Debunking the Blue Zones With Dr. Steven Gundry

Little one: Welcome to my Mommy’s podcast.

Good day and welcome to the Wellness Mama podcast. I’m Katie from wellnessmama.com and I’m again at the moment with return visitor, Dr. Steven Gundry. And on this episode, we break down and debunk the myths of the Blue Zones. And I really like this matter as a result of Blue Zones, I really feel like, are sometimes quoted and cherry-picked for his or her information to attempt to promote totally different plans or dietary supplements or merchandise that folks have. And I really like that we obtained to go deep on what the info truly says about Blue Zones. And it won’t be what you suppose. I actually realized some issues about this that I didn’t know, together with some surprising statistics. I do know one in all these will completely shock you about one of many components that may be contributing to longevity in sure Blue Zones. And it’s undoubtedly not gonna be what you suppose.

And Dr. Gundry breaks down how, whereas Blue Zones are sometimes used to advertise vegetarian or vegan or excessive grain diets, that’s not what the info truly says. And there’s some distinctive different issues that stand out, together with consumption of sure uncommon meals that aren’t as widespread within the US however obtainable now within the US. We discuss their motion patterns and their day by day way of life habits, in addition to components and information round nutrient consumption and mineral consumption and why these are such vital components.

And on the finish, he additionally shares his private non-negotiables and 80-20 of what he does day by day to keep up his well being and power and vitality whereas he nonetheless maintains a really lively profession, working with sufferers, writing books, and doing analysis as properly. And also you’ve in all probability heard of him, however Dr. Gundry is the founder and director of the Worldwide Coronary heart and Lung Institute, in addition to the Heart for Restorative Drugs. He’s written many bestselling books, together with The Plant Paradox and the companions to that, The Longevity Paradox, The Power Paradox, his new Intestine Test ebook, and plenty of others. He has over 300 articles revealed in peer-reviewed journals, and he focuses on a dietary strategy to decreasing illness and reversing issues like autoimmune illness. In reality, his statistic for doing that along with his sufferers is over 94%. He’s been doing this work for many years, and he’s one of many actually sturdy voices on this house. I’m very excited to share him with you at the moment, so let’s soar into the episode. Dr. Gundry, welcome again. I’m so excited to have you ever again once more.

Dr. Gundry: Hey, it’s nice to be right here, thanks.

Katie: Properly, I’m tremendous excited to leap into a subject that the title may be just a little surprising to folks at first look, however I do know that you’ve got lots of information and expertise to help this, and I’m tremendous excited to study from you at the moment. We’re gonna discuss debunking Blue Zones. So to begin broad and provides some background, I might love so that you can clarify what are the largest misconceptions with regards to Blue Zones as a result of I’ve been watching this information now for over a decade, and it looks like a number of folks cherry-pick the info from Blue Zones to attempt to show their very own level or promote their very own product. And I do know you’re a really first rules pushed individual and you actually go to the foundation of issues. So what are these misconceptions with regards to Blue Zones?

Dr. Gundry: Properly, as I discuss in that chapter within the, within the new ebook, Intestine Test, the chapter is mainly entitled, Cigarettes, Cheese, and Meat: New ideas from the Blue Zones. Simon & Garfunkel used to say {that a} man hears what he desires to listen to and disregards the remainder. And initially, the Blue Zones, everyone wonders, properly, the place the phrase Blue Zones come from? We’re speaking about lots of these locations the place within the water or islands or within the Mediterranean, and possibly it’s the ocean.

Now the Blue Zones, there was a gathering in Montpellier, France, which is within the south of France, a lot of years in the past, and a researcher obtained a blue-tip felt-markering pen and went to a map of the world and drew some circles round 5 locations that he thought, he thought had the very best longevity on the planet. And who can be within the viewers however Dan Buettner, who truly has trademarked the time period Blue Zone. So I’ve to watch out once I say it or use it. And so Dan is a vegetarian, virtually vegan. And so he wished, I believe, to select these elements of the Blue Zone cultures that help his perception system. And, sadly, while you truly have a look at what folks eat in these areas, that doesn’t help his perception system one bit.

