According to Greek mythology, Icarus tried to soar like a bird with wings he had fabricated out of feathers. Unfortunately, he plunged into the sea after the wax with which he had attached the wings melted when he flew too close to the sun. The Greek Island of Ikaria was named after Icarus and has become a focus for longevity researchers because along with Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, the Nicoya peninsula in Costa Rica and Loma Linda in California it boasts unusually high rates of longevity. And unlike places like the Hunza Valley of Pakistan that claim extreme longevity, the inhabitants of these areas have birth certificates that prove their age. On Ikaria, ten times as many people live to the age of 90 as in the rest of Europe. They have lower rates of heart disease and cancer, suffer less from depression and dementia and apparently maintain an active sex life into old age. The question is, what are they doing right?
A factor in their longevity may be the Greek coffee they drink. In one study, scientists used ultrasound to study the response of arteries in the arm to changes in blood flow as they applied and then released pressure through a cuff on the arm. The ability of arteries to dilate quickly after being constricted is a measure of the health of the artery and a determinant of cardiovascular risk. Because of contradictory studies on the links between coffee consumption and heart disease over the years, University of Athens cardiologist Dr. Gerasimos Siasos thought that assessing the coffee consumption and arterial health of senior Ikarians could prove to be fruitful. In a sample of 71 male and 71 female subjects over the age of 65, Dr. Siasos found that chronic Greek coffee consumption was associated with improved endothelial function.
The endothelium is the inner lining of blood vessels and produces the chemicals that dilate or constrict them. In endothelial dysfunction, there is an imbalance in these substances leading to cardiovascular disease. In the study, subjects who consumed mainly Greek coffee had better endothelial function than those who drank other types of coffee. Greek coffee is made by simmering finely ground coffee beans and that results in a difference in the chemical composition when compared with other coffees. Coffee beans contain hundreds of compounds and the simmering process is more efficient at extracting these than other methods of preparation. Based on some laboratory experiments, some of these compounds, cafestol, for example, may increase blood cholesterol, others, like kahweol and an array of polyphenols may protect against cancer and heart disease. All this means is that it is theoretically possible that different methods of preparing coffee may have different health effects,
As one might expect, the study generated headlines around the world like 鈥淕reek coffee may help you live longer鈥� and 鈥淕reek coffee may be the key to long life.鈥� Maybe, if along with drinking Greek coffee you also follow the lifestyle of the Ikarians. There is a lot more to their impressive longevity than drinking Greek coffee. What that might be is of course of great interest. Diet is a prime consideration. Ikarians eat little meat, little refined sugar, and consume lots of olive oil. They eat six times more beans than Americans and lots of locally grown greens that are especially high in antioxidants. You won鈥檛 find many processed foods in Ikarian households. So, the answer to their longevity may lie not in what they are eating, but in what they are not eating.
Then there is the Ikarian habit of taking afternoon naps. The benefit of that is bolstered by a study of Greek adults that showed regular napping can reduce the risk of heart disease by 40%. Most admit to drinking a couple of glasses of red wine a day, but research has now clearly shown that the health benefits of red wine are mythical. Ikarians drink goat鈥檚 milk as well as local 鈥渕ountain tea鈥� made from herbs like sage, marjoram, mint, rosemary and dandelion. Some of these have diuretic properties that may lead to a slightly lower blood pressure throughout Ikarians鈥� lives. Honey is often taken as medicine.
There鈥檚 more. Ikarians walk a lot on their hilly terrain, dig and plant in their gardens, and take part in many festivals that involve dancing through the night. They are active people. They don鈥檛 go home at night to sit on the couch and watch TV. They are very social, have close relationships with friends and neighbours. As one of the few physicians on the island points out, Ikaria is not a 鈥渕e鈥� place, it鈥檚 an 鈥渦s鈥� place. Almost nobody wears a watch. And nobody takes dietary supplements.
What appears to link all the places in the world where unusual longevity has been documented is a mostly plant-based diet and social structure. It is easy to take naps, eat vegetables and dance at festivals when everyone else does the same thing.
How long the people of Ikara will maintain their longevity will likely depend on the extent of the encroachment of a western lifestyle. On the Japanese island of Okinawa this is already happening. They have gone from a diet of a low 1800 calories a day, centered around sweet potatoes, vegetables, beans and small amounts of fish, to one based on fast foods. On the other hand, Seventh Day Adventists in the US maintain their totally vegetarian traditional lifestyle and have seen no decline in their impressive longevity.
The bottom line here? Remember that the study we talked about only measured epithelial function. The assumption is that improved function leads to greater longevity. But the researchers did not determine if the subjects with better epithelial function actually lived longer. In any case, I think we can safely assume that substituting Greek coffee for your morning Starbucks is not going to increase your life expectancy. Substituting an Ikarian type of lifestyle for our western one, might.聽
