Get a Life to Have a Life

Dr. Christina Chrysohoou, a cardiologist at the University of Athens School of Medicine, teamed up with half a dozen scientists to organize the Ikaria Study, which includes a survey of the diet of 673 Ikarians. She found that her subjects consumed about six times as many beans a day as Americans, ate fish twice a week and meat five times a month, drank on average two to three cups of coffee a day and took in about a quarter as much refined sugar — the elderly did not like soda. She also discovered they were consuming high levels of olive oil along with two to four glasses of wine a day.

Dr. Chrysohoou might also wonder how many times we have to hear this about populations with increased longevity? It turns out though, according to a bunch of research, going sip for sip with a glass of olive oil in one hand and wine in the other won’t necessarily make you live healthier or longer. You need friends to drink the wine with and a reason to get out of bed in the morning and into your kitchen to cook something with that olive oil. But how?