Top 10 Best Blue Zones Breakfast Ideas - Blue Zones (2024)

FAQs

What do people in the blue zone eat for breakfast? ›

In blue zones regions, the routine is similar. Ideally, breakfast or the first meal of the day consists of protein, complex carbohydrates (beans or veggies) and plant-based fats (nuts, seeds, oils) and a majority of the day's calories are consumed before noon.

Eggs are consumed in all five Blue Zones diets, where people eat them an average of two to four times per week. Cut down your consumption of cow's milk and dairy products such as cheese, cream, and butter. Try unsweetened soy, coconut, or almond milk as a dairy alternative.

In the Loma Linda Blue Zone, people live on average 10 years longer than the rest of the US. They eat oats as part of their high-fiber, high-carbohydrate diets.

Eat a breakfast that contains multiple food groups

A healthy breakfast on the longevity diet might contain whole grains, nuts, and fruit. Longo himself likes to have friselle, a whole-grain bread from Italy, with a nut spread containing almond and cocoa, as well as an apple.

Legumes, including peanuts and peanut butter are a great source of plant based protein and fiber. They're also rich in vitamins A and C and minerals like magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc.

People in Blue Zones areas eat meat about once a week and typically their servings are no larger than a deck of cards. Their diets do not include processed meats like hot dogs, bacon, and sausages. Instead, they favor free-range chicken and family-farmed pork or lamb.

Goat's and sheep's milk products do figure prominently in the traditional menus of both the Ikarian and Sardinian blue zones. We don't know if it's the goat's milk or sheep's milk that makes people healthier or if it's the fact that people in the blue zones climb up and down the same hilly terrain as the goats.

Eat only sourdough or 100 percent whole wheat. Blue zones bread is unlike the bread most Americans buy. Most commercially available breads start with bleached white flour, which metabolizes quickly into sugar and spikes insulin levels.

For Whole Grains: You can include 100% whole grain pasta and bread in this category, but the whole grains (like the ones listed above) are preferable. For Beans: We include all pulses and legumes in this category, including chickpeas, lentils, broad beans, and green beans.

What do they eat for breakfast in the Blue Zone? ›

Whole, plant-based foods like leafy veggies, fruits, beans, and grains are pervasive in Blue Zones. In contrast, the regional diets tend to avoid processed foods, refined grains, sweet drinks, and added sugar, and incorporate red meat and animal fats like butter sparingly, if at all.

People in Blue Zones areas eat whole foods. Whole foods are not processed in factories—they're made with ingredients that are recognizable as coming from the earth, like rice, corn, soy, fruits, and vegetables, or prepared food like tofu or manna bread.

Life Principles That Slow The Aging Process. Every morning, at dawn, before the men of Nicoya ride their horses through the mountains of the Costa Rican peninsula, they eat a healthy breakfast. The daily breakfast consists of gallo pinto (rice and beans) with a basket of homemade corn tortillas and hot coffee.

In terms of meals Ikarians typically have a late morning breakfast comprised of goat's milk, yogurt and or cheese, fruits, herbal tea or coffee, whole grain bread and local honey.

People in Blue Zones areas eat meat about once a week and typically their servings are no larger than a deck of cards. Their diets do not include processed meats like hot dogs, bacon, and sausages. Instead, they favor free-range chicken and family-farmed pork or lamb.

Minimize your consumption of cow's milk and dairy products such as cheese, cream, and butter. Cow's milk does not figure significantly in any Blue Zones diet except that of the Adventists, some of whom eat eggs and dairy products.