You must have heard at some point in your life about the Blue Zones, which are actually areas of the planet that record lower rates of chronic diseases and a longer life expectancy, because of lifestyle and diet. There are five Blue Zones on Earth, that embrace the principles of a balanced diet, active lifestyles and community involvement and among them we find Ikaria in Greece, while the other four are Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica and Loma Linda in California. So, what exactly happens in the Blue Zones to make people live longer, even more than 100 years old?
There is a very interesting book (The Blue Zones Secrets for Living Longer: Lessons From the Healthiest Places on Earth by Dan Buettner) that explains in a very nice way what happens in these places, with basic foods, behaviors and so on. So, let’s get some ideas and set an example for those of us who are quite far from this kind of “blue”, shall we?
What we do in the western societies
If we want to see what’s working in health, it might be a good idea to see what is definitely not working. And that is Western Lifestyle. We all live an everyday life full of stress, processed foods, animal foods, away from nature, with endless hours on blue screens and bad sleep –sounds familiar? Even those who try to follow a healthy lifestyle in this context, might enroll to the gym, take vitamins and eat maybe a little more salad. But is that enough? Well, no actually. There are many reliable studies that show that those who take supplements ultimately live less than those who don’t –maybe because they rely too much on a vitamin that don’t bother to make serious lifestyle changes. Apart from that, most people in the western world get too much protein –maybe even twice the amount they need- and go to the gym once or twice a week. This may show good intention, but there’s actually a minimum of recommended exercise and that’s about 11 minutes a day, most people don’t get to do. So this “healthy” lifestyle essentially tricks us into thinking we have a healthy balance in our lives, but that’s far from reality –it’s one good starting point though, so don’t get discouraged.
And then there’s… diet. Sticking to a diet means you (hopefully) have a healthy goal, but unfortunately, most diets are ineffective in maintaining health and longevity. Keto, Atkins, Paleo are only some of the popular ones –which doesn’t mean they are healthy.
So what can we do? Is it all in the genes? Well, not exactly. It seems that environmental factors are those who play the biggest role in maintaining good health and that’s where the Blue Zones come in to help.
What happens in the Blue Zones?
The author of the book I mentioned earlier went around the world looking for these areas of longevity so as to understand what was going on. Why do people in these areas were living longer and why most centenarians come from these areas.
-Well, for starters, they all live a very active life, moving physically for at least 20 minutes a day, staying close to nature.
-In Ikaria and on the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, residents followed a mostly plant-based diet with local foods.
-On top of that, daily rituals such as prayer, naps, and respect for their ancestors helped reduce stress and inflammation. There is also a recorded tendency in these places to keep parents and grandparents close, and in Okinawa there are social support groups that empower the sense of community.
-They also have discipline and a sense of greater responsibility, which is largely enhanced and promoted by the environment they live in.
So it’s all of the above and not the “superior genes” you may think they have, that leads this populations to avoid chronic conditions from diabetes and cardiovascular to dementia and some cancers that shorten our lives.
This gives us the information that if we want to live longer in good health, we need to focus on the environment we live in, from our community and work to our home. To our defense, the environment we live in big cities is certainly not helpful, but with a little help from local authorities, we could see an improvement. Imagine if the area you live in was walking and cycling friendly, schools promoted healthy options instead of junk food -something I have tried to do through free seminars for kindergartens and parents- and volunteer work and involvement activities were a part of our everyday life. This is actually a project that was applied in an 18 thousand people community in Albert Lea Minnesota and was found to raise the possibility of healthier choices for everyone. In fact, data showed an increased life expectancy by an average of 3 years and lower costs for health care
Bottom line is that life at its simplest is what we all need: Walk, relax, chat with your neighbor, cook at home, pick foods from the bottom of the food pyramid, find your community, be active, stay close to nature, take a nap. The value of life –and health- is in those things.
Resources
https://www.bluezones.com/2023/08/what-the-longest-lived-people-in-the-world-are-doing-different-than-most-americans/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15489066/
