The Blue Zones: Learning from the World's 5 Longevity Hotspots
“Recently I’ve been hearing about the “Blue Zones”—regions of the world that have the highest rates of centenarians in the world. What are their secrets, and how can I incorporate them into my lifestyle? ”
Dear Eager to Make Healthy Changes,
It is fantastic that you are interested in learning more about the Blue Zones! In fact, the Blue Zones provide such a wealth of knowledge about healthy lifestyles—far too much for just one post—that I’ve decided to begin a series on it.
So first of all, what exactly are the Blue Zones? The Blue Zones were discovered by Dan Buettner—a National Geographic Fellow, NYT best-selling author, and award-winning journalist. He discovered five specific regions where the rates of centenarians within the population are much higher than in the rest of the world. The people residents there live longer, happier, and healthier lives with far fewer incidences of disease.
These “longevity hot spots” are:
The Barbagia Region of Sardinia (Italy)
Okinawa (Japan)
The Community of Loma Linda (California)
The Nicoya Peninsula (Costa Rica)
The Island of Ikarai (Greece)
Buettner and his team of anthropologists, epidemiologists, and medical researchers carefully studied these five regions and found nine core factors that they all had in common. Learning about these nine lifestyle habits (referred to as the “Power 9”) and incorporating them into your lifestyle is a powerful way to lengthen your health-span and boost longevity. Good news: We know from the famous study of Danish twins that only about 25% of how long we live is dictated by genetics, and the rest—75%—is determined by our lifestyles choices. More good news: it is never too late to begin making healthy changes.
In today’s post I will cover the first three life changing lifestyle habits all of the Blue Zones share. These are simple habits you can begin building today!
Lesson 1: Move Naturally—be more active without having to think about it or having to plan a formal “workout.”.
Park a bit farther away from the store.
Take a walk with a friend to combine socializing with physical activity.
Plant a garden.
Add a dog to your life and walk it yourself daily
Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
Try yoga.
There’s no need to sign up for a gym membership or start a highly strenuous workout regimen. Just incorporate more natural movement into your day!
Lesson 2: Hara Hachi Bu—decrease your calorie intake by 20% by only eating until you are 80% full.
Instead of going back for seconds and thirds, try serving yourself a full portion and then put the food away.
Make your food look bigger and more filling by using smaller plates and filling your plate with lots of low-calorie vegetables.
Eat mindfully and focus on your food. Don’t eat while watching TV or catching up on emails.
Eat your biggest meal earlier in the day and have a light dinner.
Lesson 3: Plant Slant—limit meat and avoid processed foods.
Increase the amount of vegetables you eat (4-6 servings a day) and try limiting meat consumption to a small portion twice a week.
Stock up on lots of fresh fruit and veggies so that you will have healthy snack options available when hunger strikes.
Eat more beans. All five Blue Zones have beans as a cornerstone of their diet. Replace animal-based protein with beans in more of your meals.
Eat nuts every day. It doesn’t matter what kind—they are all beneficial for extending life expectancy!
I recommend reading The Blue Zones Solution by Dan Buettner for more in-depth information about each of the Blue Zones as well as many recipes you can try at home.
I would also recommend that you measure your daily activity, your food consumption in quantity and type of foods. Start with a base line of what you currently consume and make small changes to move in the direction of these champion elder activity and food consumers.
Sources
The Blue Zones Solution by Dan Buettner
The Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest