What We Can Learn From the Greek Island Where People Live to 100

Greek food expert Diane Kochilas, who has run a cooking class from her family home on Ikaria for two decades, shares how to eat and live the Ikarian way.

The Greek island in the Aegean Sea is one of the places with the highest percentage of centenarians in the world. Tom Jastram/Shutterstock

Diane Kochilas says that the minute she sets foot on Ikaria, she feels at peace. The award-winning TV show host, cooking teacher, and author of more than a dozen books on Greek cuisine spends her time shuttling between New York, Athens, and this Greek island in the Aegean Sea, a seven-hour ferry ride from Athens.

“All the hours I have spent getting there, all the annoyances I might have encountered along the way dissolve immediately. My face softens; my shoulders drop. I am filled with the belief that everything is fine,” she said.