Transcript of the relevant part of the discussion about Blue Zone diets:
Jesse Chappus: When it comes to the food-zoning in on this piece-you mentioned how it's the polar opposite of how it's being portrayed by the Blue Zones brand. Any idea how that got so lost in translation? And I'll add to this: we're talking about one of the Blue Zones here. Have you traveled to any of the others?
Dr. Schindler: No, but I have talked to people like Mary Rodic who have. Other than Loma Linda, which is the Seventh-day Adventist community-um, which I'm confident... I haven't been there, but I'm confident what's being portrayed from a vegetarian perspective is probably very accurate-all the rest of them... I have talked to people who have been to the others, and they report a very similar thing to what I have.
Jesse Chappus: Any idea why things got so lost in translation?
Dr. Schindler: Oh, I'm confident it was intentional. In fact, I talked to-You know, one of the things that's portrayed about Sardinia is that they eat a massive amount of this minestrone soup, some vegetable-based minestrone soup. And some of the people there-in fact, I was in the home, the meal that I'm mostly referring to as I'm talking to you-that was the centerpiece of their home. The BBC came out to do a big special there, and they did it in their home, and they were joking about it the whole time. They're like, "I don't know where this minestrone soup thing came from. We eat it, but it's rare that we even eat it." It was so funny. But I'm convinced it was intentional.
They mostly talk about Sardinia, but as someone living in Japan, the Okinawan diet is also poorly reported in blue zones study. Okinawans eat fish like all of Japan and pork. It's the part of Japan that consumes the most luncheon meat, which isn't popular here in Tokyo. It's even considered Okinawan "soul food."
To quote https://www.bluezones.com/explorations/okinawa-japan/
Older Okinawans have eaten a plant-based diet most of their lives. Their meals of stir-fried vegetables, sweet potatoes, and tofu are high in nutrients and low in calories.
This is a bald-faced lie, and I'm amazed they're allowed to get away with it. "Older" Okinawans lived through postwar Japan. Everyone was poor and unable to afford food. The low cost is likely one of the reasons why luncheon meat became popular in Okinawa in the first place!
Summary
Title: The Blue Zones Diet Debunked - THIS Is What They ACTUALLY EAT… | Dr. Bill Schindler
- Fermentation is a key ancestral food processing technique that enhances nutrition, detoxifies foods, and improves shelf life.
- Plants were a significant part of human diets long before meat was introduced, and they continued to be consumed alongside meat.
- The domestication of plants has led to a reduction in their natural defense mechanisms, making them more susceptible to pests and diseases.
- Modern agricultural practices often strip plants of their natural toxins, which can be harmful if consumed in large quantities or improperly processed.
- The Blue Zones diet, often misrepresented as plant-based, actually includes a significant amount of animal products and fermented foods.
- Salt has been an important part of human diets since ancient times, with high-quality, mineral-rich salts being the most beneficial.
- Traditional diets were highly diverse and seasonal, with a focus on locally available and hyper-seasonal plants and animals.
- The modern industrial food system has led to a loss of diversity in diets, with a focus on a limited range of crops and animal products.
- The role of plants in traditional diets was multifaceted, including nutrition, entertainment, medicine, and poison.
- The misrepresentation of the Blue Zones diet has led to a misunderstanding of the importance of animal products and fermented foods in traditional diets.
Dr. Schindler mentions this opinion from Discover magazine in 1987: https://web.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/classes/188/materials/Diamond-TheWorstMistakeInTheHistoryOfTheHumanRace.pdf
I'll read this next.