Ok look away now if you’ve already heard too much from me about Greece. I understand. For the rest of you, still prepared to tough-out the travel tales, we’ve been discussing my recent thrill at eating something very similar to the Mediterranean diet – often touted as the panacea of dietary principles by nutrition researchers worldwide. And then, I also confessed to some [ahem] deviations from this, and from what I would normally think would constitute a healthy diet for me. Lastly, I put out the question, “So how is it that with all these dietary demons I felt great?”
Just like me, some of your busy brains got busier!
“It’s the holiday-factor aka lower cortisol!”
“It’s all the incidental exercise you did at the same time!”
“It’s the climate – you were basking in sunshine!”
“It’s the different bread!!!”
Just like me, you were alert to the unmistakable fact that this was not a single variable intervention! All of the above, & more, had changed along with my food intake. I was on Ikaria for most of my month – which is a Blue Zone due to the locals remarkable longevity – above and beyond that of other Greeks and those living in the Mediterranean generally. While there, this conversation about the contributions to Ikarians’ health came up, again and again: ‘It’s our attitude – we just don’t stress about things” says the man who doesn’t open his little Taverna till 9 or 10pm each night because his ‘real job’ is looking after his goats & vegetables. So the locals, who all know where the key is, let themselves in and await his appearance. He cooks for his friends as a way to keep company and community not to make a living. “It’s our physical labour”, says another who splits her time between Ikaria and Sydney, “the 70 and 80 year olds aren’t sitting at home waiting for a visit, they are out in the fields, tending to their garden, mending their house etc” “It’s our unique thermal pools around the island at the edge of the ocean”, say many, “they’re rich in Radium & Thorium”
Hang on, back up there, I’m soaking twice a day every day, in what?!
Yes it is a well-researched phenomenon that the levels of radioactive elements in the oceanic geothermal springs of Ikaria exceed the amounts safe to consume. Luckily, I wasn’t ingesting it, outside of the occasional wave that caught my face off-guard. But this is not the end of the issue. Actually, the hot springs featured in my video above, where I stayed and bathed for a week, is referred to by locals as ‘immortal water’ and considered potable. While, I didn’t meet any such locals who made mention of drinking the stuff, several warned us against spending too long in the pools, but with the hottest temp recorded in Ikaria springs, also the hottest recorded anywhere in Greece, at 58.3 C, that may have just been because we were cooking our insides! While the science says dermal uptake of Radium is unlikely and volatilisation leading to inhaled vapour is also unlikely – I am still undecided about what role the unusual radioactivity of the place – also seen in the soil- plays in the health of the Ikarians – either good (longevity-wise) and bad (anecdotal reports of very high rates of thyroid issues – but this could be a very well-cooked red herring!). Listen I am the first with my hand up for hot springs, anywhere!! Case in point above. But this has left me with an open tab in my brain about the real health implications of the unique make-up of each.
So what is the Mediterranean diet’s most powerful mechanism-of-action (MoA)?
Well if you’re doing it properly, you’re somewhere in the Mediterranean 💕😂
Ok I’ll be quiet now 🎤