ast 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 meat it is mostly as a side dish and always derived from grass-fed animals, not corn fed. Adventists are spiritual people who strictly observe the Sabbath from Friday to Saturday night, spending time with family, friends, and nature (often taking long hikes in the foothills). As a group, volunteerism is built into their lifestyle, and it is not uncommon for Adventists to be very involved with others who share similar interests.
Clues to healthy longevity from the Blue Zones
So there you have it: While those living in the Blue Zones are endowed with unique, singular characteristics owing to their geography, history, and perhaps genetics, they also share many common denominators that perhaps provide clues to how we can increase healthy longevity.
Most Blue Zoners don’t pump iron, run marathons, or join gyms, but they do move—often and all day long. They also:
…have an ikigai, a purpose and plan for life, a reason to wake up every morning.
…experience little stress, and the stress they do experience they dissipate easily.
…eat whole foods and a plant-based diet as the rule, rather than the exception.
…drink alcohol moderately, maybe one or two glasses of wine per day (preferably wine high in polyphenols, like the red Sardinian Cannonau).
…belong to a faith of some kind, or are spiritual.
…always put family first.
…belong to the “right tribe” (that is, they are involved in a social circle that practices and supports healthy longevity behaviors).
The path to longevity
After reading the above, I know many of you are probably thinking, “How much difference, really, can I make in my longevity if I adopt some of these practices?” “What do I have to do specifically to increase my longevity?” “Is the prescription for adding years to my life realistic, especially if I’m older than a teenager?”
In September’s column I will answer these questions and others. I’ll discuss such issues as biological age—your body’s age, given your habits, current lifestyle, and your healthy life expectancy—and how many accrued years you can expec