Dan Buettner has spent his career exploring the habits of the world's elusive 'Blue Zones' - areas reportedly known for their high rates of centenarians
14:22, 09 Mar 2025
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Dan Buettner urged people to eat more of one food group(Image: marilyna via Getty Images)
A world-leading expert on populations with exceptional longevity has revealed the truth about a frequently vilified element of our diets, claiming it's not 'the enemy'. Dan Buettner is renowned for his in-depth study of 'Blue Zones'—areas noted for their significant number of centenarians.
In a new TikTok video, he explored a diet choice that's simple to make if you 'actually want to live to 100'. While such a choice frequently gets a 'bad name', Dan said the whole picture is usually brushed over.
"The worst word in the nutritional dictionary is 'carbs', or 'carbohydrates'," he said to his 152,000 followers. "Why? Because both lentil beans and jelly beans are carbs, and the most unhealthy foods in our food systems tend to be very simple carbohydrates.
"Basically sugar and doughnuts and cookies, etcetera, and candy. But also, the best food in our food system is carbohydrates." Dan listed some nutritious complex carb sources as part of this, including beans, whole grains, greens, and sweet potatoes, reports the Mirror.
He went on: "We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that people who live the longest, that we can actually record, were eating mostly complex carbohydrates. But the problem is the doughnuts and the cakes and the candies give carbohydrates a bad name.
"...You need fat, you also need protein, but you should be eating mostly complex carbohydrates if you actually want to live to 100."
The fundamental difference between simple and complex carbohydrates is their sugar molecule structure. Complex carbs are composed of long chains, and studies suggest they can help reduce the urge to indulge in unhealthy snacks.
Your individual need for carbohydrates can vary based on factors like age, gender, and how active you are, but the current Reference Intake recommended by the European Food Safety Authority stands at 260g per day.
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Further guidance from the American Heart Association also explains: "The type of carbohydrates you eat can impact your health. Foods that contain high amounts of simple carbs (added sugars), especially fructose, raise triglyceride levels, which may increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.
"...In contrast, complex carbohydrates, such as an apple or a slice of whole-grain bread, take longer to digest and absorb, leaving you to feel fuller longer. These types of complex carbohydrates give you energy over a longer period of time."
Beyond this, Dan has previously shared several other dieting tips practised all over the world. Just recently, he dubbed coffee one of the 'greatest longevity beverages out there', advising people to drink it before noon.
"I think one of the greatest longevity beverages out there is coffee, but I think one of the most important secrets to drinking it and living longer is to drink it before noon," he explained in a separate TikTok.
"If you drink your cup of coffee or two before noon, it actually lowers your chance of cardiovascular disease. Whereas, if you are drinking your coffee [in the] afternoon or in the evening, it doesn't seem to do that. Plus, if you are drinking coffee too late in the day, it may interrupt your sleep. [And] bad sleep equals shorter life."
Bowl of quinoa with wooden shovel on wood
Quinoa, sweet potatoes, beans and various other staples are examples of complex carbohydrates(Image: Getty Images/Westend61)
These observations mirror recent research published in the European Heart Journal, which analysed over 40,000 adults to determine how different coffee consumption timings affect health outcomes. Findings revealed that those sipping their brew in the morning had a 31% decreased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and were 16% less likely to die from any cause.
No such benefits were found for all-day drinkers or those who abstain from coffee. Amidst this, Dr Lu Qi, its lead author at Tulane University, said in January: "This is the first study testing coffee drinking timing patterns and health outcomes. Our findings indicate that it's not just whether you drink coffee or how much you drink but the time of day when you drink coffee that's important.
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"We don't typically give advice about timing in our dietary guidance, but perhaps we should be thinking about this in the future...This study doesn't tell us why drinking coffee in the morning reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
"A possible explanation is that consuming coffee in the afternoon or evening may disrupt circadian rhythms and levels of hormones such as melatonin. This, in turn, leads to changes in cardiovascular risk factors such as inflammation and blood pressure.
"Further studies are needed to validate our findings in other populations, and we need clinical trials to test the potential impact of changing the time of day when people drink coffee."