Living healthier can be a challenge. But a look at other countries can help. Because all over the world, some country-specific traditions and behaviors make people happy and healthy.
SPAIN AND GREECE
Fat makes you fat? That’s a myth. A diet rich in olive oil, fish, and vegetables keeps people healthy and ensures a long life. The Spanish and Greeks in particular know this. Almost every meal is prepared with olive oil, which means that every Greek and every Spaniard consumes between 11 and 15 liters of oil a year. One of the things that makes olive oil so healthy is the abundance of oleic acid it contains. This monounsaturated fatty acid is said to have numerous positive properties. You can read more about this here: Olive oil: how healthy it is for our body
To benefit from the health benefits of olive oil in the same way as southern Europeans, Germans need to increase their consumption by one liter per capita.
Olive oil has been omnipresent in Greek life for thousands of years: since ancient times, it has not only been served on our plates, but people have also used it to moisturize themselves after bathing and to soften their hair. But the oil is not just for beauty, it also supports our cells with valuable omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids.
With over 1,300 thousand tons per year, Spain is by far the largest producer of olive oil. Although consumption in Greece is so high, the oil produced there is particularly good and extremely gently pressed. By the way: June 1 is International Olive Oil Day. You can find out what you should look out for when buying olive oil here: 10 tips: Recognizing and buying good olive oil
Although olive oil offers so many benefits, we consume it much less than palm oil, which is often linked to environmental destruction. Palm oil is so widely used because it is cheap and gives the perfect consistency to many highly processed products such as nut nougat creams. Almost 80 million tons of palm oil were produced in 2022 alone. Find out what makes palm oil problematic here: The daily destruction of the rainforest when shopping
HOW IT WORKS IN JAPAN
Japan serves small and light portions.
The USA is ranked 35th in the Bloomberg Index. In American cuisine, very large portions of food are common, so many Americans suffer from obesity, which can lead to cardiovascular problems and diabetes.
Things are different in Japan. A principle is widespread there that is easy on the stomach and is said to be the key to a long life: Hara Hachi Bu. Literally translated, this means “eight parts of ten full”. Hara Hachi Bu suggests that we should only fill our stomachs to 80 percent. In Japan, people do not eat until they are full – but until they are full.
Little research has so far been conducted into whether people who eat according to the Hara Hachi Bu principle actually live longer and healthier lives. A recent study provides initial indications that a calorie-reduced diet can slow down ageing processes. Through blood analyses, the scientists were able to determine that the group of test subjects who ate 25 percent less over two years neither suffered from malnutrition nor showed signs of deficiency. However, their ageing process slowed down by two to three percent, which represents a ten to 15 percent reduction in the risk of death.
THE TURKİSH WAY
More tea is drunk in Turkey than in Japan. When we think of tea, we think of Japan or China. However, the world champions in tea drinking live in Turkey. On average, each person in Turkey consumes 2.7 kilograms of tea, compared to just 0.3 kilograms in Germany, according to Statista. This can easily be increased, because if you want to live a healthier life, you should take advantage of the health benefits of certain types of tea:
Green tea is said to promote blood circulation, lower cholesterol levels and, according to scientific findings, prevent heart disease.
And what is good for the heart is usually good for the brain too: green tea is said to help prevent diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.
More on the benefits of green tea: Green tea: effects of the popular tea variety
Rooibos tea, on the other hand, is said to be able to reduce the risk of cancer and contains hardly any harmful substances.
Tip: If you want to drink more tea, you should definitely opt for fair trade tea to counteract problematic working conditions on tea plantations.
THE DUTCH
Cycling keeps you healthy. Back in the 1970s, Amsterdam laid the foundations for a city of the future – where people cycle instead of driving. In the last 20 years alone, the proportion of cyclists in the city has risen by 40 percent, with almost 60 percent of residents cycling every day. This is not only good for the environment, but also for your health.
According to the German Heart Foundation, cycling can slow down and in some cases even stop the progression of coronary heart disease. According to a study, gentle endurance training also reduces the probability of dying from cancer by 40 percent. The Heart Foundation recommends moderate endurance training of at least 30 minutes, five times a week.
A study in the Journal of the American Heart Association even shows that people who have not cycled for over 40 years quickly regain control of their cholesterol levels and blood pressure as soon as they resume regular cycling.
