National Geographic fellow and author Dan Buettner has revealed that pasta could help us live a longer life.
The explorer told his followers on Instagram that pasta is officially the newest longevity food that people can add to their diets to help them extend their lifespan.
Speaking on the platform, Buettner said: "You guys are going to love this! Pasta is the newest longevity food."
The presenter has become well known for his research into five "blue" zones across the world where inhabitants regularly live well into their old age.
Is pasta good for you?
Buettner added: "We found an area here in the Meditteranean region where they eat pasta every single day - up to a quarter kilo of pasta.
"And guess what? Not only did they live longer but they have one fifth the rate of obesity."
The health expert then explained why pasta could actually be healthy for us and be the key to a longer life.
Buettner continued: "Why? Well, maybe because pasta's tightly packed carbohydrates. Although they're simple carbs, because they're so tightly packed that the glycemic reaction is much lower.
"When you add some tomato sauce, some olive oil and some beans on the top of it - pasta e fagioli - you get a combination of a slow burn food that gives you all the amino acids when you add it with beans that you need for human sustenance".
Recommended reading
- Dan Buettner: 3 foods which increase chances of longer life
- 'Drink this to live 4 years longer' 3 cups a day may add extra 'healthy' years
- Scientists share the daily activity that helps you live a longer life
The National Geographic fellow quipped: " So for my money - you wanna live longer? Lots and lots of pasta."
Pasta isn't the only 'longevity' food that Buettner has discovered in his popularised 'Blue Zones' either.
@uktoday_ Are there benefits to drinking red wine? I happily found out. 🍷 #uknews #redwine #winetimе #uknewsheadlines ♬ original sound - UKToday 🇬🇧 Newsquest
For instance, one of the regions he studied for his Netflix series: How to Live to 100 - the Nicoya Peninsula - has the "lowest rate of middle-age mortality in the world".
The New York Times bestselling author explained that Nicoyans are likely to live well past middle age which Buettner largely attributes to "the best diet human beings have ever invented."
"Their diet is composed of three foods that I would argue are the best diet human beings have ever invented," Buettner commented.
The explorer continued: "Because of these foods, the people living on the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica are two and half times more likely to reach the age of 92 than people living in the United States or Europe."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here