Living healthily past 100: Where are famous ‘Blue Zones?’ Blue Zones are Ikaria in Greece, Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, Loma Linda in California, and the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica, Nicoya Peninsula | Blue Zones
There’s been considerable research and discussion about the famous ‘Blue Zones’ in recent years. Only five regions of the world have earned this prized title. These are locations with the largest percentage of people 100 years of age or older and, interestingly enough, the folks in these regions all seem to share similar lifestyle, diet and social habits.
Yes – we all know that genetics play an important role in determining lifespan and susceptibility to diseases, but these five unique areas in the world give us a hint that lifestyle probably might have an even greater impact.
Fun fact: Studies suggest that longevity is only about 25% dependent on genetics.
Blue Zones – What are They?
A term first coined by Dan Buettner (National Geographic Fellow, discovered the five places in the world dubbed Blue Zones hotspots) people living in Blue Zones have some interesting commonalities when it comes to health:
Live longer, with an unusual proportion of the population living to over 100
Lower rates of chronic disease like heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s
Lower rates of mental health issues like depression and anxiety
Happier and more content with life
Increased vivacity and zest for life
Fully engaged in family, social and community life
1. Slow Your Sugar
Sucrose makes you feel gross.
Centenarians typically eat sweets only during celebrations. Their foods usually have no added sugar, and they typically sweeten their tea with honey. This adds up to about seven teaspoons of sugar a day within the Blue Zones diets. Our lesson – Enjoy cookies, candy, and bakery items only a few times a week and ideally as part of a meal. Avoid foods with added sugar. Skip any product where sugar is among the first five ingredients listed. Limit sugar added to coffee, tea, or other foods to no more than four teaspoons per day. Break the habit of snacking on sugar-heavy sweet. Easier said than done, we know!
Alarming sugar fact: Between 1970 and 2000, the amount of added sugars in the food supply rose 25%. This adds up to about 22 teaspoons of added sugar that the average American consumes daily—insidious, hidden sugars mixed into sodas, yogurts, muffins, and sauces.
Too much sugar can suppress the immune system, making it harder to fend off diseases. It also spikes insulin levels, which can lead to a few nasty things like (1) diabetes and (2) lower fertility, not to mention (3) make you fat, and (4) even shorten your life. In the Blue Zones diet, people consume about the same amount of naturally occurring sugars as North Americans do, but only about a fifth as much added sugar. The key: People in the blue zones consume sugar intentionally, not by habit or accident.
And did you know – since we’re on the topic – that too much of the sweet stuff is no bueno for your skin? Glucose and fructose make up table sugar. The fructose molecule in particular “attacks” the collagen and elastin in your skin. We like collagen and elastin because that’s what gives our skin a healthy firm shape and structure. The more sugar we have, the more our skin starts to suffer.
One of the worst habits for our skin is daily sugary drinks (ahem, Diet Coke). According to most Dermatologists, soda ages us like nothing else. The dry appearance of our skin caused by soda can be compared to the effects of smoking – they both agressively diminish the production of healthy skin cells. If you love your soda (and we don’t blame you if you do) data shows you might be as prone to inflammation and skin damage as heavy smokers. Botox and dysport can help your skin’s appearance temporarily, but kicking the daily Diet Coke run as soon as possible will do wonders for your collagen.
Lastly, “Hara Hachi Bu”. This Japanese term means “Eat until you’re 80% full” and originated in Okinawa (home to one of the lowest rates of illness from heart disease, cancer and stroke) This Confucian adage inspires many Blue Zone residents to eat mindfully and to not rush through meals. Might be one of the most anti-American practices out there.
Don’t watch this video if you love sugar, like me. “How Sugar Affects Your Brain”, part of the TED-Ed series:
2. Make Meat a Treat
Shoot for no more than 2x a week
“Plants for smaller pants. Meat for a bigger seat.” Cringe…but If you can somehow rework your diet to get 95% of your food from a plant or a plant product, you’ll match the habits of these rare Blue Zone communities. If you’re already there, nice work! Residents in four of the five Blue Zones do have meat as part of their diet, but they eat it sparingly and use it only for celebrations, a small side, or just a way to flavor their dishes.
It’s also interesting to note – the meat people in the Blue Zones consume typically comes from free-roaming animals; not dosed with hormones, pesticides, or antibiotics and no depressing giant feedlots. Their goats graze continually on grasses, foliage, and herbs. Sardinian and Ikarian pigs eat kitchen scraps and forage for wild acorns and roots. These traditional practices most likely yield meat with higher levels of healthy omega-3 fatty acids vs grain-fed animals.
And unlike most of America, those in Blue Zones typically eat their smallest meal in the early evening.
3. Focus on Family & Faith
Faith + Fam = Four more years?
Put family first. Our Blue Zone friends are more likely to keep aging relatives nearby or in their home. They also commit to a spouse or life partner which can add three years of longevity. Plus, they make spending quality time with their children a top priority.
