Exploring Costa Rica's Blue Zone Diet & Lifestyle with Jamie Oliver

Costa Rica a lush tropical rainforest country right in the heart of Central America. My destination is the Nicoya Peninsula on the Pacific coast famous for beautiful beaches and incredible landscapes but it also happens to be home of one of the longest living populations in the world. Reaching a hundred years old ain't no big deal in these parts. Experts agree their diet plays a major role. So I'm off to meet a hundred and six year old Jose Guevara who lives with his vast family. I want to find out what he's been eating and how it's been helping him live so long. Buenos dias. Jaime. Jaime. Jaime. Nice to meet you. Jaime. He's got a strong handshake, hasn't he? Yes, he is. How many children did he have? He had ten. Ten? Whoa. That woman over there, Elsa, is the oldest. She's 84. And who's the youngest? Yeah, she's 68. Well look, don't let me slow you down. I don't want him to not get fed. Nicoyans eat a low-calorie, low-fat, mainly vegetarian diet rich in beans, rice, corn, eggs and fruit. We're cooking galopinto, the Costa Rican national dish that also happens to be protein packed. Leonora, is this a special occasion breakfast or is this very normal? Normal. It's daily. It's every day. Nicoyans consume the majority of their calories in the first half of the day. So like me, they love a proper breakfast. You've got rice, you've got beans, you've got loads of veg in there as well. Low salt. We've got these beautiful tortillas and we've got eggs. So sweat onions off in some oil. This is going to be new style scrambled eggs here, guys. And she's kind of just breaking them up into curds. Rippled, rippled eggs basically. So is that her favourite way to cook scrambled eggs? Yes, with onion or garlic. Onion or garlic, right. The Guevara family, like everyone in this rural area, have their own hens and their fresh eggs are a staple food. My pleasure. I love this. There's nothing better than learning to cook from lovely ladies over fire. Okay, she wants, she's getting value out of me today. She wants me to chop up the coriander now. So how many, how many family are you cooking for today? Really? Jesus, it's a party. And now I've got to serve this to head of the family Jose, who thanks to his healthy diet and active life has reached a ripe old age. I'm actually quite shy at the moment because I've never met a 106 year old. I think it's an incredible thing. It's like a century, a century old. Such a wonderfully authentic rustic meal, cooked over fire like this and get to eat it with 106 year old. Come on man. This being Latin America, they love to add a little bit of chilli heat to their meals, just like me. I can't wait to eat it. They've got chillies at the table. They got pickles and chilli at the table, rice, tortillas. I love it. It was once thought that eating eggs regularly was bad for us because of the cholesterol, but it's now known that it isn't the case for most of us. So how often do you have eggs in your family? Every day at breakfast, every day. It's a brilliant start today, isn't it? Yes, it's a good way to start. Wow, it's delicious. So you're 106 years old, but what I'd love to know is how old you feel. Jalapeno is one of your favourite, but how old is that recipe? Have you eaten it all of your life? If he sits down to this every day, he must be such a happy boy, you know, delicious food. I love it. So if you want any advice from Jose, then one thing's for sure, eggs, eggs are your best friend. The Nicoyan Peninsula is famous for stunning beaches, dramatic plains and some of the healthiest people on the planet. Nicoyan men in particular are some of the longest living people in the world. So what are these guys eating? Who better to ask than one of Costa Rica's toughest cowboys, 60-year-old Canfi. People in this part of Costa Rica work manual labour jobs until much later in life than average. So I'm here on a cattle ranch in one of the most physical jobs, cowboys. Yes, we're going to go and do a bit of ranching, get in some cattle and then have a little bit of lunch. Nice. We're trying to just keep them all in the same direction. Push them over the hill, back to the ranch. That is proper graft. I mean, the thing is, these guys, they start at five in the morning, they finish at four. This is the winter and it's really, really hot, super humid. And my mate here, Canfi, he's been doing it for 40 years. He's 60 now and he intends to do it for another 25 years. With the cattle now in, it's time for lunch and Roma, the ranch cook, puts me straight to work. Simple flour and water tortillas are a delicious staple here. A little wet hands? There's lots of noises around here. We're literally in the middle of Noah's Ark of animals, chickens, duck, turkeys. There's parrots that talk in Spanish. Roma, what are you making? How long have you cooked here? Wowzers. Got black bean soup over there, which from what I can tell is the juice of black beans, having cooked them, and she's just put peppers, garlic, coriander and some onion in there, stirred it through, and then look what she's doing now. Basically poach eggs into the soup and when the eggs are cooked, which I guess will be about four minutes, five minutes later, the soup's done. And of course, all the time, the sort of smoke is licking around these cooking implements, just giving flavour. Very cool. Black beans are one of the highest protein beans on the planet, packed with fibre and great for muscle and bone health. There's no mistaking, these guys know exactly what they're talking about. They've been cultivating and cooking these for thousands of years. The traditional Nicoyan diet still resembles that of their ancestors, the Churatega Indians. In fact, beans have been grown here for over 7,000 years. How important do you think these black beans are to the long life expectancy of Costa Ricans? Time to plate up for lunch. You are the best thing that's ever happened to cowboys and Essex boys. Roma's black bean soup is just for starters. It's a very simple soup, but I tell you what, it's really tasty. Is this food typical of this part of Costa Rica or is this specific to being a cowboy, this kind of food? With soup finished, it's time for the main course. Oh, here we go darling. This is one great works canteen. I mean, it's all made with love. It's all organic, tastes great. Chicken, potatoes, we've got rice, got