Blue Zones’ Longevity Secrets
Imagine living to one hundred (or even beyond) without experiencing debilitating ailments like arthritis, dementia, or heart disease, enabling you to thoroughly enjoy your golden years. In fact, there are centenarians all across the globe who are doing just that. Such is the subject of Dan Buettner’s book The Blue Zones: Secrets for Living Longer and Netflix series Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones. Both provide an in-depth look at a handful of “blue zones,” places around the world where individuals typically live longer: Ikaria, Greece; Loma Linda, California; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Okinawa, Japan; and Sardinia, Italy.
It’s not that these locations are magical hothouses where good health spontaneously sprouts; rather, it’s the healthy lifestyles their residents practice that extend their longevity. And, surprisingly, they’re relatively simple ones anyone can adopt. By tweaking our habits to mimic theirs, we, too, can perhaps look forward to blowing out our birthday candles for many years to come.
Keep moving
Blue-zone residents are active for most of the day—when they’re not walking around town, they’re pulling weeds from their gardens, cleaning their homes, preparing homemade food, or dancing with friends. Similarly, you can be healthier by finding ways to work more movement into your daily routine; studies show that a sedentary lifestyle can promote conditions like anxiety, depression, heart disease, and obesity. For instance, you could take your bike to work instead driving or park at the back of the lot when running errands. Even something as simple as getting up from your desk every hour to stretch your legs can get your blood moving, providing you with heath-improving benefits without the hassle of a dedicated workout.
Eat wisely
Traditionally, folks who live in blue zones eat a 95 percent plant-based diet, enjoying mainly fruits, lentils, nuts, tofu, seeds, and vegetables. The Mediterranean diet favored by those in both Ikaria and Sardinia specifically incorporates healthy foods like legumes, olive oil, and fresh fish, while Okinawans avoid overeating by following hara hachi bu, a mindful eating practice that encourages ending a meal once your stomach feels 80 percent full.
Processed meats and other mass-produced foods aren’t as common in blue zones, either, but fish is prevalent, providing people here with abundant omega-3 fatty acids that benefit the heart. They also only eat about three eggs a week, don’t consume dairy products often, and don’t usually add sugar, a key player in diseases like heart disease and obesity, to their foods. Given the great benefits of this diet, it’s not surprising there’s already been more of a shift to it outside of blue zones—in fact, more Americans than ever are embracing healthier, plant-forward diets.
Stay connected
Family and community ties are an important focus in the world’s blue zones; residents make it a habit to socialize with loved ones and peers frequently. In Okinawa, individuals are even known to join a social group in childhood that they can then rely on throughout their entire lives, allowing them to receive continuous support and companionship and avoid loneliness, which can lead to depression. Grandparents also often live with their adult children or reside nearby to keep them connected with the many generations of their families. In the busyness of day-to-day life, keeping up with such connections isn’t always easy, but blue zoners prove that the deeper and more frequent your social engagement, the greater your health will benefit.
Manage stress
Life can be difficult sometimes, and the resulting negative feelings can greatly impact your well-being by leading to issues such as chronic inflammation, a condition linked to many diseases, including cancer. Those who live in blue zones use calming and renewing practices to help mitigate this stress. For instance, Okinawans are apt to employ the meditative exercise of tai chi and enjoy their island’s bright sunshine, relieving anxiety and reducing depression. Meanwhile, Nicoyans embrace having a personal plan de vida, or reason to live. Such a sense of purpose, whether to care for your family, support your community, or even simply tend to your garden, can reduce your worries and give you a motivating sense of purpose, thus helping you boost your longevity.
Maintaining your health doesn’t have to be difficult. If you can adopt some of these habits, you can potentially live a longer, happier life like the ones enjoyed by the centenarians of our world’s blue zones.