Unlikely country emerges as world's hidden Blue Zone... should we all be eating the Kilimanjaro diet?

Daily Mail​

25-04-2025

The Mediterranean diet has long been hailed as one of the healthiest diets in the world.
Emphasizing lean fish, leafy green vegetables and healthy fats like avocado and olive oil, the diet has ancient roots dating back to Greece and Italy, which are now hailed as 'Blue Zones.'
Blue Zones are places lauded as longevity hotspots with low rates of chronic diseases and significant amounts of people living well into their 90s and beyond.
Though the Mediterranean diet has earned the title of 'healthiest' diet year after year, an unlikely nation in Africa could take its place.
Dutch researchers earlier this month found people in Tanzania, which sits on the southeastern edge of Africa bordering Kenya, are far healthier than western nations due to the nation's focus on unprocessed, traditional foods.
The Tanzanian Kilimanjaro diet, named after Mount Kilimanjaro - a volcano in Tanzania - is high in foods like okra, plantains, beans and drinks like mbege, which is made with fermented banana and the grain millet.
The researchers found men who followed the Kilimanjaro diet had significantly lower levels of inflammation and stronger immune systems.
Experts behind the study believe it's the diet's lack of processed food that keeps inflammation at bay, lowering the risk of chronic diseases and possibly extending lifespan.
Dr Quirijn de Mast, lead study author and infectious disease specialist at Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands, said: 'Our study highlights the benefits of these traditional food products for inflammation and metabolic processes in the body.
'At the same time, we show how harmful an unhealthy Western diet can be.'
The researchers recruited 77 healthy Tanzanian men with an average age of 25.
Of those, 23 men who normally followed the Kilimanjaro diet were asked to switch to a typical western diet for two weeks, which included foods like processed sausages, white bread and fries.
Meanwhile, 22 who typically ate western meals followed the Tanzanian plan for two weeks. This included eating corn, okra, plantains, kidney beans and avocados.
Another 22 on the western diet also were asked to drink a serving of mbege for a week.
Five men who maintained their normal diets were used as controls.
The researchers found people who switched from the Kilimanjaro to the western diet had higher levels of inflammatory proteins in their blood. Their immune cells were also less effective in warding off pathogens.
The authors said the western diet showed 'systemic inflammation and metabolic dysregulation.'
Those who switched to the Kilimanjaro eating plan, however, saw the opposite effect.
And the changes to inflammation levels were still detectable via blood samples for four weeks after the study ended, suggesting the Tanzanian diet had long-lasting benefits.
Dr de Mast said: 'Inflammation is at the root of many chronic conditions, which makes this study highly relevant for western countries as well.'
However, while the diet seems to have similar effects as the Mediterranean diet, Tanzania itself is not considered a Blue Zone. The average life expectancy is 67, whereas it is 77 in the US.
Greece and Italy - two countries that adhere to the Mediterranean diet - have an average life expectancy of 82 and 84, respectively, and two of the world's five Blue Zones are located in each country.
According to the latest data, Tanzania had a cancer rate of 140 cases per 100,000 people in 2022, significantly lower than 445 per 100,000 in the US.
Tanzania records about 44,000 cancer cases per year compared to roughly 2million in the US, though Tanzania's population is significantly lower than the US. There are roughly 66million people in Tanzania compared to 330million in the US.
Both countries have roughly equal diabetes rates, with one in 10 adults being diagnosed with the condition.
Sapna Peruvemba, a dietitian at Health by Sapna, told VegNews those who want to follow the Tanzanian diet should focus on building meals around vegetables and fruits, as well as legumes.
The diet also includes fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi, which have probiotics that have been shown to promote the production of disease-fighting antibodies and anti-inflammatory compounds.