5 long-lived stars to The Healthiest People on Earth!
The Healthiest People on Earth is an engaging read. The author has a fascinating pedigree. His two times great grandmother, Ellen G. White, was a prophet and founder of the Adventist Church. She established Loma Linda in California as a community, which happens to be so healthy to this day that it’s considered the only “Blue Zone” in the United States, meaning a place where people actually are measured to live longer; 10 years longer, in fact.
So just how did Loma Linda become a Blue Zone and why? Ellen G. White was an early proponent of vegetarianism, and while the author makes it clear that he is not discussing theology in the book, a basic tenet of Adventism is a plant-based diet and has been since its inception. That in and of itself is fascinating to me.
The author, John Howard Weeks, has an easy-reading, funny writing style, and I could tell instantly that he’s a journalist. I enjoyed the family stories and home remedies he presented, which were all kinds of tips to help with sleep, cure minor illnesses, and so on.
The recipes presented were the icing on the cake. All plant-based and extremely practical, even though I’ve read and used many plant-based cookbooks, I still found new ideas, including some of Ellen’s favorites from over 100 years ago. Things like how to make a variety of “cheeses” with whole foods, a super easy lentil roast that the author grew up eating, sticky rice with mango, Scottish Oatmeal, and Vegan Penicillin (chicken soup without the chicken).
Essentially, The Healthiest People on Earth is chock-full of the secrets to Loma Linda’s long-lived population of happy, healthy people, and while some of the ideas aren’t unique to the Adventists, it’s inspiring and hopeful to know that if you follow these tenets, you can absolutely live a longer life.
Thank you to John Howard Weeks, BenBella, and Netgalley, for the copy to read and review.