world round tour of the five best diets!

What does a Japanese man from Okinawa Island, a Scandinavian woman and an inhabitant of the Vilcabamba Valley in South America have in common? All of them have an exemplary lifestyle. As a result, they are in Olympic shape, are practically not overweight, and live longer than in the rest of the world. Their secret? A healthy and balanced diet, based on ancestral culinary habits.

"Let your food be your only medicine," Hippocrates recommended more than 2,000 years ago. Today more than ever, we are more aware than ever that our diet is one of the keys to our well-being, both physical and mental. But how many of us still believe that the word diet necessarily means restriction? In reality, the expression "diet" simply defines how man eats, whether it is right or wrong. Here we have listed five diets that have been proven to be among the best diets in the world today. What do they have in common? All of them are based on traditional and ancestral cooking habits. Their main virtue? To provide those who follow it with the bare necessities, both nutritionally and in terms of pleasure. In the end, those who practice them are healthy, slim and live longer. What if a simple return to basics was enough to eat better and healthier?

The Cretan diet: a perfume of the Mediterranean Sea

Olive oil, tomato, feta cheese, yoghurt with honey... Everyone has a vague idea of what the Cretan diet is, one of the most famous "long life" diets. It is based on the best principles of the Mediterranean diet. Many studies claim that the Cretan diet, even when adapted to French eating habits, reduces recurrences of heart attacks and prevents heart disease and cancer.

The diet in Crete: it is a diet rich in foods of cereal origin, olive oil, fish, fruits and vegetables, but low in meat, eggs, potatoes and sweets. Wheat, flax, sesame, barley, olives, pork, goat and lamb are processed into breads, oils, cheeses, kebabs and stewed dishes. Fish has a special place on the menu as well as wild herbs.

Flagship products: olive oil, sheep or goat's milk, houmus (chick pea purée), vine leaves stuffed with rice, bread (in the form of cereal cakes flavoured with poppy, cumin, olives...).

The Ecuadorian Regime: From the Valley of the Centenarians

The inhabitants of the Vilcabamba Valley in Ecuador are, as in Okinawa, a kind of exception and many scientists have sought to unlock their secret. Anxious to preserve their discretion, its inhabitants have even got into the habit of erasing the dates of death inscribed on the tombstones of their century-old parents. Also known in South America as "Sacred Valley" or "Paradise of Eternal Youth", this valley is home to 11% of the population in their sixties (compared to 4% in the rest of the country).

Food in Vilcabamba: it is rich in fresh vegetables (peas, avocados, tomatoes, carrots, peppers), pulses (beans, broad beans), potatoes, cassava or cereals (rice, quinoa, corn) and fruits (exotic fruits, bananas, plums, chestnuts ...). Many types of meat are eaten but sparingly (chicken, pork, turkey, wild boar, monkey, snake...).

Flagship products: yuca (manioc with yellow and red tubers used to make tapioca), Cuy (guinea pig served grilled or smoked), parrilladas (grilled meats), empanadas (fritters), dried fish and chocolate (especially in the form of cocoa drinks).

The Nordic Diet: Eating like a Viking

Icelanders, but also other Scandinavians (Danes, Swedes, Norwegians and Finns) are on the way to taking the lead in the populations whose diet allows them to live the longest and healthiest lives. Food quality, sensitivity to the seasons and organic food, resistance to foreign trends (and fast-food in particular), the Nordic people have it all!

The diet in the Nordic countries: it consists mainly of fish (fat and lean), whole grains (barley, rye, oats), potatoes, game, berries, cabbage, roots (carrots, parsnips...), dairy products and fresh herbs.

Key products: salmon and herring, fish oil, black bread, blueberries (cranberries, cranberries, blackcurrants...), lean beef, rapeseed oil and fermented foods (such as sauerkraut).

The Caucasian regime: mountain people, old and happy

The fascination for this part of the world dates back to the end of the 19th century. Many travelers (writers, botanists, archaeologists...) used to go there for a vacation or a spa treatment on the Black Sea. All of them testified to the beauty of the Circassians. Abkhazia, located between the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea, was at the time given as the country of centenarians.

The Caucasian diet: it consists of many vegetables (onions, dandelions, red beans, spinach, cabbage...), herbs and spices, fruits, nuts (in sauces and oils), yoghurt, honey, dried cheese or cornmeal bread stuffed with cheese. Meat remains a luxury reserved for festive meals. Fish is absent, except for people who live near a lake. 

The main products: lobio (a dish made from red beans and nuts), cheese (made from curdled milk and then fermented), wine, tea, faînes (oily beech fruit), churned butter (made from lamb fat), liquid yoghurt and sok (a local fruit juice).

The Okinawa diet: a Zen diet

Who has never heard of Okinawa, this island of Japan, nicknamed "the land of happy immortals", where the largest proportion of centenarians in the world live? But who says long life, says good health, good lifestyle and therefore, little overweight. Thus, in general, Japanese people suffer much less from cancer and cardiovascular disease than Westerners. Also, they have good bone density (no or no osteoporosis).

The diet in Okinawa: it consists mainly of fish, shellfish, seaweed, vegetables, spices, herbs, cereals and fruits. Meat is consumed twice as much as in the rest of Japan, as well as legumes and green vegetables.

Flagship products: tofu, rapeseed oil, soybeans, tea (green, jasmine flavored, or barley tea), red beans (azuki), black mushrooms (shitake) and goya (a kind of bitter cucumber).

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