We might use Okinawa for an instance. The Okinawans, the one detailed description of the Okinawan weight loss plan was achieved by the US army in 1947 as an occupying nation. We took over Okinawa. And the one description of what Okinawans ate again then was by the US army, primary. The Okinawans, 85% of their weight loss plan is a purple candy potato. The soy that they eat is miso. They hardly eat any rice, and so they actually don’t eat another grain merchandise. The opposite factor that’s distinctive in regards to the Okinawans is they really eat an enormous quantity of bitter, spicy inexperienced leaves and spices. In reality, in Japan, they’re known as the spice eaters. So there’s nothing of their weight loss plan that helps the concept beans and rice is what makes them nice. It’s a candy potato. Sorry about that. The opposite factor that’s distinctive about Okinawa, in actual fact, as I discuss within the ebook, the Okinawans can’t develop rice as a result of their local weather doesn’t help rice rising. So, oh properly.

Now possibly essentially the most spectacular factual information comes out of Sardinia. So Sardinia is an Italian island. It’s mainly obtained two populations, bunch of people that stay down by the ocean, they’re fishermen, and a bunch of people that stay up within the mountains, and so they’re goat and sheep herders. The one individuals who have longevity stay within the mountains. The individuals who stay down by the ocean don’t have longevity, fascinating sufficient. Uh, yeah. And the individuals who stay within the mountains, what makes them have extra longevity is definitely the boys stay so long as the ladies. Now, most individuals know that males normally stay about seven years shorter lives than girls. You guys are the stronger intercourse, we obtained to confess it. However in that island, the boys truly exceed the ladies’s longevity. Why is that? Properly, about 95% of the boys smoke, and solely about 25% of the ladies smoke. And we see this repeated in a number of different Blue Zones, like Ikaria, Greece, like at Ciroli within the south of Italy. The lads are people who smoke, and the ladies aren’t a lot. And it’s truly the nicotine in smoke that is likely one of the greatest mitochondrial and couplers, longevity brokers recognized to mankind. Now, I don’t smoke. I don’t suggest smoking. The issue with nicotine, it’s addictive. However it’s actually nice for longevity. And actually, all of those longevity compounds that everyone’s speaking about, nicotinamide, riboside, NMN, niacinamide, nicotinic acid, that’s a cousin of nicotine and that’s truly why they stay a lot longer. Sorry about that Dan.

Now the opposite factor that’s fascinating, they’re sheep and goat herders. So day by day they’re consuming sheep and goat yogurt, sheep and goat cheeses, and as I’ve talked about in my final two books, these cheeses have two health-promoting properties. Primary, they’re loaded with medium-chain triglycerides. A 3rd of the fats in cheese and goat milk and cheeses are MCTs. Secondly, they’ve these compounds that I write about known as polyamines, which as soon as once more are extremely lifespan-promoting compound. So, a lot for the primary grain and bean concept there.

Properly, let’s discuss a spot that does eat grains and beans, the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. Now, all of Costa Rica eat beans and eat corn, and that’s their state. And the Nicoya Peninsula does eat beans and corn. However what’s distinctive about this little half is that they’re sheep and goat herders, and so they eat lots of sheep and goat cheese and goat yogurt, not like another a part of Costa Rica. And there’s a extremely fascinating paper that I reference that the folks in that area credit score the goat and sheep with their longevity, and so they suppose that the beans and corn are a damaging facet to their weight loss plan that they must tolerate only for energy. Oh properly, and we might go on and on.

Katie: Properly, that’s actually a far cry from the US the place these issues are simply tolerated for energy and easily getting sufficient energy to exist. That’s an enormous distinction than the breakdown of nutritionally what most individuals eat, actually within the US. That’s completely fascinating to me that you just mentioned smoking may truly be a consider longevity for these folks as a result of I’ve seen a few of this information as properly about nicotine itself, particularly if we will isolate it from smoking and the dangerous elements that include that. Would you say there may be a time and a spot for nicotine consumption that’s not from smoking for longevity perspective?

