According to a global study, Spaniards are the healthiest in the world. And they are getting old too. What a gasppa could have with it.
“Maybe it’s the gazpacho,” meditated the experts of the global study, which recently came to the following conclusion: “Spain is the healthiest country in the world.” Gazpacho, the country’s famous refreshing vegetable soup, seems almost like Spain’s magic potion. . A national dish that is usually served as an appetizer and is eaten regularly by many Spaniards, not just in the summer.
Spaniards are healthy and old – the gazpacho?
This magical vegetable creation comes from Andalusia in southern Spain and is very easy to make: all you have to do is cold-press fresh tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in a battery, refine them with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt – and Spain’s first health recipe is ready.
But the high consumption of gazpacho is not the only reason why experts from the global American media Bloomberg chose the kingdom as a global health model this year. The ranking of the Healthiest Country Index, in which 169 countries were compared, not only included nutritional traditions such as Spain’s Mediterranean diet. But also, for example, the medical care, which is also excellent in Spain, which is reflected in international santurismo to Mallorca and the Spanish Mediterranean coast.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was delighted after the highest rating in the Bloomberg Index: “The Mediterranean diet and our health care system are some of the points that the Healthiest Country Index 2019 evaluates positively.” And he urged the Spaniards to continue on this healthy path, even in the era of fast food and industrial ready meals.
The inhabitants of Spain are aging
Moreover, the Spaniards also get very good grades when it comes to longevity. According to the latest available Eurostat figures from 2016, Spaniards live an average of 83.5 years – the highest figure in the EU. Globally, only the Japanese still have a slightly higher life expectancy (in Germany it was only 81.0 years in 2016).
But the reputation of the Japanese as the longest living people on earth could soon disappear: according to a forecast by US researchers, the Spaniards will have surpassed the Japanese in life expectancy by 2040, provided they do not give up their good. dietary resolutions. The residents of Spain will then come to an average age of almost 86 years, calculated the health experts of the IHME institute in Seattle.
The fact that the Mediterranean diet, which includes lots of vegetables, fruits, fish and, of course, olive oil, plays a not insignificant role in staying fit, is also underlined by the second place in the global Bloomberg health ranking. The analysts put there another Mediterranean country: Italy, in which Mediterranean cuisine is also cultivated.
How the Mediterranean Diet can transform our lives
Moreover, the Mediterranean diet has already been recognized by UNESCO in 2013 as an intangible cultural heritage of mankind. And not just because of their long tradition and useful nutritional properties. But also because southern European coexistence and joy of life are part of the Mediterranean culinary culture. “Eating together is one of the foundations of the identity and cultural continuity of Mediterranean societies,” writes UNESCO.
Mediterranean and healthy living is more than just good nutrition, Spanish scientists emphasize. It is also a philosophy that not only includes dietary rules, but also another lifestyle: relax and enjoy – which is known to be particularly good in Spain.
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