Just north of the Equator, in Central America, is another small country hosting a region whose inhabitants harbour excellent longevity credentials. The country is Costa Rica, and the region is Nicoya, in the north of the country. Many people hold onto a myth that suggests that it is these idyllic habitats that allow these inhabitants to live long, healthy lives. They think that because of either a tropical climate, mountain air, or isolation from pollution, these are the reasons these groups live much longer – but this is not the case. Okinawa and Sardinia are not close to the equator, and another region that hosts people with good longevity credentials, Abkhazia, in the mountains of Georgia, is a poverty-stricken area squeezed between southern Russia, Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Actually, poverty-stricken is something that characterises many of the groups who live long and healthy lives. The reason, I feel, is that an area that is poor agronomically or geopolitically, creates just the sort of stressed conditions that force people to live the type of lives that lead to longevity.
To produce plants that contain lots of nutrients to promote good health, tough conditions are what you want. When I was growing an orchard, while I was farming, I discovered that the most nutritious fruit were produced with a minimal amount of natural fertiliser (sheep manure in my case), and the best flavour was produced when I dialled down the watering as the fruit matured. That is, the trees had to work hard to produce the fruit.
This is the case with herbs which are used for healing purposes. Herbs are basically what we call weeds, and they have to work very hard just to survive in their harsh natural environment. They live under stress most of the time. So they are packed with all sorts of strange nutrients to protect themselves from being wiped out by animals, insects and diseases, and these are what may help us humans in some way.
If we humans live under a certain amount of stress, it is also good for us. If we are poor, we will not be able to afford to eat meat very often. That has been the case right through history. The most affluent countries in the world today are the biggest meat eaters – Australians, New Zealanders and North Americans are the biggest meat eaters in the world. And we suffer from it in terms of atherosclerotic diseases and cancer. Poorer people don’t eat so much meat. Look at Asians, who eat a lot less meat traditionally than Westerners, because for most of their history they struggled to survive.
And this is particularly the case for the longevity hotspots we are looking at in this series. Let’s look now at the Costa Ricans.
Costa Rican Cuisine
Costa Rican cuisine is known for being tasty, yet fairly mild, with high reliance on fresh fruits and vegetables. The main staple, known as gallo pinto consists of rice and black bean. Gallo pinto, the staple breakfast dish, is also known in some Southern Areas of Costa Rica as burra. Costa Rican gallo pinto is made with black beans, while Nicaraguans use red beans traditionally.
For lunch, the traditional national dish is called a casado. It again consists of rice and beans, though this time they are served side by side instead of mixed. There will generally be some type of meat (carne asada - fish, pork or chicken), but it is minimal, and a salad to round out the dish. There may also be some extras like fried plantain, a slice of white cheese, and/or corn tortillas in accompaniment. Salsa Lizano is ubiquitous as a condiment.
Fresh vegetables are a primary ingredient in most main dishes, and members of the squash family are particularly common. These include varieties such as zucchini, zapallo, chayote, and ayote. Potato, onion, and red pepper are other common ingredients.
Coffee and bananas are the two main agricultural exports of the country and also form part of the local cuisine. Coffee is usually served at breakfast and during traditional coffee breaks in the afternoon, usually around 3:00pm.
The Plantain, a larger member of the banana family, is another commonly used fruit and can be served in a variety of ways. Ripe plantains have a sweet flavour and can be fried in butter or baked in a honey or a sugar-based sauce. Green (unripe) plantains are boiled in soups or can be cooked, mashed into small round cakes and fried to make patacones. Sweet corn dishes are common traditional meals like pozol (corn soup), chorreadas (corn pancakes).
Other Costa Rican food staples include corn tortillas, white cheese and picadillos. Tortillas are used to accompany most meals. Ticos will often fill their tortillas with whatever they are eating and eat it in the form of a gallo (which resembles a soft Mexican taco). White cheese is non-processed cheese that is made by adding salt to milk in production. Picadillos are meat and vegetable combinations where one or more vegetables are diced, mixed with beef and garnished with spices. Common vegetables used in picadillos are potatoes, green beans, squash, ayote, chayote and arracache. Often, picadillos are eaten in the form of gallos.
Costa Rica’s Particular Longevity Secrets
1) A Plant based Diet
Their traditional diet still includes maize, rice and beans. This base is lavished with many local vegetables and fruits, and meat is sometimes included as a garnish. Eat Light Dinners – Nicoyans eat light dinners earlier in the evening. Eating fewer calories will normally add years to your life.
2) Work hard
Most centenarians seem to have enjoyed hard physical work throughout their lives. This, again is because they live in harsh geopolitical regions, and they simply have to work hard physically. They have found joy in the performance and repetition of their daily activities.
Some people refuse to accept that they must “retire.” For example, at age 65 “Colonel” Harland Sanders lost his family restaurant, took his first Social Security cheque for $105, and started peddling his Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe to potential franchisees. When he finally died at 90, KFC was a worldwide fast food phenomenon. Of course, I shouldn’t need to mention that eating a steady diet of KFC is not likely to deliver a long, healthy life.
3) Have a Plan
Successful centenarians repeatedly have a strong sense of purpose. This makes them feel needed and allows them to contribute. Perhaps this was Colonel Sanders secret ingredient. Warren Buffett, the legendary investor, is approaching 90, and regularly dines out on McDonalds and washes his meal down with Coca Cola. Again, a strong sense of purpose, in this case his focus on amassing multiple billions of dollars, is his driving passion. Big Mac’s are not likely to be the contributing factor.
4) Keep a Family Focus
Nicoyan centenarians generally still lived with their families. Children and grandchildren provide support, entertainment and a sense of belonging. Maintain Relationships – Nicoyan centenarians enjoy the company of their neighbours. They appreciate listening, laughing, and focusing on the blessings of life. Embrace what you have in common – Modern Nicoyans have a heritage with the indigenous Chorotega and their traditions, which may have enabled them to maintain lower relative stress levels.
5) Get Sun
Nicoyans are regularly in the sun. As we already learned with the Okinawans, Vitamin D helps with many body function. Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with the development of depression, osteoporosis, heart disease, among other diseases.
To summarise, being born in one of these poverty-stricken regions may not seem like a blessing, but it would be in terms of longevity. If you are forced to eat sparingly of a plant-based diet, to work hard physically to produce this food, and you work alongside your family to survive and encourage each other, and if in addition you were gifted the added blessing of a strong purpose to your life, then at least you should live a long, though perhaps poverty-stricken existence!
But if you live in a more affluent society, it is possible to engineer your life in such a way as to gain these health and longevity benefits while avoiding the poverty trap. I hope to do it, and I hope you can too.
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