 Sardinia with the world’s highest concentration of male centenarians.
- Okinawa, Japan—Females over 70 are the longest-lived population in the world.
- Ikaria, Greece—Aegean island with one of the world’s lowest rates of middle-age mortality and the lowest rates of dementia.
- Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica—World’s lowest rates of middle-age mortality and second-highest concentration of male centenarians.
- Seventh-day Adventists—Highest concentration living around Loma Linda, Calif. They live 10 years longer than their North American counterparts.
Characteristics of the longest-lived people
While people living in each of the above Blue Zones live and practice a lifestyle unique to their geography (and genetic ancestry), they also share common lifestyle characteristics that researchers know promote healthy longevity.
Sardinia, a Mediterranean island 120 miles off the coast of Italy, is home to shepherds who pasture their sheep across rugged, mountainous terrain. Sardinians have an intense dedication to family and community (probably due to the many times they have been invaded and occupied). It seems like all Sardinians maintain a positive attitude toward elders and have a strong sense of belonging to the earth. They also possess a keen sense of humor that probably is responsible for low rates of anxiety and stress. Sardinians consume milk and cheese from goats that feed on dwarf curry, a plant with known anti-inflammatory properties. They favor dark red wine and eat mostly a plant-based diet with fava beans, barley, and lots of vegetables grown in their own gardens. In addition they walk everywhere, starting at an early age.
Okinawa is a Pacific archipelago 360 miles off the coast of Japan. Like Sardinia, Okinawa has been invaded several times. The people are fiercely independent and loyal, with strong family attachments and many long-time friends. Okinawans grow up with a tangible sense of purpose, called ikigai; this starts from an early age and gives meaning to their life and work. Until the recent advent of fast foods into their culture, all Okinawans maintained gardens, growing and eating a plant-based diet with herbs and vegetables rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants like turmeric, ginger, and mugwort. The recent fast-food invasion has resulted in reduced gardening (hence less walking, bending, pulling, and lifting) along with a plummeting life expectancy. Recent statistics show some parents now outlive their children.
The Greek island of Ikaria is located 35 miles off the coast of Turkey in the Aegean Sea. The population migrated to the central area of the island, away from the sea, to avoid invasions from Persians, Romans, and Turks. This population, too, is rich in family traditions and values that favor long-term relationships. Most of the people are farmers or fishermen, which requires an active lifestyle. They consume a variation of the Mediterranean diet, eating whole grains, plenty of vegetables and fruit, a little fish, goats’ milk, olive oil, and red wine loaded with antioxidants. The people routinely take naps, connect daily with friends and family, and are keen practitioners of “relaxation.”
The Nicoyan Peninsula, 80 miles long, locates just south of the Nicaraguan border along the Pacific coast. Nicoya, an isolated region that until 2003 could only be reached by ferry, is trenched with sun, calcium, and magnesium-rich water. Its people share a keen sense of purpose centered around spending time with and providing for family and friends. They are people with deep faith, an active lifestyle (who get plenty of sleep, likely due to lack of adequate electricity), and a diet much like other Blue Zoners, plant-based and rich with rice, beans, corn (non-GMO, of course), and colorful fruits with more vitamin C than found elsewhere.
Loma Linda is 60 miles east of Los Angeles and home to more than 9,000 Seventh-day Adventists who have built a culture focused on health and longevity. Most Adventists are vegans or vegetarians and abstain from smoking and drinking alcohol or sugary drinks. When they do eat 