Dr. Gundry: Properly, once more, I believe my buddy Dave Asprey makes use of nicotine drops on a regular basis. He argues, maybe accurately, that every one nice concepts took place in a restaurant with smoking cigarettes and consuming espresso and having a glass of wine. And he won’t be far off. However apparently sufficient, an island in Papua New Guinea, the Katawans, the Katawans smoke like fiends. They’ve by no means been recognized to have most cancers. There has by no means been a case of a stroke or coronary heart assault in these folks. They usually eat a weight loss plan with lots of tubers. They do eat lots of coconut. However right here’s one other instance the place the smoking doesn’t appear to have the damaging influence that we discover.

And I’m going into the ebook, and I’ve talked about it earlier than, one of many issues that in all probability will get these folks away with the dangerous results of smoking: Smoking causes oxidative stress, and oxidative stress makes use of up a vital antioxidant known as vitamin C. And we’re one of many few animals that don’t make our personal vitamin C. Now we have to ingest it. Vitamin C is important for knitting collagen again collectively. Collagen breaks on a regular basis, and people who smoke have extra wrinkles as a result of their collagen has damaged as a result of the harm of daylight and so they don’t have any vitamin C to place it again collectively, apparently sufficient. Similar manner people who smoke have very distinct patterns of coronary artery illness that may be prevented by vitamin C. So I believe the people who smoke in these long-lived areas have a weight loss plan that’s extremely wealthy in antioxidants in vitamin C. And there’s a really well-known research in rats. There’s 5 genes that make enzymes that take glucose and convert it into vitamin C. So there’s 5 enzymatic steps. Now we have 4 of these genes, however the fifth gene is known as a ghost gene. It doesn’t work. And that’s why we don’t make vitamin C. In the event you take rats and provides them the human gene sequence, rats make vitamin C, these rats will solely stay half so long as a traditional rat. However when you put vitamin C of their consuming water, in order that they’re consuming vitamin C all day, they’ll equal how lengthy a rat would usually stay, providing you with an thought of simply how vital form of a steady provide of vitamin C is.

Katie: Wow, that’s fascinating as properly. I might love to listen to out of your perspective what the info truly says in what our key takeaways ought to be with regards to Blue Zones. It feels like actually not grain and bean consumption in excessive quantities, probably root greens and tubers having a better place, particularly ones which might be wealthy in issues like polyphenols are like brightly coloured. I might guess additionally issues like though they drink wine in lots of of those locations, wine could also be not vital for longevity by any means.

And I do know folks additionally discuss components like usually they transfer extra, like folks like goat and sheep herders in all probability get far more motion than the typical American. It looks like they usually have nice neighborhood and/or areas with good mineral, extra minerals within the soil or the consuming water. However what out of your perspective are the important thing takeaways that we will truly study after we have a look at the info with an correct lens that we will all study from?

Dr. Gundry: Properly, I believe you’ve hit on lots of them. Most of those stay in hilly areas. Loma Linda, the place I used to be professor for a lot of my profession, which is the one Blue Zone in the USA. Loma Linda means lovely hill, apparently sufficient. And Loma Linda, the Adventist neighborhood, has the longevity. The remainder of Loma Linda doesn’t, apparently sufficient. One factor I’d add, in Okinawa, the entire medical data, beginning certificates have been destroyed throughout the warfare. And one of many theories of why Okinawans have been so long-lived is that when folks have been requested how outdated they have been, they made wild guesses, and there’s truly no data. The opposite factor, significantly in Europe, is that pensions are primarily based on dwelling folks, and lots of instances, you want that pension to outlive, and so that you don’t declare deaths of people that have truly died, so that you simply hold getting their pension. So, there’s all types of different issues.

