In 2008, photographer and
author Dan Buettner lead an
expedition with a team of
demographers, scientists and
anthropologists in a search
to uncover the secrets to
human longevity. They found 5
communities across the planet
that continue to have the highest
number of centenarians, along
with the lowest rates of chronic
diseases and cancer. People
living in Sardinia (Italy), Okinawa
(Japan), Loma Linda (USA), Icaria
(Greece) and Nicoya (Costa
Rica) were found to be living most
commonly in optimal health and
wellbeing, with most centenarians
continuing as active members
of the community. Dan and his
team summarised some of the
strong similarities between these
5 communities: 1) Movement/
Activity, 2) Purpose, 3) Stress less,
4) Mostly plant-based diet.
A requirement common to
all human beings is the need
to consume food to provide
energy and the essential
phytochemicals/nutrients critical
to the optimal functioning of our
body’s cells. We know from many
high-quality epidemiological
studies, as well as numerous
randomised-controlled trials in
the field of nutrition research, the
more whole plant foods present
in people’s diets the less likely they
are to develop a chronic disease
or cancer. Life expectancy
numbers are often touted by
health organisations
and government
agencies as
the benchmark
to gauge a
community’s health
status, but the more
important question
we must ask
ourselves – Are we
living longer or just
dying longer?
The food we
choose to eat has
numerous effects
on our body’s
physiology, from the more
obvious factors such as our
weight, skin quality and overall
energy, to the less known factors
such as changes to our blood
vessels, cells and DNA structure/
functioning. It is well established
that whole plant foods generally
promote anti-inflammatory and
immune strengthening processes
when consumed, whereas
foods that are highly processed
or of animal origin promote
the development of chronic
inflammation and subsequently
increase the risk of progression to
chronic disease and/or cancer.
In 1998, Dr Dean Ornish published
the findings of the Lifestyle
Heart Trial in the USA which
produced some amazing results
for participants receiving the
intervention. Those allocated
to the intervention group were
told to follow a low fat (only 10%
calories from fat) plant-based
diet, aerobic exercise, stress
management and smoking
cessation. The trial resulted in the
plant-based group significantly
reversing their blood vessel
blockages, while those that had
made no lifestyle changes in
the control group, continued
to develop further blood vessel
blockages and sustained
twice the number of cardiac
episodes during the 5-year
period. A whole decade earlier,
cardiologist Dr Caldwell Esselstyn
demonstrated in his study that
coronary blockages could be
reversed by following a whole
foods plant-based diet. Dr Ornish
and Esselstyn’s work was praised
in the medical literature when
published and it appeared that
we had discovered a safe way to
treat and reverse heart disease
without medications or surgery.
Unfortunately, their findings fell
on deaf ears and cardiovascular
disease continues to be the
number one killer of men and
women globally.
The pharmaceutical industry has
profited exponentially from the
July 2020
Polo De’Marco