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Writer's pictureCyndi Cummings

What Do the World's Oldest People Eat?

You've likely heard all kinds of nutritional advice, and likely a lot of it sounds similar. A healthy balanced diet is thought to be comprised of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, low in meat, especially red meat, low in processed foods and saturated fats, and more. Portion size is important, too. If you've wondered about not just eating healthy, but also about what the oldest people eat, you're not alone. Are there common foods linking the world's oldest people? Read on to find out!


An article from Food Network highlighted a handful of centenarians: one from Japan, one from the United States, one from Jamaica, and two from France. The main common thread found among each of them is to be sure to include foods that make you happy in your diet. In addition to eating foods that make you happy, they also made sure to do things that made them happy throughout their lives.


The most common food among these five centenarians was chocolate, which is something we can get behind! It also seems to be common to for them to eat local foods or produce, particularly in Japan and Jamaica. The idea of the world's oldest people eating chocolate was also echoed in an article found in Eat This, Not That!. For their article, they studied six people who lived to be over 100, including the oldest person in human history, Jeanne Louise Calment who lived to be 122 (the Food Network article also studied Calment). The three foods they found in common among the six centenarians they studied were chocolate, port wine, and olive oil.


Both articles had a lot of similarities, with both noting chocolate as one of the most eaten foods by the world's oldest people. In addition, both articles made special mention of the importance of eating and doing things you love. That seems like great advice at any age!



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