Sardinia is one of the places where there is longevity in the World.
WHERE IS IT Sardinia?
At the centre of the island in the Mediterranean, a group of villagers gives a record that everyone wishes to have: the World’s longest and healthiest life community.
Isn’t this anyone’s dream? Rich or poor, educated or less educated, longevity is the most common desire in mankind.
For some decades, this data has been public and very famous. It is the result of scientific research that has also been reported by essential magazines, such as National GeographIC.
Investigating this rare and vital genetic form, in store for the inhabitants of Sardinia, interests everyone, to see if it is possible to repeat this miracle from other parts of the planet.
HOW LONG DO THEY LIVE?
If we take the data statistically, we notice that there are 10 times more centenarians per capita in Sardinia than in the United States.
It is an extraordinary result if we think that life should, in theory, be better in the leading country of progress and capitalism. “People live better and longer”, they say in America the politics, but clearly, it is not really so.
It is evident that the residents of this area of the World are isolated physically and culturally, allowing them to maintain a very traditional and healthy lifestyle.
A form of natural self-defence to the stress of life of most of the planet.
Sardinians still hunt, fish, grow and make by hands the food they eat.
Olive Oil and bread are made at home regularly. The eggs come from the hens in the yard, and the meat they eat is not treated but instead comes from animals that feast, in turn, natural things and not chemical supplements.
Sardinians stay close with friends and family for life.
Sardinians still celebrate Christmas at large tables with all family around.
From the old grandfather to the newborn grandson, sit at a table full of homemade products, laughing and drinking wine together.
We ask ourselves: is it possible to set the lifestyle and the environment around us as the example we have from Sardinian centenarians to live a longer and healthier life?
Obviously, it is difficult, the products we find in our cities are not the same.
Even without having financial problems, specific products, certain genuineness, it is not easy to see it in our towns, if not impossible.
But following the following practices will promote habits that can make your life well up to 100 and more years or at least get close to it and get there in total healthy control.
Eating a lean plant-based diet is bare and accented with high-quality meat, which means eating less meat but eating it better.
The classic Sardinian diet consists of wholemeal bread, beans, vegetables from the garden, fruit and Extra Virgin Olive Oil of the highest quality.
what to eat
The primary bread is the Pane Carasau. Carasau bread is a good source of carbohydrates that, once introduced into the body, are transformed into glucose, used for the energy of the brain and muscles. This bread is totally free of cholesterol and therefore is suitable to be included in the diets of subjects with cardiovascular problems.
The cheese mainly eaten in Sardinia is the “Pecorino Sardo” based on grass-fed sheep, whose cheese is rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
This cheese is so particular and valuable that its name is still in the best restaurants in the World and has a DOC brand all its own.
Meat, as I said, is primarily reserved for Sundays and special occasions, roast food is eaten, and the burger is not part of the Sardinian diet at all.
Fish on Fridays is another classic, they eat fish even twice a week, which has spectacular benefits on the health of your body.
There aren’t french fries on the menu of those people.
When potatoes are on the table, these are usually roasted, flavoured with rosemary and the juices that come out of the meat while roasted.
Drinking a glass or two of red wine a day is imperative and fundamental to the Sardinian diet.
Sardinians drink wine moderately, they do not let themselves drink without keeping control, but they do it with the highest quality drinks.
Cannonau wine is the main red wine, and this wine is famous in the World.
It is called the “elixir of long life“.
Mehmet Oz
The secret of eternal youth would lie in a glass of Cannonau.
This was stated by America’s most famous luminary surgeon, followed by millions of people during his talk show. According to Oz, the Sardinian wine par excellence is good for health.
Thanks to it, the Sardinians are one of the longest-lived peoples in the World.
The beneficial properties of Cannonau would lie in its grape variety, which contains procyanidins. It is a powerful antioxidant that can guarantee vascular benefits from 5 to 10 times greater than other vines.
In a nutshell, with two glasses of Cannonau a day, you clean the arteries compared to something that other wines do much less.
It is also known that moderate consumption of wine helps to greater relaxation. This probably helps to explain the lower level of stress among men in Sardinia.
The rule is: Put family and friends first.
Sardinia’s strong family and friendship values help ensure that every family member is cared for.
Living in strong, healthy families suffer from lower depression, suicide, and stress.
Celebrate the elderly.
Grandparents can provide love, childcare, financial help, wisdom, and expectations/motivation to perpetuate traditions and push children to succeed in their lives.
Unlike some Northern European or Anglo-Saxon societies, it is not thought to put the elderly in nursing homes but keep them at home as a form of wisdom and example for others.
You live with the elderly; you don’t put them in nursing homes to be free yourself in your life.
These practises all lead to healthier children mentally and following the example of the elderly, better suited to healthy eating and more long-lived from the children.
This gives the population as a whole a great example of how to live and simultaneously increases the life expectancy of the new generations.
Take a walk.
Walking five to six kilometres a day is possible. This is what more or less the inhabitants of central Sardinia do, also not give up coffee and two chats at the bar every day, even if they are over eighty years old.
My dad, at 86, every morning still going with my uncle at 80, at the local bar to read the newspaper, have a coffee and chat with people around, it’s the example I have at home.
Easy to guess that this provides all the cardiovascular benefits you might expect from so much activity and movement.
Walking also positively affects muscle and bone metabolism without the hammering to your body caused by marathons or extreme runs of various kinds.
Laughing with friends is basic.
The men of Sardinia are famous for their sarcastic sense of humour and their passion for endless discussions, again, with my dad I could be exhausted before he will finish arguing with me about everything!
They still gather on the street in the afternoons or summer evenings to talk and laugh at each other.
Talking at the bar about politics, sports, and another great passion, between the morning cappuccino or the espresso after lunch.
Laughter and sports-based discussions reduce stress, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Drinking goat’s milk can be difficult but essential.
A glass of goat’s milk contains components that could help protect against inflammatory diseases of ageing such as heart disease and Alzheimer’s.
Finding goat’s milk in our towns is not easy.
This is the classic example that doing the same actions as the island inhabitants is complicated and impossible in many ways.
Still, an attempt, an effort, give a few more chances to live longer and live better, as the sardinains.
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