Spain is set to have the longest life expectancy in the world. We find out what they’re doing right

1. 10/27/18, 3*37 PMThey drink, they smoke, so why are the Spanish living so long? | Weekend | The Times
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They drink, they smoke, so why
are the Spanish living so long?
October 20 2018, 12:01am,
Spain is set to have the longest life expectancy in the world. We find out what
they’re doing right
The Spanish consume food high in monounsaturated fats — and pair it with a little red wineGETTY IMAGES
Raise a glass of rioja to the Spanish, for they are soon to be the nation with
the longest life expectancy in the world. By 2040, according to a new report
by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the Spanish are expected
to have an average lifespan of 85.8 years, outliving even the Japanese, who
have long headed the global longevity tables. And outliving those of us in the
UK by almost 2.5 years.

2. 10/27/18, 3*37 PMThey drink, they smoke, so why are the Spanish living so long? | Weekend | The Times
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On the face of it, the Spanish do not seem especially healthy. They smoke
more than us (23 per cent of Spanish people smoke compared with 16 per
cent of Britons), drink about the same amount of alcohol as we do and sleep
for a similar number of hours (about seven). So what are they doing that is so
right? Here are the Spanish habits we would all do well to adopt.
They take a paseo (daily stroll)
They’re not big on the gym (only 4.9 million Spanish people have gym
membership compared with 8.9 million in the UK, according to 2016 figures
from Deloitte), but what the Spanish are very good at, according to research,
is taking a stroll. They’ve even got a word for it — a paseo.
A 2014 report by Eurobarometer, a market-research company, placed Spain
second in the list of those most “likely to walk for ten minutes or more on at
least four days of the week”, with 76 per cent of people meeting that mark
(this was bettered only by Bulgarians, with 77 per cent).
According to the most recent data for work-related journeys, 37 per cent of
Spanish people either walk or cycle on their commute to the office too. Since
walking is known to improve physical and emotional health (in addition to
reducing the size of your waistline), it’s a habit that is clearly paying off.
The Mediterranean diet can cut the risk of heart disease by 27 per cent, according to a recent studyALAMY
The Mediterranean diet — with red wine included
Central to the longevity of the Spanish is their consumption of a
Mediterranean-style diet, rich in fish, nuts and fresh vegetables, which have
been shown in numerous studies to prolong life by as much as 25 per cent.
Even traditional dishes such as paella are rich in vegetables and seafood.
Then there is the popular Spanish habit of making a glass or two of red wine
last an entire meal.

3. 10/27/18, 3*37 PMThey drink, they smoke, so why are the Spanish living so long? | Weekend | The Times
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“There is little doubt that eating this way is one of the underlying reasons
Spanish people are living so long,” says Helen Bond, a spokesperson for the
British Dietetic Association. “They consume lots of nuts, oily fish and olive
oil, and therefore very high amounts of monounsaturated fats, with a little
red wine. One recent study showed that switching to this sort of diet can cut
the risk of heart disease by 27 per cent.”
Their intake of red meat and salt is relatively high, but the Spanish diet is
superior in other ways. “In Spain there’s evidence that people shop more
locally and eat fresh produce,” Bond says. “In the Brazilian research, Spanish
families were shown to buy only 20 per cent ultra-processed food, less than
half the amount we eat in the UK.”
UK families buy more ultra-processed food than any others in Europe.
They have siestas
Lunch is the biggest, and longest, meal of the day in Spain and is traditionally
followed by a post-prandial afternoon nap, or siesta.
While the two-hour siesta has lost its appeal for the younger generation (a
survey by the Spanish market research company Simple Logica last year
showed that only 18 per cent of Spaniards now take an afternoon nap), many
older Spaniards take it seriously. And for good reason. In 2012 Spanish
scientists proved that a siesta is good for the health, improving cardiovascular
health and sharpening mood and memory. The report by the Spanish Society
of Primary Care Physicians (Semergen) did stress that a siesta is only
beneficial if taken regularly and if you don’t nap for too long at a time.
“It should be taken for a short time and without entering deep sleep because
otherwise one may not be able to sleep at night,” the researchers concluded.
The optimum duration of a siesta should be 26 minutes, they added.

