Drawing concentric blue circles on a map to indicate the cluster of villages in Sardinia, Italy, with the highest concentration of centenarians in the world, and later adding blue circles for other longevity hotspots in the world, have resulted in researching demographers referring to these areas as “Blue Zones”.
Residents of these Blue Zones live the longest in the world and enjoy more years of good health, while experiencing a fraction of the diseases that commonly kill people in other parts of the world.
Where are the Blue Zones?
Five Blue Zone regions are identified by the National Geographic explorer and author Dan Buettner in the book “The Blue Zones: Lessons for living longer from the people who’ve lived the longest.” Together with his team of medical researchers, anthropologists, demographers, and epidemiologists, more than a decade was spent exploring and studying the areas in the world where people live longer and are healthier than anywhere else on the planet. These regions are:
• Sardinia in Italy, particularly the Barbagia region.
• The island of Okinawa, Japan.
• The Nicoya peninsula in Costa Rica.
• The island of Icaria, Greece.
• A group of Seventh Day Adventists in Loma Linda, a small city in California.
Common lifestyle habits in the Blue Zones:
These people live in fairly isolated communities in different parts of the world, but have a number of common lifestyle habits in each Blue Zone, which contribute to their longevity.
Healthy eating is a way of life. They follow a predominantly plant based diet as a result of depending on their own homegrown of locally grown foods. These include beans, legumes, vegetables, fruit, herbs, nuts and seeds, whole grains and good quality fats like olive oil. Dairy products are from grass fed goat’s milk, homemade cheeses and fermented products such as yogurt and kefir. They don’t have access to meat on a daily basis, eating meat on occasion, mostly from grass-fed sheep or goats that are free from harmful substances such as antibiotics and growth hormones. Other sources of protein are naturally free range eggs and fish.
They never developed the habit of overeating, as it can take away food from another family member. The Japanese centenarians practiced the traditional rule that teaches people to eat till they are only 80% full.
Centenarians in the Blue Zones lead active lives, as being active is part of their daily lives and way of life. They walk almost everywhere and have jobs that are physically demanding, such as farming and gardening. Many chores are done by hand instead of using machines.
They have a healthy support system, being surrounded by family and friends. As social connections are ingrained as part of their cultures, it is a natural way to reduce stress and live purposeful lives. Family plays a very important role in their lives and the elderly remain part of their families, as their families are expected to take care of the elderly. Old age homes do not exist here. Spirituality and religious activity form part of the lifestyle of the majority of communities in the blue Zones.
Daily consumption of small amounts of alcohol forms part of the lifestyle, like locally made wine or saki (in Japan).
Longevity lessons from the Blue Zones:
Buettner has identified a number of longevity related common practices in the Blue Zones, which he describes as nine lessons (called the Power 9) that can be applied anywhere else in the world:
“1. Move Naturally. Moving naturally throughout the day — walking, gardening, doing housework — is a core part of the Blue Zones lifestyle.
2. Purpose. 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 add up to seven years of extra life expectancy.
3. Down-Shift. Stress is part of life, but Blue Zones centenarians have stress-relieving rituals built into their daily routines. Adventists pray, Ikarians nap, and Sardinians do happy hour.
4. 80% Rule. People in Blue Zones areas stop eating when their stomachs are 80% full and eat their smallest meal in the early evening.
5. Plant Slant. Beans are the cornerstone of most centenarian diets. Vegetables, fruit, and whole grains round out the rest of the diet and meat is eaten in small amounts.
6. Wine @ 5. Moderate but regular consumption of wine (with friends and/or food) is part of the Blue Zones lifestyle.
7. Belong. Being part of a faith-based community adds four to 14 years to life expectancy.
8. Loved Ones First. Having close and strong family connections (with spouses, parents, grandparents, and grandchildren) is common with Blue Zones centenarians.
9. Right Tribe. The world’s longest lived people have close friends and strong social networks.”
Applying the Blue Zone longevity lessons in modern societies:
Studies have shown that our genetics affects only about 20% of longevity, the rest is influenced by lifestyle and the environment. In the case of the Blue Zones, the environment dictated the lifestyles of the worlds healthiest and longest living people.
