Italy’s Struggling Economy Has World’s Healthiest People
bloomberg.com
bloomberg.com
It is rare to see all together such a set of (I have to presume) unrelated items, such as the popularity of a TV show as related to a (presumed) excess of physicians, or the high public debt or the scarcity of jobs connected (How?) to a long life.
About the Mediterranean Diet and the availability of fresh products (which in itself are IMHO very good things) it is doubtful that the good people of Iceland share the same, still they are almost as long living as the Italians.
I don't think it's so much the particular diet, as it is the lack of refined sugars and highly processed foods. Every person I've met from outside North America always makes fun of American food. Things like canned vegetables, frozen meals, etc. simply do not exist in most of the world. We as a culture have chosen convenience over health and nutrition.
I think you are confusing economic dynamics with political ones. Despite What Marx would say, the two don't always require each other.
Anecdotally, Hispanic people tend to eat far more fruits and vegetables than the average American, so this wouldn't surprise me. Although I think the conclusions you draw beyond that are a bit of a stretch.
If Hispanic people eating far more fruits and vegetables is a key detail as you suggest then why is it that Hispanic peoples in the US are so much more likely to be obese? You really would do yourself a favor by consulting some of the existing literature about this rather than leaning on oversimplifications or attacking me for having dared to refer to studies I have read that may be relevant to this material.
My original comment was more about lifestyle than anything else. Healthier lifestyle does not require a higher GDP.
I think it does, but i totally agree that healthy lifestyle does NOT require money.
A part that, I am 38 and everybody says I look around 5 years younger, I am trying to understand why. It would be really interesting to know it, so I could keep going in the same direction. Maybe cause i always try to avoid stress? Maybe cause I always arrive 5 minutes late? Maybe cause I always try to joke and laugh every day? I do not know, I would like to advice others as well.
My completely unsubstantiated theory behind this goes like this:
1) A diet rich in (non-animal) oils, i.e. Olive oil
2) Live in a sunny, but not oppressively warm, country.
3) Give family time and traditions far more priority than career ambitions.
We don't even have anymore (with some exceptions of course) restaurants with white/red checquered tablecloths ;).
More or less there are 60 millions people spread over a country that is roughly 1300 Km (that is 800 miles) from north to south, it is hard to generalize about diet, climate and social structures ...
To give you an example, there is a (invisible) line just north of Bologna, recipes from regions above it traditionally use butter or animal fat, recipes from regions below it use olive oil.
Thriving in human terms.
Plus, their green houses grow a lot plant products that go directly to market.
The freshest food and short delivery lines may be the important factors.