Right, physical activity is critical but also they eat 0 processed foods, lots of wine.
The qty of red meat is debatable but none of these people eat processed anything.
“The food is beans, greens and whole grains,” says Buettner. “They also eat a lot of bread and cheese, mostly Pecorino and food from their garden.”
You missed that
Here’s the full quote:
“Piras shares that where grew up, in Barbagia, Sardinia in the 1960s and seventies, homemade pasta was heavy on the menu, as was meat — (lamb and pork, namely).
“In my area especially, meat is a major part of the diet,” says Piras. “The specialities are suckling pig, lamb, and some beef. Most of the vegetables would be limited to just very basic radishes, fennel and celery. Depending on the season, you also have a lot of wild asparagus which has a very intense flavor — not like what you find in the U.S — as well as asparagus, mushrooms and chard.”
All this pork (though Piras asserts that suckling pig is more of an “occasion” dish) and wine consumption (no matter its organic and local profile) has me wondering how these people live so long! Buettner contests that diet is responsible for “maybe only 25 percent” of the longevity picture in Sardinia. “People tend to go down this rabbit hole that diet is everything, but it’s really a small part of the big picture.””
Keep in mind that it the people from that era that are now hitting 100.