Ikaria, Greece might not have gotten a big feature in the first edition of the Blue Zones book, but it certainly made a splash in the second edition - and the Live to 100 Netflix series. After all, who doesn't associate the beautiful blue Mediterranean sea and sky with a healthy lifestyle?

In this fourth episode of Blue Zones: Revisited, we uncover where the idea that the Mediterranean diet is the ideal diet came from, just how closely actual Mediterranean residents' diets resemble those popularised in books like Blue Zones, and contrast the frequently communistic tendencies of some of the world's oldest communities with the capitalistic forces behind most of the food and health recommendations we hear.

Further Reading:

Meat consumption in Greece

Alzheimers and Blue Zones

Greek panegyri

Lifestyle of those >90 in Ikaria

Health of those >90 in Ikaria

Greek communist election results

Okinawan communist election results

Communism in Japan

Communism in California

Communism in Adventism

The concept of 'privacy' in Ancient Greek philosophy