Last month, foreign media explosively leaked a response plan after the death of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, "Operation London Bridge". For a time, British netizens exploded, believing that this was a great disrespect for the living Queen of England. In response, Politico reported that the 95-year-old queen is currently in good health and there is no indication that these plans have been urgently reconsidered.
Previously, more than half of the British people hoped that the queen would skip Prince Charles and pass directly to the eldest grandson, Prince William. On the one hand, the public is not optimistic about Prince Charles's succession to the throne, on the other hand, it shows the public's confidence in the queen's long standby. Today's pie will analyze whether there is a diet bonus behind the queen's eating habits.
Want to know what the Queen of England eats every day? We were able to get a glimpse of the Queen's table today thanks to a man named Darren McGrady. He served as a royal chef for the British royal family from 1982 to 1993 before moving to the United States and publishing books such as Eating Royally: Recipes and Remembrances from a Palace Kitchen.
Former British royal chef Darren McGrady
We looked for clues from the interview with the Imperial Chef [1]. The meaning of the queen's longevity is already visible at the dinner table:
Small and frequent meals
Unlike us, who eat three meals a day, the Queen eats four meals a day – breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. The amount of food eaten at each meal is not large, and you will never overeat when you encounter your favorite food.
Photo note: "Unlike Prince Philip, who lived to eat, Queen Elizabeth ate for the sake of living, ate less, and preferred to replace three meals with four light meals"
Eating less is good for longevity. The benefits of calorie restriction (CR), which we've talked about over and over again, are almost abrasive. In Okinawa, Japan, where the world has the highest density of centenarians, the elderly follow the ancient lesson of "belly octathor (eat eight points full)", which can reduce calorie intake by about 10% per day, and the high life expectancy of Okinawans is attributed to adhering to calorie restrictions [2].
According to a joint study by the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford, the Queen of England's "small, many meals" diet of adding one more meal and smaller meals can reduce the total daily food intake by about 25%, which helps with calorie restriction [3]. And rather than cutting out the traditional CR model of dinner, "small and multiple meals" seems to be easier to implement.
As the saying goes, "it's hard to buy old and thin", and obese people will live an average of 3 to 10 years shorter [4]. Weight control is the most effective way to prevent metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance state), which is closely related to elderly diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver, and hyperlipidemia [5].
Taste sweet and square
The Queen takes chocolate for granted, especially dark chocolate with a purity of more than 60%. There is a traditional festival in the UK, Lent, where people need to give up their favorite things for 40 days and fast and pray in order to cultivate more temperate and patient character. What the Queen chose to give up during Lent was dark chocolate.
Photo note: "The Queen loves dark chocolate with a purity of 60% and above, the darker the better, she does not like milk chocolate or white chocolate"
Dark chocolate is rich in polyphenols such as flavonoids and isocyanins, and also contains resveratrol, which is considered a long-lived food [6].
Photo note: "She eats a small piece (chocolate cake) every day... You have to bring the cake out or she'll want to make it all."
Queens often use chocolate cake for breakfast. This behavior of treating high-sugar foods as breakfast seems very unreasonable, but there are some scientific truths behind the "unreasonableness": a high-carbohydrate and high-protein breakfast helps reduce hunger and is conducive to long-term weight control [7].
Fish-loving
In addition to having a sweet tooth for chocolate, the Queen is also very fond of the choice of main courses – fish for lunch, smoked salmon sandwiches for afternoon tea, and a person's dinner preference for grilled fish or boiled fish with vegetables.
Caption: "The Queen is used to tasting smoked salmon sandwiches over afternoon tea; a portion of grilled fish for lunch or dinner"
Caption: "When she was alone, she also insisted on eating grilled or boiled fish, served with some vegetables or salads, and did not accompany potatoes and any starchy foods"
Italian epidemiologist Gianni Pace and Belgian demographer Michel Pran have identified several longevity regions of the world—Nicoya in Costa Rica, Sardinia in Italy, Ikaria in Greece, Okinawa in Japan, and Roman Linda in California," and named them the "Blue Zone". The "blue zone" has one thing in common – by the sea, eat fish!
Fatty fish, rich in omega-3 unsaturated fatty fatty acids, help fight inflammation and antioxidants, lower blood pressure and lipids, and improve vascular endothelial function[9], oily fish is so good, whether it is a classic Mediterranean diet for prolonging life, or a DASH diet for blood pressure control[10] and a MIND diet to prevent dementia[11], they are all picked as the main ingredient. The queen really knows how to eat!
Picture note: The British "national dish" fish and chips made by cod, because of the potatoes, will not be served on the Queen's table
Relax with tea
In a leisurely afternoon, a cup of hot tea with a few small dots is the "traditional art" of the British people, and the Queen, as the symbol of the British country, is no exception.
The Queen's favorite is Earl Grey, a black tea made with bergamot essential oil. When introduced, the refreshing citrus aroma is refreshing, and bergamot essential oil is said to have bactericidal, anti-inflammatory and calming properties in traditional aromatherapy.
Photo note: "The Queen's favorite is Earl's Tea"
I don't know if the aromatherapy spirit works, but drinking tea is really good for health. The results of a recently published Large-Scale Chinese Epidemiological Study (China-PAR) led by Union Medical College for 22 years showed that long-term tea drinking (whether white, black, black, or green) helped reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease and all-cause mortality [12]. Drink tea to prolong life, there is no doubt.
Time Pie reviews
The Queen's table is not full of delicacies, but a little more self-restraint. Eat a moderate diet, eat more vegetables and fruits, replace meat with fish, and have a few cups of clear tea. The most effective longevity method is easy to integrate into our lives! #Recipe##英国女王 #
—— TIMEPIE ——
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bibliography
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[2] Willcox DC, Willcox BJ, Todoriki H, et al. Caloric restriction and human longevity: what can we learn from the Okinawans? Biogerontology 2006; 7:173.
[3] Marteau, T. M., Hollands, G. J., Shemilt, I., & Jebb, S. A. (2015). Downsizing: policy options to reduce portion sizes to help tackle obesity. BMJ, h5863.
[4] NHS: Complications of Obesity. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/obesity/.
[5] Robert H. Eckel. The Metabolic Syndrome. Dennis L. Kasper, et al. Eds, Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine (the 19th edition): p 2449-2453. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
[6] Wollgast, J., & Anklam, E. (2000). Polyphenols in chocolate: is there a contribution to human health? Food Research International, 33(6), 449–459.
[7] Jakubowicz, D., Froy, O., Wainstein, J., & Boaz, M. (2012). Meal timing and composition influence ghrelin levels, appetite scores and weight loss maintenance in overweight and obese adults. Steroids, 77(4), 323–331.
[8] Wikipedia: Blue Zone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Zone.
[9] Kris-Etherton, P. M. (2003). Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Cardiovascular Disease: New Recommendations From the American Heart Association. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, 23(2), 151–152.
[10] Elmer PJ, Obarzanek E, Vollmer WM, et al. Effects of comprehensive lifestyle modification on diet, weight, physical fitness, and blood pressure control: 18-month results of a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2006;144:485-495.
[11] Morris, M. C., Tangney, C. C., Wang, Y., Sacks, F. M., Barnes, L. L., Bennett, D. A., & Aggarwal, N. T. (2015). MIND diet slows cognitive decline with aging. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 11(9), 1015–1022.
[12] Wang, X., Liu, F., Li, J., Yang, X., Chen, J., Cao, J., … Gu, D. (2020). Tea consumption and the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality: The China-PAR project. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 204748731989468.