17. Bon appétit, friends

Hi friends,

Welcome to the seventeenth dispatch of How Humans Flourish, a research-informed newsletter on how humans thrive.

Over the last five weeks, we’ve been digging into “Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest” by bestselling author, longevity expert, and National Geographic Researcher Dan Buettner.  

As a quick recap, there are five blue zones in the world:

1. Sardinia, Italy

2. Okinawa, Japan

3. Nicoya, Costa Rica

4. Ikaria, Greece

5. Loma Linda, California

These five geographic areas contain the only centenarians in the world with lower rates of chronic disease coupled with longer life expectancy. Even at 100, they have high cognitive function, sharp memory, and immense physical vitality. 

For our last week with Dan, we’re exploring the Blue Zone lesson that can often feel difficult for those of us living in industrialized cities: avoid processed foods.

What I find most fascinating about this lesson is what it exposes in fast and convenient food cultures. For example, Dan writes, “Most centenarians living in Nicoya, Sardinia, and Okinawa never had the chance to develop the habit of eating processed foods, soda pop, or salty snacks. For much of their lives, they ate small portions of unprocessed foods. They avoided meat —or more accurately, didn’t have access to it—except on rare occasions. Traditional Sardinians, Nicoyans, and Okinawans ate what they produced in their gardens, supplemented by staples: durum wheat (Sardinia), sweet potato (Okinawa), or maize (Nicoya)... Beans, whole grains, and garden vegetables are the cornerstones of all these longevity diets.” (Buettner, pg. 177)

But, even in Okinawa, the culture of longevity is eroding as Kentucky Fried Chickens and McDonalds spread across the island. Today, men under 55 show alarming rates of obesity and no longer live past the Japanese average.

Like the gut, the brain is one of the most important organs easily damaged by a poor diet. In 2014, The Journal of Pediatrics published a study finding a link between poor maternal nutrition and behavioral problems in their children aged five to six. In fact, children with low fatty acid intake were most likely to show physical aggression, defiance, and vandalism which are signals for antisocial or violent behaviors as teens or adults.  

Since the 1980s, science literature has linked mental health, aggression, food and nutrition; however, there is one institution where this link over indexes: prison. 

A national study that followed children born between 1998-2000 found that children who lacked access to enough nutritious food exhibited lower levels of self control and increased involvement in juvenile delinquency when compared to children raised in food secure households. This study deduced that lower levels of self control occur when nutritional related effects impact children's developing brains, especially the frontal areas related to self control (Jackson et al., 2018) 

A study of juvenile offenders aged 12 to 18 over a two year period removed soft drinks, high-sugar snacks and desserts, and cereals from their diet and replaced them with more nutritious snacks. The change in diet resulted in a 48% reduction in antisocial behavior. It increased positive social behavior in 71% of well-behaved juveniles. 

A larger study of 8,000 juvenile inmates in 12 different correctional institutions found that antisocial behavior decreased by 47% after high-fat and high sugar foods were replaced with more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

Five global prison nutrition studies have been carried out over the last 25 years and each study saw a 30% reduction in violence with improved nutrition. Moreso, up to 90% of prisoners are estimated to have some sort of diagnosable mental health condition, and good nutrition improves mental wellbeing. 

This is humbling when considering the cost of crime in the United States is estimated to be $2.6 trillion.

So, what diet works best in a modern world?

Year after year, the Mediterranean diet comes out on top in the U.S. News and World Report annual ranking of best diets. A Mediterranean-style diet includes plenty of fruits, vegetables, bread and other grains, potatoes, beans, nuts and seeds. Olive oil is a primary fat source, and dairy products, eggs, fish and poultry are allowed in low to moderate amounts.

Fish and poultry are more common than red meat in this diet, but what I love about it is it doesn’t restrain. It encourages minimally processed, plant-based foods. Wine may be consumed in low to moderate amounts, usually with meals. Fruit is a common dessert instead of sweets.

And…it’s delicious (one of my favorite Instagram accounts is solely dedicated to Mediterranean Diet recipes).

Bon appétit, friends.

With gratitude,

P.s. Interesting studies have tested whether supplements can counter poor maternal nutrition (the benefit of supplements over whole foods in these studies is that participants do not know whether they are getting the real supplement or the placebo. It’s virtually impossible to carry out these studies with actual food; you know whether you are eating a banana or a pop tart). A study of 4,000 Dutch toddlers found bad behavior in children was reduced when mothers took supplemented folic acid during the first trimester of pregnancy. The protective effect of supplementation was significant, even after controlling for the mother’s age, educational level, ethnicity, and mental health. 

P.p.s In children with ADHD, a fully blinded randomized controlled trial found that a combined multivitamin and mineral and sometimes omega-3 tablet given for 10 weeks significantly reduced aggression and hot tempers, fights with other children, and explosive angry outbursts.” This is significant because children with ADHD who are unable to modify their behavior may be over 100 times more likely to be permanently excluded from school, which itself leads to an increased risk of criminal behavior and incarceration.