Somehow I think they weren’t eating whole-grain pasta or bread.
Am I wrong in assuming they ate in the Mediterranean mostly white pasta and bread? Japanese ate mostly white rice? What is their diet for real in Loma Linda?
I call this the Pasta and White Bread Conspiracy
Person in the back with a Californian accent is saying they eat whole grain bread in Ikaria when it looks like white bread to me being prepared by the woman in the front:
I am not the only one observing the truth:
For those interested in the history of the Mediterranean diet you may be interested to know that the original (traditional) Mediterranean Diet did not include whole grains. It was based on white pasta, white flour and white bread.
You can find this information from one of the founders of the modern Mediterranean diet Jeremiah Stamler
Jeremiah Stamler Research, Health, Welfare and food - Mediterranean DIet Virtual Museum
Stamler developed the modern Mediterranean Diet with Ancel Keys. Stamler died aged 102.
In the above interview, Stamler notes at 9:28 that the original Mediterranean diet was not based on whole grains, it was based on white flour, white bread and white pasta. Traditionally those that lived in Crete and southern Italy consumed refined pasta, not whole grain.
This was changed by Ancel Keys who moved the Mediterranean diet in a whole grain direction. Stamler also says in the video that the original Mediterranean diet was high in vegetable oils, wine and salt. Keys and Stamler reduced the salt content because of the research on high blood pressure.
I have visited Crete many times and the traditional pasta dishes served there are not whole grain pasta, they are white pasta. If you look up Sioufichta which is a traditional Cretan pasta it is white, not whole grain.
The reason I mention this is because some modern proponents of the Mediterranean Diet say you can’t eat refined grains on the Mediterranean Diet. As stated, historically the Mediterranean Diet was based on refined grains.
The original Mediterranean diet was not based on whole grains, it was based on white flour, white bread and white pasta.
He says there was a “modification” to emphasize whole grains, basically we had scientists meddle with the diet, now everyone believes they ate whole grains in the blue zones? Or some believe they didn’t eat white pasta or bread?
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Would eating pizza mimic this effect?
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He said they modified the “Modern Mediterranean diet” to be lower in salt, saturated fat that cause high blood pressure and high cholesterol as they had at least problems with hypertension in the Mediterranean.
Pizza is way too tasty and rewarding, it is like crack cocaine. I don’t think they made such good food back then. But the bread in the pizza should mimic it?
I will have to investigate this further. The nuclear scientist Nathan Myhrvold who wrote 2500 pages about bread in a series of book volumes also wrote one 1700 page book about pizza.
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Traditional white pasta has a lower glycemic index than white bread, because it is made from Semolina (course granules of wheat), so has some of the aspects of whole grain carbs, which are slower to digest by virtue of not being finely ground flour.
Another reason traditional pasta may have a lower glycemic index is that it is lightly cooked (Al-Dente), again making it less easily digestible than fully cooked carbs.
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It’s quite remarking if they ate a lot of white bread and pasta in the Mediterranean diet. What if it’s even healthier than whole grains? And especially compared to alternatives people eat instead of pasta or white bread?
“Pasta is the newest longevity food”
Pasta + Tomato sauce + Beans + Olive oil = Slow carbohydrates, Pasta e fagioli
The blue zone is specifically Okinawa not Japan. Most rice there is imported. They eat other unrefined carbs.
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Yes, true. In the Mediterranean at least they ate seemingly a lot of white bread and pasta.