Whether they savor or not the foods they eat even still today would be considered the worst of the worst and yet they are living into their 90’s.
Julia Child who specialized in French cooking ate everything you are not supposed to. She lived to 92.
I know a young woman in her thirties who looked the picture of health. Ate according to today’s standards and died of cancer at 32. So what gives?
I think the dietary guidelines are largely bs.
Now I can tell you that that French generation made everything form scratch whatever it was absolutely everything. There was an emphasis on veggies mostly and fruit not as much. Meats in their day was a slaughter of a farm animal that ate either grass or slop that it was fed from natural ingredients.
They drank massive amounts of wine. Cookies and pies were all made from scratch with massive amounts of sugar.
The other element is that that generation was very very active not through exercise at the health club that did not exist but through walking mainly. A walk could last the entire day.
One thing I can tell you is that that generation was a lot happier and they all centered their lives around awesome meals. These days no one is allowed to eat anything good and everyone is miserable.
I think you answered your own questions....lots of natural, healthy living...:>}