4. 10/27/18, 3*37 PMThey drink, they smoke, so why are the Spanish living so long? | Weekend | The Times
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They work longer hours than us — but they take more breaks
The Spanish put in some of the longest working hours in Europe, with a
survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
showing that they typically spend 1,691 hours working every year compared
with 1,674 in the UK and 1,371 in Germany. However, their working days are
protracted and typically start with a shift from 9am through to 2pm that’s
punctuated by a coffee break, then a two-hour lunch break and a return work
until about 8pm, making it a regular 11-hour stretch. While calls are
repeatedly made for an overhaul — in 2016 Spain’s employment minister
announced plans to shift to a 6pm finish — some Spaniards believe that the
lengthy (and more leisurely) approach is better for health.
They have more sex
Although they lose their virginity later (at 19 compared with an average 18 in
the UK), the Spanish make up for it with more sex in the years to come. In an
international survey of sexual activity conducted by the pharmaceutical
company Gedeon Richter, Spanish women were reported to have sex an
average 2.1 times a week compared with 1.7 times by British women. Spanish
men were top of a list considered to be “the best lovers” in a onePoll.com
survey of 15,000 women around the globe four years ago, narrowly holding
off the Brazilians. And surveys by dating websites have listed Spanish women
as “the most flirtatious”.
They use ‘happy’ words
The Spanish are said to use the most number of “happy” words when they
speak, write and text. Reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences journal, Professor Peter Dodds, at the University of Vermont,
revealed Spanish to be the happiest and most positive language after he and
his team analysed 100,000 words across ten of the most widely spoken
languages in the world. They wanted to find out if positive words (laughter
and love, for example) were used more frequently than negative (eg crying

5. 10/27/18, 3*37 PMThey drink, they smoke, so why are the Spanish living so long? | Weekend | The Times
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and sad), and results showed that, while all languages had a positive bias,
Spanish was considered the most joyful, with the greatest frequency of upbeat
words used.
A small tapas-style evening meal is better for your health
Meal-timing is a hot topic in the study of nutrition science because it is now
thought to influence propensity for weight gain and obesity. In the UK we
tend to consume most of our daily calories in the evening, whereas Spaniards
favour a large midday lunch followed by evening tapas (small plates of food),
often not until 9pm.
“Research is pointing firmly towards the UK-style later consumption of
calories as more likely to cause weight gain and obesity,” says Bond.
In August Dr Jonathan Johnston, of the University of Surrey, reported on a
ten-week trial in which some participants were asked to delay their breakfast
by 90 minutes, but also to have their largest meal 90 minutes earlier than
normal each evening. Those who cut down on eating large amounts of food
later lost an average of more than twice as much body fat as those who stuck
to their regular eating times.
Eat more of these
ALAMY
Tomatoes
Spanish consumption of tomatoes is almost 40g per capita, double the
amount in the UK. They have high levels of lycopene, a substance released
when tomatoes are cooked that reduces the risk of prostate cancer, and are
rich in antioxidants.

6. 10/27/18, 3*37 PMThey drink, they smoke, so why are the Spanish living so long? | Weekend | The Times
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Olive oil
Government figures show that each person in Spain consumes 9.31 litres of
the heart-healthy monounsaturated oil a year, estimated to be about eight
times the amount used per head in the UK.
Almonds
In studies, almonds — a source of vitamin E, magnesium and protein — have
been shown to aid satiety and lower cholesterol. And in July Spanish
researchers reported how eating two handfuls of nuts — almonds included —
a day makes men more fertile; their zinc and selenium content is important
for sperm production.
Food and drink
Europe
Spain
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