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Blue zones offer keys to long healthy life Dan Buettner hasn't discovered the fountain of youth, but he has some pretty good clues on living a longer, healthier life after years of studying what he calls "blue zones" -- areas of the world where good health and longevity prevail. Along with a team of demographers and scientists, Buettner spent seven years studying places where people were living longer and better, as outlined in his book, The Blue Zones. That research, funded in part by the National Institute on Aging, found that people in these four zones are more likely to see their 100th birthday. Many of them also manage to avoid diseases of lifestyle and aging. Buettner's blue zones are located in four very different parts of the world: Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica ; and among the Seventh Day Adventists in Loma Linda, California. These four areas are marked not only by a long life expectancy, with a high concentration of centenarians, but also by a long healthy life expectancy. Simply put, people living in the blue zones are living longer without the years of decline marked by illness like heart disease and cancer that many older North Americans face. Unfortunately, these areas are not part of a new trend. They are the remaining zones where people are living long, healthy lives in a world where globalization has rapidly spread the western diet and lifestyle, along with its associated health problems. "I think these pockets of longevity are disappearing," Buettner said. Buettner's exploration of longevity began in Okinawa, Japan. He was planning a series of expeditions to solve ancient mysteries, and was directed to Okinawa by the country's government, which has been studying the notable health and longevity of Okinawans since the mid-1970s. The World Health Organization had discovered that Okinawa had the world's longest disability-free life expectancy and Buettner found that a mystery worth investigating. Okinawa not only has a high number of people who live to 100 and longer, these elderly residents are also in great health for their age. Okinawans show one-fifth the rates of breast and colon cancer and one-sixth the rates of heart disease seen in North America, where those two factors will account for the deaths of about 80 percent of people 65 and older. Obesity rates are also very low, and physical mobility remains good even into advanced ages. "Something is happening with their lifestyle that is yielding these incredible numbers," Buettner said. Okinawans eat a largely plant-based diet, which includes at least eight times the fermented soy as North Americans. But they also have a culture that supports the health of the elderly. The concept of "moai" explains the extended support network that people have throughout their lives, and elders are venerated in Okinawan society. Buettner also explained that, in Okinawa, people live with a defined sense of purpose -- ikigai, which means: "the reason for which you wake up in the world." "It's very easy to trivialize a sense of purpose," he said, "but it's a very important determinant of longevity." People who don't know why they wake up in the morning probably live seven or eight years less than those who do, he said, making a sense of purpose key, especially in middle age. The two most lethal years of life are the year you're born and the year you retire, he pointed out. The other three blue zones feature their own keys to longevity. Elders are also revered in Sardinia. On Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula, the average diet of black beans, fruit, and lime-soaked, antioxidant-rich corn hasn't changed much over the past few millennia. Loma Linda has the highest concentration of Seventh Day Adventists in the world, Buettner said, making it truly a cultural blue zone. Adventists eat a plant-based diet taken from the Bible, have strong faith and family networks, and strictly observe the Sabbath, taking a day to de-stress and recharge once a week. The Adventist Health Study completed by the National Institutes of Health showed that this lifestyle earns Adventist women in Loma Linda an extra nine years of life than their American peers, while men average 11 more years. "Once again," he said, "you have a heterogeneous population vastly outliving their cohorts for one and one reason alone: their lifestyle." Though the blue zones are found in four very geographically and culturally different parts of the world, there are nine characteristics common to all of them that are portable to any location and can be used to make healthy lifestyle changes, Buettner said. They include making vigorous physical activity part of one's daily routine, building good relationships with friends and family, eating a plant-based diet, light on meat and with lower calorie consumption, and finding a purpose for and sense of meaning in your life. Buettner worked with the University of Minnesota over three years building his vitality compass test, which he says has tested to be the most accurate life expectancy calculator of its kind and is featured on his website. The test asks questions about your health and lifestyle, and the results include your life expectancy, your healthy life expectancy, and your body's current age (as opposed to its chronological age). It also identifies particular areas where care is required, he said, and where simple changes based on the nine longevity characteristics, like making your home a bit less convenient to increase daily movement or eating on smaller plates to cut portion sizes and calories, can start to make an impact on your health. "Adopting any one of these nine will immediately improve your life expectancy at any age," Buettner said. "It's never too late to start." Dr. Cinque's comments: I knew about the Okinawans and the Seventh Day Adventists and the Sardinians, but it was news to me about the Nicoya Costa Ricans having a stellar record for longevity. Here are some other interesting facts: The Okinawans are the longest-lived people on Earth- both in terms of their average age at death and the percentage of centenarians. Their longevity claims are also the most authenticated, since the Japanese government has been keeping meticulous census records since the 1870s. The #1 health practice of the Okinawans that is thought to be prolonging their lives is: lower calorie consumption. Sardinian men are the only men on Earth who live as long as their women- which is most unusual. Sardinians also eat a higher percentage of homegrown food than any other people. Sardinians are also the most genetically isolated of the modern long-lived peoples, and they have been found to share a gene which resists arterial stiffening. The Seventh Day Adventists live an astounding 11 years longer than other Americans, which is a huge difference in the longevity game. Besides being vegetarian, they do not smoke or drink alcohol- at all. Isn't it amazing that they aren't riddled with heart attacks from a lack of booze, as dictated by the conventional wisdom? Maybe all the alcohol researchers should put a magnifying glass to that. E-mail to a friend Previous Article |
