidence points to this being one of the most important factors - being at a healthy weight reduces your risk factors for developing lifestyle diseases massively.

With that in mind then, here's a suggestion:

Don't get hung up on different diet labels, find an approach that works for you in keeping you in an energy balance and stick with it.
However, it would be sensible to limit processed food, added sugars and avoid trans-fats.
Focus on incorporating whole-grain foods, with or without lean meats, fish, seafood or poultry.
Make the majority of your diet plant-based. Get stuck into those fruits and veggies!