beans, loads of salad in there. Lovely. Is that for me? Gracias. You lovely lady. Look at that. You're welcome. This lunch of beans and rice is called casado, which means a marriage. How many times a day would you have black beans? It must be very windy around here. People from this part of Costa Rica are some of the longest living people on the planet. Why do you think that is? So what can we learn from these lovely boys? Well, food, food, food, food. Lovely organic, fresh food. It can be simple. It can be humble. It doesn't have to be expensive. Absolutely not, but big up beans. I'm not saying you have to have it three times a day, but beans are really, really good for you. Here in Costa Rica, they love fruit and they've got hundreds and hundreds being farmed and growing wild across the country. So I'm here with two fruit foragers, Huber and his father, to find out a little bit more. First to investigate local favourite, Manon, also known as Spanish lime. Mamon. Mamon. Mamon. And Huber sets about picking it in the same way he has done all his life. We're getting serious now, guys. The shoes are coming off. Go on, boy. Up you get. He's flexible, this one. It's like a lychee. Tastes like lemons, limes. It's good. This fruit, Mamon, is it good for you? Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that protects our cells and helps fight disease. And one of the highest concentrations of vitamin C can be found in this, a funny looking fruit attached to a more familiar food. This is called the marino. And you might know it already because that is a cashew nut. And for every single cashew nut, you have a fruit. And really unusual. Look at the amount of water that comes out of them. They're so full of hydration and minerals and all that sort of stuff. This is an incredible fruit. It's absolutely jam-packed full of vitamin C. Five times more than an orange. Really nutritious. So how much fruit do you guys eat a day? Do you eat fruit for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Do you guys think that eating a lot of fruit is one of the reasons that people from this part of Costa Rica live the longest? So a high consumption of vitamins could be one of the reasons for Nicoyan's great health. Multiple cancer research studies have drawn links between a high intake of vitamin C from food and low rates of cancer. We cannot argue about the fact that the people from this area of Costa Rica live long, healthy, productive lives. And if we want to learn anything from these guys, fruit has to be a part of it. It's a beautiful cocktail of nutrients and minerals and goodness. So big up fruit and enjoy it. Experts know that diet is a big factor in longevity, but have identified a strong social life as also being important. Nicoyans believe that without this, your life has no plan de vida, sense of purpose. Fisherman Otto Vargas and his son meet up on the beach for a meal every week with family and friends. And tonight they've invited me along. Hola! Did you get lucky? Yes, got some tuna. Red snapper. Super fresh. Super, super fresh. So what are these ones then? I haven't seen that before. This one is one that we call chancho. Chancho? Yeah. Nice. And this one is the caraflaca that we call. Caraflaca? Yeah. Yeah, that's a nice one. Is this a typical Sunday for you guys to go fishing and then go home and cook it? We sometimes stay like all day there fishing and then we come back at the end, like five. So are we going to cook these today? Yes, of course. The Nicoyans eat a low-fat, high-protein diet and consume more fish than the rest of the Costa Rican population. So we're going to make ceviche. It's cooking fish in lemon juice and salt and garlic and herbs and things like onions and peppers. It's delicious, isn't it? It's really good. Good and fresh. When do you have ceviche? For lunch or dinner or anytime? Anytime. My dad makes like for me like the best ceviche. So he likes a quick ceviche? Yeah. Is it right, you said this fish is typically thought of as the kind of the not wanted fish? Nobody like buy it, but we like it. Like the local people, we love this kind of fish. He really likes this fish. The butchers and the fishermen always know the best ones. The thing about ceviche is it has to be super fresh, okay. That's why when you go to the fishmonger, there's certain stuff that's come in that morning and then you ask what's in today, what's at its best, you know, and they should tell you. Most of us don't eat enough fish in our diet and white fish like caraflaca, the one Otto's using, is an excellent low-fat source of protein, which also helps protect our cells from damage caused by stress and keep our immune system in tip-top condition. I've just found the first person in the world that actually squeezes lemons like me through the fingers. The acidity from the lemon juice cures and effectively cooks the raw fish. What's interesting is for a lot of people in Europe, the concept of raw fish cooked in lemon juice is, you know, is it normal? I'm not sure, but if you think about it, smoked salmon is raw, lemon juice, it's kind of, sort of a ceviche. It's been salted. For me, the lovely thing about ceviche is you can leave it for an hour, you can leave it for half an hour. Of course, the more you leave it, the firmer it gets. So good. It's not all about ceviche today. Otto's also cooking up an amazing caraflaca fish in his wood oven with red peppers and tomatoes. Oh, look at that. Okay, so we've got ceviche done. We've got that whole fish in the oven. This is lovely. There's only one thing that would make this super fresh fish supper taste even better. Enjoying it with the ones you love. You know that people that live here do live very long, healthy lives. Do you think seafood is an important thing? And how important is the friends and family part for you? Family is everything. The communication with the family, the feel the love with the family. For me, it's the most important, the family. It's a very simple life, like this. We don't have anything here more than what we need. We are in a part of Costa Rica where people live the longest, healthiest lives. We want a little bit of that, yeah? We want some of that. So, fish. You can't argue that they eat a lot of fish. And most of us need to eat more. Most of us struggle getting enough. So, we need to get our heads around that. Pick up fish. It's amazing protein and so good for the body.