Almost all of the people in Blue Zones that have reached the age of 100 report being part of some faith-based community. The researchers found that attending four faith-based events in a month can lengthen longevity by 4 to 14 years. Data showed that denomination does not seem to matter.
People in Blue Zones choose to be in (or happened to be in) communities of people who choose healthy lifestyles. Researchers found that poor lifestyle choices are contagious. On the other side of that coin, good lifestyle choices are contagious too. As a wise woman (or man) once said, “show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.”
Instead of sitting on your front-porch rocking chair and growling at the neighborhood kids to get off yer lawn, remember that social connectedness is as important as anything when it comes to staying mentally and physically fit.
4. Live Your Purpose. “Ikigai”
“The best part of waking up.”
Ever heard of the Japanese term “ikigai”, (ee-kee-ga-ee)? According to the Japanese, the answer to a meaningful and purposeful life is simple – find your ikigai. What is ikigai?
Translated literally, iki means “life; alive” and kai (pronounced as gai in this case) can be translated as “reason; worthiness; fruitful; effective.”
Ikigai is a concept that has been rooted in the cultural fabric of Japan for centuries and simply means, “reason to live.”
Dan Buettner says that many Okinawans, older people in general, never really retire. They work. It’s not because they have to, but because they want to. This helps them keep an active mind, body, and soul. Just ask an Okinawan, and they will tell you that the reason they live so long, is because they LIVE so long.
And as Dr. Robert Butler, the first director of the National Institute on Aging, said, “being able to define your life meaning adds to your life expectancy.”
The Okinawans call it ikigai and the Nicoyans call it plan de vida. Knowing why you wake up in the morning makes you healthier, happier, and adds up to seven years of extra life expectancy.
5. More Movement
More gardening, less Gold’s Gym
Movement is important for overall health, but Blue Zones people don’t really do the gym thing. You might be surprised to know they don’t lift weights, run marathons, or get their cardio on at Gold’s Gym. Instead, they live in environments that constantly nudge them into moving without thinking about it. They grow gardens, walk almost everywhere and don’t use mechanical conveniences for house and yard work.
How can we translate that into our lives? Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Ride your bike to the park instead of driving. Get a push mower instead of something gas-powered. Chase your toddlers around the house instead of turning on Blippi.
Dr. Longo, Professor of Gerontology and Biological Sciences, wrote in his newest book, The Longevity Diet:
In Okinawa, I heard stories of fishermen who never retire, and I watched a woman in her nineties dance with a large bottle on her head, something she did many times a week. When she wasn’t dancing, she enjoyed playing traditional Japanese musical instruments. In Calabria, 110-year-old Salvatore Caruso told me how he walked every day to the oliveto (olive grove) and how much labor his olive trees required. In Loma Linda, the very long-lived Seventh-day Adventists are famous for their high levels of exercise, including walking fast and going to the gym.When Dan Buettner asked very long-lived Costa Ricans to share the secret to their longevity, they said they enjoyed doing physical work all their lives. When I posed the same question to the shepherds of towns with famously long-lived populations in Sardinia, they told me that every year they leave their homes around November so they can walk their sheep to lower elevations and warmer areas, where the animals can find food, and they don’t return until April or May.
So which physical activity is best for healthily living longer? The one you enjoy most! But also the one you can easily incorporate into your daily routine and the one you can keep doing up to your hundred and eleventh birthday and beyond! (Bilbo Baggins anyone?)
In Summary
Don’t worry about getting to 100. Health = Happiness
One of the things Buettner found when studying these healthy centenarians, something that unites the elderly inhabitants of every Blue zones – is that they didn’t set out to extend their lives.
“Longevity happened to these people. The centenarians didn’t all of a sudden at 40 say, ‘I’m going to become 100; I’m going to start getting exercise and eating these ingredients.’ … my argument is that the environmental components of places such as Ikaria are portable if you pay attention. And the value proposition in the real world is maybe a decade more life expectancy. It’s not living to 100. But I think the real benefit is that the same things that yield this healthy longevity also yield happiness.”
Sources
Danish Twins Study showing longevity is only about 25% dependent on genetics https://www.demogr.mpg.de/en/publications_databases_6118/publications_1904/journal_articles/a_danish_population_based_twin_study_on_general_health_in_the_elderly_8
Human longevity: Genetics or Lifestyle? It takes two to tango https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4822264/
World Economic Forum – The Power 9 Principles, Dan Buettner https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/06/changing-the-way-america-eats-moves-and-connects-one-town-at-a-time
Lessons From the World’s Longest Lived https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6125071/
Relationship between ikigai and family structure, physiological situation and functional capacity https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12934571/
Blue Zones Diet: Food Secrets of the World’s Longest-Lived People, Dan Buettner https://www.bluezones.com/2020/07/blue-zones-diet-food-secrets-of-the-worlds-longest-lived-people/
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