I’d add, one of many issues that shocked me once I was doing the analysis for Intestine Test, is that folks with the longest lifespan of any nation on the planet is just a little tiny nation between France and Spain known as Andorra. And it’s solely 150,000 inhabitants. And it’s manner up within the Pyrenees Mountains. And the Andorrans have a really, so they really have a lifespan of about 90 years, each women and men. Fairly good. The Andorrans are sheepherders, and so they eat sheep cheese and sheep yogurts, and so they eat sausages day by day. And also you go, properly, wait a minute, that looks like, wait a minute, cheese and sausage is the important thing to longevity? Properly, as I suggest in Intestine Test, sure. It seems that sausages, historically ready sausages, have polyamines and the actually nasty sugar molecule in beef, lamb, and pork, and milk known as NU5GC, is eaten by the micro organism throughout fermentation of sausages. In order that explains why you’ll be able to form of have your cake and eat it too. So you’ll be able to have cheese and sausages like charcuterie and possibly stay a extremely very long time.

Katie: That’s actually thrilling as properly, as a result of actually you additionally hear them say, you understand, in these areas they don’t eat meat, they don’t eat animal merchandise, and it looks like that can also be some cherry-picking of information and never an correct illustration. And particularly, I do know it’s tougher to search out within the US, however it looks like there may be one thing to including extra sheep and goat dairy merchandise to our weight loss plan, which actually are very minimal in American weight loss plan consumption from my understanding.

Dr. Gundry: Yeah, I imply, fortunately, we’re starting to see like plain goat yogurt. It’s a Dealer Joe’s. There are sheep yogurt merchandise now. Uh, it’s, in a manner, simple to search out, uh, sheep cheeses, Manchego. You may get at Costco or Dealer Joe’s. Yow will discover pecorino cheese, which is a sheep cheese. Goat cheeses are just a little tougher to search out, however even Dealer Joe’s has goat brie. A number of firms are actually making goat mozzarella, goat cheddar. So folks ought to search for these. They are going to make a distinction.

Katie: That’s nice to know. I’m curious when you noticed any information, and possibly not, that is only a analysis matter for me proper now of mineral consumption in these areas or if their surroundings naturally has extra of the minerals that we’re not getting in our weight loss plan, particularly if we’re consuming processed meals.

Dr. Gundry: Yeah, one of many issues that I do lots of YouTube movies about this, our soil is so depleted right here in the USA of minerals. In reality, there’s a Senate doc from 1939 that I’ve written about in earlier books that mainly says, our soil is so depleted, this was 1939, that we must eat constantly and nonetheless couldn’t make up for the dearth of minerals in our weight loss plan, consuming constantly.

The opposite factor that’s occurred in our soil, is glyphosate is an antibiotic, and it’s killed off the microbiome of the soil. And the microbiome of the soil was truly chargeable for taking these natural compounds and minerals and placing them into the soil, primary, after which aiding the foundation system of the plant to take up these minerals into the plant. So, you understand, corn might seem like corn now, however it bears no relationship to what corn was 50 years in the past. A bit of broccoli might seem like broccoli now, however it actually has a 3rd of the minerals of fifty years in the past. So yeah, we’re profoundly mineral-depleted. And fortunately, these Blue Zones, or these long-lived folks that aren’t, quote, official Blue Zones, they stay in distant areas, glyphosate has by no means come close to them. They farm the land or decide the land. They’re consuming greens and leaves which might be rising in eight toes of loam soil. And they also’re getting these vitamins which have lengthy been lacking in our weight loss plan.

Katie: Properly, and primarily based on that statistic of we’d must eat constantly and we nonetheless wouldn’t get sufficient minerals, it looks like there’s two keys there to spotlight. One is, after all, avoiding glyphosate nonetheless doable. And the second, it will appear to be that is additionally a theme in podcast visitors that I’ve had is we’re just about at a degree within the fashionable world the place we do must complement with sure issues to succeed in these minimal quantities. Like, sadly, we’re now not at a degree the place we will get every part from meals, even when, such as you mentioned, we ate all day lengthy.

