Longevity and nutrition

I just finished John Robbins’ book (Healthy At 100). On page 57, he has a table about the three long lived cultures he writes about.

Here are some interesting stats for the Abkasians, Vilcambambans, and the Hunzans, respectively:

Percent of calories from carbs: 65, 74, 73

Percent of calories from fat: 20, 15, 17

Percent of calories from protein: 15, 11, 10

Overall daily calories % males): 1900, 1800, 1900

Percent of diet from plant foods: 90, 99, 99

Percent of diet from animal foods: 10, 1, 1

Sugar consumption: 0, 0, 0

Processed food consumption: 0, 0, 0

Incidence of obesity: 0, 0, 0

Essentially, the health and longevity equation is characterized by eating primarily a low-fat, low-salt, plant-based diet, with no processed food or sugar. Its also quite telling that the macronutrient balance is slanted towards a higher carbohydrate percentage, and a conservative protein intake. This is quite contrary to the more popular low-carb, high-protein, high-fat diets that can result in more rapid weight loss (in the short term).