In 2009 Beuttner teamed up with an organization called Healthways in an effort to apply the common practices found in the Blue Zones to his home country, the USA, where the environment facilitates an unhealthy lifestyle. By starting the Blue Zones Project, they decided not to focus on the individual, but on sustainable long-term changes to the community and the environment to make the healthy choice the easy choice.
Beuttner describes this process to the World Economic Forum as follows:
“Just as it sounds, the Blue Zones Project is no easy task. Changing the way a community moves, eats, and connects requires working with local governments, businesses, schools, and religious organizations.
Our experts work with city planners and local government to create sidewalks and bike paths, clean up local parks, and make it easier and more fun to be active.
We work with restaurants, grocery stores, schools, and large employers to make healthier foods more accessible and less expensive.
We also work with local community groups and religious institutions to create walking groups and other opportunities for residents to meet new people, create new connections, and improve their lives with volunteer work or new hobbies.
By improving the places people live, work, learn, and play, we make it easier for people to move naturally, make new friends, and eat healthy.”
After starting with one project city (Albert Lea, MN), there are currently Blue Zone Projects in communities in more than 40 cities across the USA. The results after implementation have been amazing, with double digit drops in the rates for obesity, smoking, and BMI (body mass index) in just five years. The costs associated with healthcare claims showed significant savings and participating businesses saw a 21% decline in absenteeism.
An example in this regard is Fort Worth, Texas, where the mayor and councilors embraced the Blue Zone project and tried to involve the entire community – residents, larger employers, schools, restaurants and grocery stores.
• The city improved sidewalks to make it safer for people to walk. Bicycle lanes improved from 15 km in 2010 to 139 km in 2018. Bicycle routes increased from 109 km to 140 km during this period.
• Restaurants were involved to offer more healthy options when eating out.
• Local grocery stores were involved to help educate their customers on improving their family’s nutrition, while providing easy access to healthy foods.
• Leaders of churches, clubs, groups and civic organisations were involved to share the Blue Zone Project programmes with the people belonging to the congregations and other groups.
• Employers and worksites were involved to ensure healthy choices and practices at the workplace. One such initiative resulted in the most coveted parking spots being the ones the furthest away from the buildings!
• The adult smoking rate reduced from 19,6% in 2014 to 13,5% in 2018, a 31% decrease.
• The number of people who exercised at least for 30 minutes three times per week improved from 53% in 2010 to 62% in 2018.
• Fort Worth moved from 158th to 58th in the Gallup-Sharecare annual database, for overall well-being amongst 190 U S communities from 2014 to 2018.
Thirty years ago about 60% of children living within a 3.2 km radius from school in the USA either walked or bicycled to school, but today the number has dropped to less than 15%. Lack of exercise has contributed to obesity amongst children. Part of the Blue Zone Project programme is to enable children to walk safely to school by joining a Walking School Bus. Adult volunteers walk a designated route at a scheduled time, picking up children along this route and delivering them safely at their schools, and back home after school. Research and experience have shown that children who walk to school have a better overall level of fitness, while being more alert in the classroom.
Who would have thought that drawing that first blue circle on a map would result a new way of life for thousands of people, and their children?
Sources:
Discover the secrets of longevity from around the world. Published online. The Blue Zone Project. (www.bluezoneproject.com)
Blue Zones Project by Healthways. Published online. Healthways. (www.healthways.com)
Blue Zone. Published online. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (www.wikipedia.com)
This adventurer discoverd the secrets to long life – and it could save Iowa $16 billion by 2016. Published online 10 August 2012. The Business Insider. (www.businessinsider.com)
9 Lessons from the world’s Blue Zones on living a long, healthy life. Blog by Dan Beuttner, published online 26 June 2017. World Economic Forum. (www.weforum.org)
Blue Zone secrets – how to live 100+ years. Published online 21 June 2017. Dr. Axe. (www.draxe.com)
Improving well-being in Fort Worth. Published online. Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. (www.fortworthchamber.com)
HEALTH INSIGHT
