100-year-olds share what they always eat—and what they never do

Original Article:

Source: Link

The foods in your daily diet play a major role in how healthy you are and how long a life you live. In fact, one of the key practices of people living in blue zones is eating a diet of mostly plant-based foods of fruits, vegetables and nuts. In past interviews with CNBC Make It and other publications, many centenarians credited their diet for living a long, healthy life. Here's what four people, ages 99 and older say they always eat and also what they never do. Elizabeth Francis, 115 Elizabeth Francis, the oldest living person in the U.S. who is 115 years old, told ABC 13, that she eats "everything." But Francis "always grew her vegetables in the backyard. I never saw her go to a fast food restaurant as much like Chick-fil-A and all the places I liked to go. She never did that," her granddaughter, Ethel Harrison, told TODAY.com. Francis has also never smoked and doesn't drink alcohol, Harrison noted. Deborah Szekely, 102 At 102 years old, Deborah Szekely still helps to run her fitness resort and spa three times a week. Szekely has followed a mainly plant-based diet since her childhood. "I'm a pescatarian. And I actually have been fortunate of never eating meat because of my parents," she told Make It. Her typical breakfast, lunch and dinner looks like: Breakfast: Yogurt, a banana and whole grains. Yogurt, a banana and whole grains. Lunch: Salad at home, she said, or lunch at restaurants. Salad at home, she said, or lunch at restaurants. Dinner: A meal of fish, salad and a baked potato or she tries something new. Her diet is very similar to the Mediterranean diet, and it includes fish, whole grains and fruits and vegetables. Shirley Hodes, 106 Shirley Hodes, who was 106 years old when she spoke to Make It in March of last year, said she aims to limit the animal fat that she consumes and only drinks skim milk. "I did like to eat a simple, balanced diet without too much sweets," Hodes said. She was adhering to the guidelines she was taught in the Red Cross nutrition course she took during the Second World War. Daisy McFadden, 99