Dr. Gundry: Yeah, and one of many theories that’s truly come out of animal research is that animals, in the event that they’re disadvantaged of a specific nutrient, will constantly eat of what’s obtainable to them to get to this vital nutrient quantity of their physique. Issues that they’d by no means take into account consuming or an animal that doesn’t eat lots of carbohydrates, however the carbohydrate that’s offered within the weight loss plan has these important minerals, the animal will go and eat these items till it will get what it’s searching for. I imply, I at all times comply with my canines within the spring. They’re consuming younger shoots of grass. And I’m going, yeah, that’s fascinating. What are you guys doing that for? They’re not throwing up. They’re searching for younger shoots of grass. Properly, and that’s the place all the latest little bits of polyphenols and minerals are coming from. Canines are fairly sensible, too.

Katie: I believe that highlights one thing actually vital as a result of I’ve puzzled this for a very long time. We hear usually that Individuals particularly are overfed and undernourished. A couple of years in the past, I switched from desirous about energy and macros in any respect and checked out nutrient density in meals, particularly micronutrients. I consciously began upping my mineral consumption, and I observed that I used to be far much less hungry and that my physique appeared to be far more in tune with what it wished to eat. I’ve puzzled if many of those issues we’re having within the US, after all, are multifaceted, however it’s as a result of we’re so poor in a few of these micronutrients that our our bodies are craving additional meals like canines would to attempt to hit these minimums for survival and if we might truly profit ourselves by being much more acutely aware in our mineral consumption and our nutrient consumption.

Dr. Gundry: Yeah, completely. One of many research that I alluded to in earlier ebook was they took some, properly, let me preface that. We all know that our microbiome determines lots of what we’re searching for when it comes to energy and the kinds of energy we’re searching for. And one of many themes of the ebook, Intestine Test, is we’ve primary, starved our microbiome as a result of we don’t eat any soluble fiber. And we’ve, you understand, genocided our microbiome as a result of we actively eat glyphosate, we actively eat antibiotics, virtually all of the meats that we eat are loaded with antibiotics, a brand new research out two weeks in the past confirmed that every one quick meals meals have antibiotics in them. And glyphosate.

So when you take regular volunteers in China and put them on a two-week water-only quick, and half the group will get 100 energy of prebiotic fiber, indigestible by us, however the meals for the intestine microbiome. The group that obtained the prebiotic fiber on a water quick had completely no starvation for 2 weeks. The group that simply obtained water have been actually hungry for a few week earlier than they adjusted. And I believe that confirms that mainly the microbiome was being fed, then sends textual content messages, these are literally postbiotics, to the mind saying, hey! We’re good down right here. You’ve achieved your job. We’re completely satisfied. Don’t must go search for anything. Thanks very a lot. Let’s have a superb day. And I believe that basically does converse to the ability that we used to have in a wholesome microbiome that we fed what they wanted, like a tuber for example, nice supply of prebiotic fiber, and we didn’t attempt to kill our microbiome day by day with what we ate.

Katie: Wow, that’s undoubtedly a putting instance. And I might love to listen to in our previous couple of minutes, truly, what your individual day by day habits and weight loss plan and foundational issues that you just do day by day, your non-negotiables, your private 80-20 since you are nonetheless a really prolific author. You talked about you’re nonetheless seeing sufferers. You appear to have this large quantity of inner power and drive to enhance the world. So I might love to listen to what your private life seems to be like for a minute and what your day by day non-negotiables are.

Dr. Gundry: Properly, let’s see. Each day non-negotiable is I’ve to take our canines for a two-mile stroll, hike within the hills. That’s non-negotiable based on the canines. Then I don’t eat breakfast for essentially the most half. In the course of the winter months from January via June, I don’t eat lunch both. I eat all my energy in a few two-hour window from 5 to seven at night time. Do I’ve to do this? No. I’ve been doing it now, I believe, for 25 years, so it appears to be working. In the course of the summer season, I form of again off from that.

There’s fairly good proof, and I talked about it in Intestine Test, and I’ve prior to now, that in all probability when you actually wished to make peace together with your intestine and promote longevity, a six-hour consuming window, might be optimum. So meaning an 18-hour fasting window. One of many issues I’m going over and again and again in Intestine Test is you must have downtime on your intestine wall to restore itself. It can’t continuously be concerned in digestion and absorption of meals. It has to have restore. And you’d do that to a automobile, you’d do that to an airplane engine. The concept, the typical American eats 16 hours a day from the second we stand up to actually earlier than we go to mattress. And so there’s nearly no restore time for our intestine. And whereas there are lots of superb causes to do time-restricted consuming, intermittent fasting, I believe one of many causes that’s missed by so many individuals is the necessity for restore of the wall of the intestine.

Years in the past, taking a look at, there’s a worm mannequin of longevity. The worm is C. elegans. And the worm mannequin of longevity, this mannequin has labored for each longevity selling polyphenol drug, et cetera, we at all times begin with this worm mannequin as a result of no matter works within the worm mannequin at all times works in greater organisms. So one of many fascinating issues is the worm begins to die. Because the wall of its intestine, and it has just a little tiny digestive system, however the wall of its intestine is just one cell thick like ours. And as gaps seem within the wall of that worm’s intestine, the worm begins to die. The extra that wall will get destroyed, the sooner the worm dies. And that has had, and Hippocrates mentioned it 2,500 years in the past, all illness begins within the intestine, and all illness begins in a leaky intestine. So the actually intestine examine is all of us want a intestine examine to advertise the integrity of the wall of artwork. And all of the tips of how to do this that I’ve realized now in 25 years of working with my sufferers is in that ebook. And in order that’s what I do. I take lots of dietary supplements. I’m a man who a very long time in the past mentioned dietary supplements make costly urine. They don’t. You’re proper, our meals, our soil is so depleted that you just simply can’t sustain with what we ought to be getting in our weight loss plan with out supplementing.

Katie: And I do know you talked about that statistic, which appears so staggering to me as properly, that folks eat a mean of it in a 16-hour window within the US. And I believe I additionally learn that the typical, we expect we simply eat three meals a day, however out of your intestine’s perspective, any time energy enter the physique and must be dealt with, that’s an consuming occasion. And I believe the newest one I noticed was it was one thing like 17 instances a day, one thing is coming into your physique that your intestine has to cope with. So it’s actually such as you mentioned, we’re not getting any intestine relaxation. We’re bombarding our guts, usually with issues which might be harming it, actually not usually with issues which might be serving to it. So possibly a few of these shifts like specializing in these nutrient-density, including in some sheep and goat cheeses. I do know you have got dietary supplements that assist with the restoration course of when you’ve got leaky intestine. And I do know you go tremendous deep on this matter in Intestine Test on the right way to actually resolve the issues at a intestine stage. However it looks like these easy methods usually get missed as a result of they’re easy, and I see that sample time and again. However the nice information is that our our bodies, after we can do these easy issues, know the right way to heal and so they need to, and they’re going to. And so I really like that you just give folks their energy again by making that so accessible on this ebook and actually in your whole books, which I’ll be certain are linked within the present notes. However Dr. Gundry, I at all times study a lot from you. It’s at all times an absolute pleasure to get to speak to you, and I’m so grateful on your time. Thanks for being right here at the moment.

Dr. Gundry: Properly, Wellness Mama sustain the nice work.

Katie: Properly, thanks. And thanks as at all times to all of you for listening and sharing your most respected assets, your time, your power, and your consideration with us at the moment. We’re each so grateful that you just did. And I hope that you’ll be a part of me once more on the following episode of the Wellness Mama podcast.

In the event you’re having fun with these interviews, would you please take two minutes to depart a score or evaluate on iTunes for me? Doing this helps extra folks to search out the podcast, which implies much more mothers and households may gain advantage from the data. I actually recognize your time, and thanks as at all times for listening.