Today's click-bait BBC article 'Could carbs help us live longer'?


(Matthew) #1

On January 11 we discussed a major story shown on BBC world news. They called it ‘The Lifesaving Food 90% aren’t eating enough of’.

Carbs%20Live%20Longer

Today we have ‘Could carbs help us live longer

Right down the bottom of the article is the following:
''Ultimately, the Okinawans’ health is probably due to a lucky confluence of many factors, Ryan says. “And specific interactions among these factors will also be important.” And we may need many more years of research to understand the importance of each of those ingredients before we finally come up with a true recipe for the “elixir of youth

Also on the BBC today, is this…

Ripped Bodybuilder and Vegan

And this from the BBC ‘Should dogs go vegan’?

Happy reading all!


(Marius the butter craving dude) #2

I still do not get what is the Okinawa diet…
They have more people over 100. Well if your current diet is healthy you will tend to not think much about diets and you will preserve that diet into your old age. But I think the question is what is the current diet of the Okinawan youth compared to the diet of the old and very old ?
I found many sources that say that the Okinawan diet is not present anymore. That the original diet was with much more pork and leafy vegetables.


(Marius the butter craving dude) #3

“It is the Okinawans’ diet, however, that may have the most potential to change our views on healthy ageing. Unlike the rest of Asia, the Okinawan staple is not rice, but the sweet potato, first introduced in the early 17th Century through trade with the Netherlands. Okinawans also eat an abundance of green and yellow vegetables – such as the bitter melon – and various soy products. Although they do eat pork, fish and other meats, these are typically a small component of their overall consumption, which is mostly plant-based foods.”

I heard claims that the pork consumption was much more high before the war.


(Matthew) #4

I’m not very familiar with the Okinawa phenomenon apart from reading bits and pieces about it.

May be someone here has some research regarding whether their original diet included a lot more pork,

The BBC also linked to a ‘New Scientist’ article towards the bottom: ‘Eating a low-carb diet may shorten your life – unless you go vegan too

I think the BBC are on an anti low-carb pro-vegan crusade!:smirk:
Unless I’m mistaken most major media sources are pushing out the same.


(Robert C) #5

Ben Greenfield did a podcast recently about longevity. It explains many of these things and they have nothing to do with diet. I cannot remember them all exactly correctly but something like these:

  • Regular exercise is just part of their culture (walking many miles a day regardless of age)
  • Respect for elders
  • Good sense community
  • Low stress
  • Belief in something higher
  • Lots of fermented foods

I do not think anyone is saying diet is unimportant - but, for longevity, it is not the only thing.

I can’t remember the whole list nor do I think I have the details exactly correct.

Not all specific to Okinawa - I think he was talking generally about blue zones.

The point is - you can have a completely dialed in diet from birth and still only make it to 50 because you are a stressed out anti-social / estranged from your family type person that will not exercise.


(Bunny) #6

…Just as I suspected (i.e longevity)…

“…Okinawan diet – with a particular abundance of sweet potato as the source of most of their calories. …”

Thing about fiber (the name does not do it any justice) is too much is bad so there has to be just enough to spread it through the small (proximal) and large (distal) intestines to feed the gut bugs!


#7

And none of it came from industrial factories. I mean there’s pork and then there’s pork. Same with everything else, sweet pototo’s from the ground not the factory. They ate real food.


(Bunny) #8

…and you don’t want to do that with grains or bread esp. refined sugars or lots of natural sugars?


#9

I guess the wheels of sugary drink makers, fast-food, big-pharma and the medical industry have to keep turning.

First it was “a calorie is a calorie”, now it seems to be “a carb is a carb”. Carbs in Coke same as carbs in Okinawan sweet potato. Their carbs are good, so carbs are good, so have some of our carbs. I’m sure someone will want to believe that.


(Bunny) #10

”…He said people often tell him it is impossible to have muscle and not eat meat. …”

He’s obviously eating something like chlorella or some type of vegan protein powder with sneaked in B-12 from some animal source?

I get really really suspicious when I see stuff like this especially with no eggs in the diet and no scientific references in the article?

”…Mr Kerton, from Norwich, who changed his eating habits eight years ago, says you can have an “awesome physique” from a diet that causes “less harm to the environment”. …”

What a shame all that muscle and still stupid?


#11

This can help to reduce blood glucose levels.