Four things you should never have in your house if you want to live to 100

Dan Buettner is credited with making the world's "blue zones" famous - parts of the world where people tend to live much longer lives.

View 2 Images

The term "blue zones" refers to regions where folks tend to live much longer lives, with diet playing a key role.

Not scientifically coined but culturally embraced, these longevity hotspots like parts of Italy, Greece, and Japan are famed for the number of citizens living to 100 or more.

Dan Buettner, who popularized the "blue zone" term, has revealed his top four no-go foods that should be banished from your pantries if you want to live longer.

Buettner insists: "Let me tell you the four things you should never bring into your house. I don't care if you go out once in a while and treat yourself but the four things that should never enter your front door."

He continued: "Number one: processed meats. We know that they are associated with cancer.

"Number two: sugar-sweetened beverages like fruit juices and Coca Cola and Mountain Dew. It's the number one source of refined sugar in the American diet.

"The third thing you should never have into your house: salty snacks. We know that they're most associated with obesity. And the final thing is packaged sweets, also highly associated with obesity.

"If you want to enjoy these things, go out and get them. Just don't have them tempting you all the time in your house and we'll see you when you're 100."

It might not come as a shock, but Dan Buettner isn't the only one insisting processed meats cause cancer. Echoing this, Nichole Andrews, a registered dietitian nutritionist, claims only two foods are known carcinogens, supported by Cancer Research UK.

View 2 Images

What is a blue zone?

"Blue zone" is the term which author Dan Buettner calls certain areas with an unusually high population of elderly individuals. Through his book, he highlighted five such regions:.

While this may not be an all-encompassing roster, these are the spots Buettner identified for their impressive number of nonagenarians and centenarians. Further scrutiny into these longevity hubs is available via the National Library of Medicine, including research on Okinawa here and Sardinia here.

However, genetics don't get all the credit for these notable life spans. Diet and lifestyle are pivotal contributors, with a commonality in blue zones being a predominantly plant-based diet, nearly 95%, though strict vegetarianism isn't universal (with Seventh-day Adventists being an exception).

In particular, diets in blue zones are generally abundant in:

• Vegetables
• Legumes
• Whole grains
• Nuts

A recent study by Dr. Saul Justin Newman of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies at University College London has pointed out "fundamental flaws" in the data about the world's oldest people and patterns of extreme longevity, attributing these discrepancies to clerical errors and pension fraud.

Who is Dan Buettner?

Dan Buettner, often described as "Indiana Jones meets Jimmy Buffet", is a National Geographic fellow and explorer, an Emmy award-winning journalist and producer, and a five-time New York Times bestselling author. He also hosts a Netflix series titled "Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones".