Iceland is no longer the healthiest country in the world.
According to the 2019 Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, we should all be eating and living like Spaniards, as the country has been named the world’s healthiest.
Environmental and behavourial factors are considered in the Healthiest Country Index, including life expectancy, substance abuse, disease, water quality, etc.
What’s unique to Spain and some of the other top countries like Italy (they came second) and Iceland (third) is their very steady diet of fish. The Spanish diet, or what we know better as the Mediterranean diet, includes copious amounts of olive oil, nuts, and vegetables, and very limited red meat. This has resulted in a decline of heart disease over the past 10 years in the country, and the decline of cancer-related deaths, says the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.
Related: Make Meal Prep Simple with This Mediterranean Salad Jar Recipe
Spain’s rising healthcare sector is another reason for the top ranking; while Japan currently holds the highest life expectancy in the world, experts predict that Spain will take the crown from the Asian country in this regard by the year 2040.
Out of the 169 countries in the study, six of the top 10 were European nations. So if you want to live a healthier life, try making your diet a more Mediterranean one.
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