Despite bacon and chocolate being a staple of their diet, its inhabitants’ love of vegetables, oily fish and nuts is thought to prevent them from developing heart disease or type 2 diabetes.
To adapt the diet of Pioppi, which UNESCO has protected as the home of the Mediterranean diet, into that which suits the average western urban-dweller, cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra and former athlete Donal O’Neillb have created the below seven-day meal plan.
The ‘Pioppi diet’ could transform your health and help you reach 100.
Pioppi, in southern Italy, has been dubbed the ‘world’s healthiest village’, with its residents frequently living to 100 years old.
As well as consuming lots of olive oil for its heart-health benefits, the diet also involves skipping breakfast several times a week, opting for eggs most days and making dinner the main meal.
It also recommends intermittent fasting by limiting your ‘eating window’ to just eight-to-nine hours a day. Red wine is permitted providing it is good quality.
In a piece for Get The Gloss, Dr Aseem and Donal feature an extract from their book ‘The Pioppi Diet: A 21-day Lifestyle Plan’ that explains how to incorporate the life-extending plan into your everyday life.
The ‘Pioppi diet’ could transform your health and help you reach your 100th birthday (stock)
Monday
No breakfast: Only coffee with coconut cream
Brunch: Two or three-egg mushroom omelette. Coffee with coconut cream
Afternoon snack: Tinned oysters; full-fat Greek yoghurt with berries; a handful of nuts and cinnamon
Dinner: Picanha steak (a superb Brazilian cut) served with creamed spinach and avocado side salad; two squares of dark chocolate (95 per cent cocoa solids); a cup of Earl Grey tea
Tuesday
No breakfast: Only coffee with coconut cream
Brunch: Halloumi and fried tomato; vegetable soup made using chicken bone broth; a small portion of oily fish (anchovies, sardines, pilchards); coffee with coconut cream
Dinner: Grilled salmon fillet with vegetables and sauerkraut; two squares of dark chocolate (95 per cent cocoa solids), a cup of Earl Grey tea
Wednesday
No breakfast: Only coffee with coconut cream
Brunch: Full-fat Greek yoghurt mixed with coconut cream and berries with a handful of nuts, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a pinch of turmeric; coffee with coconut cream
Afternoon snack: Bacon nut-butter sliders – crispy, grilled bacon strips, topped generously with almond butter and a sprinkle of raw cacao
Dinner: Grilled lamb chops with lots of mixed vegetables and a side salad; two squares of dark chocolate (95 per cent cocoa solids), a cup of Earl Grey tea
Thursday
Breakfast: Two or three eggs any style, with smoked salmon and avocado; coffee with coconut cream
Brunch: Smoothie with kefir and/or coconut milk, berries, a handful of nuts, some avocado; a tablespoon of coconut oil, a sprinkle of ground cinnamon, turmeric and fresh mint
Dinner: Chicken bone broth to start, with one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and salt to taste, followed by fresh pan-fried hake and vegetables; cacaonut bombs (raw cacao, cinnamon, coconut oil, cream and nuts heated, blended and frozen into bite-size pieces); a cup of Earl Grey tea
Friday
Breakfast: Bacon and two or three eggs, any style, with avocado (optional); coffee with coconut cream
Brunch: Fish soup (made using chicken broth)
Dinner: Low-carb pizza; cacaonut bombs; a cup of Earl Grey tea
Saturday
Breakfast: Nut-butter omelette; berries and full-fat Greek yoghurt; coffee with coconut cream
Brunch: Greek-style salad
Dinner: Roast chicken with sweet potato and mixed vegetables; cacaonut bombs, a cup of Earl Grey tea
Sunday
Breakfast: Smoked salmon with three scrambled eggs on very high-quality sourdough (the only bread I eat, thanks to the fermentation process and taste), avocado and crème fraiche; coffee with coconut cream
Brunch: Smoothie, as before
Dinner: Baked trout with mixed vegetables; berries, nuts and cream
