It’s a question I sought to answer in my new book, The Happiest Diet In The World. While the flavours people seek out regularly may be different across the blue zones, I discovered that the fundamentals of the diets are more similar than you’d think.

Some of the key components of the blue zone diet I noticed were:

They predominantly eat plant foods, which include grains, legumes (like beans, lentils, peas), nuts, potatoes, olive oil, seeds, spices, herbs, fruit and vegetables – which vary naturally with the seasons. This means they have a much higher intake of fibre than other populations. They also benefit from micronutrients such as polyphenols, which act as antioxidants and can provide protection against the development of certain cancers, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes among other ailments.
They cook their meals themselves and rarely eat industrially prepared food.
Meat is an occasional treat instead of an everyday necessity. Blue-zoners eat the equivalent of one and a half chickens per person per year whereas Brits eat 22.
Desserts are homemade and are only eaten every now and then. Blue-zoners aren’t scared of sugar but make consumption intentional rather than accidental (ie when it’s inside supposedly savoury UPFs).
Bread is traditionally made, making it a vastly different product from most of the loaves found on our supermarket shelves.
Dairy is either very fresh or fermented in probiotic-packed yoghurt and cheese.
Extra-virgin olive oil is the preferred oil for both cooking and eating and is consumed in abundance.
Small glasses of red wine (just one or two) are enjoyed frequently, but normally with food and in company.

“What I learned about nutrition from talking to the healthiest people in the world”