This post lists all of the ingredients from the cookbook The Blue Zones Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live to 100 (Amazon).
I’ve been fascinated by the Blue Zones ever since I discovered them five years ago. I’ve even written about them twice before:
- Blue Zones: How Ikarians Live Simply for 100+ Years
- Blue Zones: Longevity Hacks from Earth’s Oldest People
Best-selling author Dan Buettner has been researching the Blue Zones for the better part of two decades. His other books on the topic include:
- 2017: The Blue Zones of Happiness: Lessons from the World’s Happiest People (Amazon)
- 2015: The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World’s Healthiest People (Amazon)
- 2012: The Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest (Amazon)
If you’re looking for an introduction to Dan, I personally enjoyed this podcast interview with him that I included in Sloww Sunday Newsletter #009:
All 150+ Longevity Ingredients from The Blue Zones Kitchen Cookbook (+ Spreadsheet Summary)
The Blue Zones Kitchen Overview
This book/cookbook is the distillation of 15+ years of Dan Buettner’s research on the Blue Zones. It fuses scientific reporting, National Geographic photography, and 100 recipes for longevity from the Blue Zones.
The goal?
To “reverse-engineer a formula for longevity.”
The five pillars of every longevity diet in the world are: 1) whole grains, 2) greens, 3) tubers, 4) nuts, and 5) beans (the cornerstone of every longevity diet in the world).
— Dan Buettner
11 Blue Zones Food Guidelines
- Ensure that your diet is 90-100% plant-based
- Retreat from meat — 2 ounces or less up to 5 times/month
- Go easy on fish — 3 ounces or less up to 3 times/week
- Reduce dairy — goat/sheep milk products if needed
- Cut down on eggs — 1 egg up to 3 times/week
- Eat a daily dose of beans — half cup daily
- Slash sugar — up to 28 grams of added sugar daily
- Snack on nuts — 2 handfuls of nuts daily
- Sour on bread — only sourdough or 100% whole wheat
- Go whole — raw, cooked, ground, or fermented
- Drink mostly water — and coffee, tea, wine
150+ Blue Zones Kitchen Recipe Ingredients
I read the book twice to make sure I captured all of the ingredients mentioned in every recipe (as well as those mentioned in summaries and storytelling about each location).
The ingredient list is summarized below, but I I also put it in a Google Spreadsheet to make it more manageable: The Blue Zones Kitchen — ALL 150+ RECIPE INGREDIENTS
You can sort the spreadsheet by top ingredients, alphabetical order, food type, and more. Make a copy of the spreadsheet and customize it for yourself!
Personally, I’m simply using this as a grocery shopping list (aiming to buy more things on the list and avoiding things not on the list).
Quick Housekeeping
- Bold ingredients below are identified in the book as “top longevity ingredients.”
- The food types and ingredients lists are in no particular order.
- I’ve attempted to categorize foods by food type. Some foods technically fall into multiple categories, so I just picked one (e.g. fennel). Also, some foods are technically one type but often referred to as another (e.g. avocado as fruit/veggie).
Leafy Greens
- Spinach; Arugula; Dandelion (wild, sweet); Purslane; Kale; Lettuce (green leaf, romaine); Cabbage (napa, bok choy); Beet & Turnip Tops; Swiss Chard; Mustard Greens / Mizuna; Collard Greens (rainbow); Kandaba (sweet potato leaves); Grape Leaves
Vegetables
- Onions (red, yellow, white, green, sweet, shallot); Peppers (bell, red, yellow, orange, green, sweet, habanero, jalapeño, chipotle); Fennel (bulbs, stalks, fronds, seeds); Yuca; Kombu (sea kelp / seaweed); Kohlrabi; Green Beans; Green Peas; Broccoli; Bean Sprouts; Asparagus; Cauliflower; Okra; Celery; Leeks; Radish (daikon); Scallions; Chives; Corn; Carrots (yellow, white, orange); Hearts of Palm; Artichoke Hearts; Pickled Vegetables (variety)
Fruits
- Olives; Squash / Zucchini / Pumpkin (yellow, butternut, acorn, chayote, ayote); Cucumber; Eggplant; Avocado; Tomatoes (roma, grape, san marzano); Lemons; Limes; Apples (applesauce); Melon (green bitter, honeydew, watermelon); Banana; Plantains; Peaches; Berries (blueberry, strawberry, blackberry); Mangoes; Guava; Dates; Zapote; Pineapple; Papaya; Coconut; Citrus Juice (orange, lime)
Beans
- Black Beans; Red Beans; White Beans; Lentils; Black-Eyed Peas; Chickpeas; Aquafaba (chickpea liquid); Garbanzo Beans; Kidney Beans; Fava Beans; Lima Beans; Giant Beans; Navy Beans; Cannellini Beans; Cranberry Beans; Soybeans
Tubers
- Sweet Potatoes (purple, red, white, yellow, orange); Potatoes (red, yellow, yukon gold); Taro / Tiquisque
Whole Grains
- Sourdough Bread (semolina, wheat germ, apple cider vinegar); Bread (from wheat, rye, barley); Oats / Oatmeal; Cornmeal; Flour (whole wheat, semolina, all-purpose, nixtamal corn / masa haina); Tortillas (nixtamal corn); Farro; Pasta (fregula, spaghetti, linguine, acini de pepe, angel hair, capellini, orzo, somen); Couscous; Quinoa; Rice (arborio, white, brown, sweet); Weetabix; Corn Flakes
Nuts & Seeds
- Almonds; Pistachios; Brazil Nuts; Cashews; Walnuts; Pecans; Peanuts; Macadamia Nuts; Sesame Seeds; Chia Seeds; Chan Seeds; Flax Seeds
Herbs, Spices, & Seasonings
- Ginger; Garlic; Cilantro; Culantro coyote; Parsley; Samphire; Chicory; Barley; Basil; Thyme; Cumin; Cloves; Coriander; Cardamom; Cayenne; Rosemary; Oregano; Sage; Mint; Turmeric; Myrtle; Helichrysum; Saffron; Bay leaves; Tarragon; Dill; Nutmeg; Cinnamon; Epazote; Salt; Pepper (black, white, chili); Flakes (red pepper, chili, bonito fish); Miso (white, red); Powder (5-spice, garlic, onion, cocoa)
Fungi
- Mushrooms (porcini, chanterelles, shiitakes, cremini, white button, oyster); Dry Yeast; Brewer’s Yeast
Broths
- Vegetable Broth; Bean Broth; Dashi Broth
Dairy
- Goat & Sheep Milk (yogurt, sour milk, cheese); Soy Milk; Milk (coconut, cashew, almond); Pecorino cheese; Eggs
Drinks
- Water; Red Wine (Cannonau); Mirin (sweet rice wine); Sake / Awamori; Coffee (black); Tea (green, rosemary, wild sage, dandelion)
Oils & Vinegar
- Olive Oil; Sesame Oil; Vegetable Oil; Soybean Oil; Coconut Oil; Vinegar (rice wine, red wine, white wine, tarragon, balsamic)
Syrups, Sauces, & Spreads
- Soy Sauce; Chilero Hot Sauce; Sriracha; Worcestershire Sauce; Nut Butter (almond, peanut); Honey / Agave; Syrup (grape, maple); Vegemite
Baking
- Sugar (maple, brown); Baking Powder / Soda; Vanilla Extract
Meat Replacement
- Tofu; Tempeh
Happy eating!
You May Also Enjoy:
