A longevity expert who has studied the diets of the planet’s oldest inhabitants has busted a widespread myth about a particular food, insisting it’s not ‘the enemy’. Dan Buettner has dedicated his career to investigating the lifestyles of people in the world’s ‘Blue Zones’ – regions noted for their impressive number of centenarians.
In a new TikTok video, Dan discussed a dietary choice key for anyone wanting to reach 100 years old. While such a choice typically gets a ‘bad name’, he said the full picture is often overlooked.
“The worst word in the nutritional dictionary is ‘carbs’, or ‘carbohydrates’,” he said to his 152,000 followers. “Why? Because both lentil beans and jelly beans are carbs, and the most unhealthy foods in our food systems tend to be very simple carbohydrates.
“Basically sugar and doughnuts and cookies, etcetera, and candy. But also, the best food in our food system is carbohydrates.” Dan highlighted healthy staples such as beans, whole grains, greens, and sweet potatoes as part of this.
He said: “We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that people who live the longest, that we can actually record, were eating mostly complex carbohydrates. But the problem is the doughnuts and the cakes and the candies give carbohydrates a bad name.
“…You need fat, you also need protein, but you should be eating mostly complex carbohydrates if you actually want to live to 100.”
The fundamental difference between simple and complex carbohydrates is in the structure of their sugar molecules. Complex carbs, which are composed of long chains, have been shown to help reduce the urge to snack on unhealthy options.
While individual needs vary based on age, sex, and activity levels, the current Reference Intake, informed by the European Food Safety Authority, stands at 260g of carbs daily.
Guidance from the American Heart Association also explains: “The type of carbohydrates you eat can impact your health. Foods that contain high amounts of simple carbs (added sugars), especially fructose, raise triglyceride levels, which may increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.
“…In contrast, complex carbohydrates, such as an apple or a slice of whole-grain bread, take longer to digest and absorb, leaving you to feel fuller longer. These types of complex carbohydrates give you energy over a longer period of time.”
Beyond this, Dan has previously shared numerous other lifestyle tips practiced in different parts of the world. He recently hailed coffee as one of the ‘greatest longevity beverages out there’, suggesting people consume it before noon for optimal benefits.
“I think one of the greatest longevity beverages out there is coffee, but I think one of the most important secrets to drinking it and living longer is to drink it before noon,” he explained in a separate TikTok.
“If you drink your cup of coffee or two before noon, it actually lowers your chance of cardiovascular disease. Whereas, if you are drinking your coffee [in the] afternoon or in the evening, it doesn’t seem to do that. Plus, if you are drinking coffee too late in the day, it may interrupt your sleep. [And] bad sleep equals shorter life.”
These insights from Dan align with recent research published in the European Heart Journal, which analysed data from over 40,000 adults to explore the impact of consuming coffee at different times throughout the day. Intriguingly, those who drank coffee in the morning were found to be 31% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease and 16% less likely to die from any cause.
However, this was not the case for individuals who consumed coffee all day or did not drink coffee at all, as no reduction in risk was observed.
In response to these findings, Dr Lu Qi, its lead author at Tulane University, said in January: “This is the first study testing coffee drinking timing patterns and health outcomes. Our findings indicate that it’s not just whether you drink coffee or how much you drink but the time of day when you drink coffee that’s important.
“We don’t typically give advice about timing in our dietary guidance, but perhaps we should be thinking about this in the future…This study doesn’t tell us why drinking coffee in the morning reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
“A possible explanation is that consuming coffee in the afternoon or evening may disrupt circadian rhythms and levels of hormones such as melatonin. This, in turn, leads to changes in cardiovascular risk factors such as inflammation and blood pressure.
“Further studies are needed to validate our findings in other populations, and we need clinical trials to test the potential impact of changing the time of day when people drink coffee.”