Grow old without getting old
The Blue Zones
If you could be granted a wish, what would it be (it couldn’t be always entitled to a wish)? Live forever? Have health? Have a rich life? Or have a rich life? For Dan Buettner, teamed up with National Geographic to understand why there were some areas in the world where the average life expectancy was significantly higher. This study led to finding 5 zones on Earth where this happens and finding common points for these communities. Today I’m going to talk to you about Blue Zones or Blue Zones.
What they are
The name “Blue zones” came up in Italy, Sardinia, by Gianni Pes and Michel Poulain who identified certain parts of the island as having the highest concentration of centenarian men. The name came about simply because it was the colour of the marker that the two had when they marked these areas on the map.
Work continued with Dan Buettner, with National Geographic, where he identified 4 more zones and managed to define 9 lifestyle factors that were common to people living in these zones.
Conclusions of the study
The 5 zones considered Blue zones were:
- Barbagia in Sardinia, Italy. Area of the world with the highest concentration of centenary men
- Ikaria, Greece. One of the zones with the lowest mortality rate in middle age and the zone with the lowest rates of dementia,
- Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica.
- Okinawa, Japan. Women over 70 have the longest life expectancy in the world.
- Loma Linda, California. They live an average of 10 years longer than people in North America.
9 Principles
These are the 9 principles that according to the author’s conclusions are common to the 5 zones.
Move
- Move naturally: People in these areas don’t exactly go to the gym, but instead move during the day. Walking to shopping, gardening, etc.
Connect
2. Feeling of belonging to a group with healthy habits that support and hold each other accountable.
3. Family and friends first: Invest their time with family and friends, like taking care of parents and family.
4. Belonging to a group: Most people belonging to the Blue Zones were part of a faith-based community.
Eat wisely
5. Wine in moderation: residents of these areas also drank 1–2 glasses a day with friends during meals.
6. Eat mostly plants: from legumes to vegetables are the centre of meals. People in these areas eat meat sporadically and when they do eat it is organic.
7. 80% rule: stop eating when you feel 80% full.
Right Outlook
8. Have a purpose: have something that makes us get out of bed excited to live the day
9. Take time to slow down: We’ve all experienced stress, but the way we deal with it may or may not lead to chronic inflammation and consequently various illnesses. People in these areas devote some time each day to slow down and manage to calm their bodies from everyday stress.
These were the common principles, which are also already being tested in some parts of the USA. Thanks to the government of some areas, these nine principles are promoted and implemented by the citizens, having already led to several positive results. Some examples:
- beaches in the California area:
68% reduction in childhood obesity; 15% in adults
36% of people stopped smoking
People indicated 10% stress reduction - Albert Leah, Minnesota
3-year increase in average life expectancy since the beginning of the project.
How to start
Move
Start moving more throughout the day. Use stairs instead of elevator, try to get up every hour 5 min, etc. A smartwatch is a great option to remind you to get up every hour.
Connect
Connect with people you admire and share the same basic principles as you.
Eat Wisely
Be more aware when eating, preferably do it without the distractions of your cell phone or television. Only in this way will you begin to understand when you have reached your 80% full.
Try to make 50% of your dish with legumes or vegetables. And vary in the colors of your vegetables, different colors, different benefits.
Right Outlook
Read the book “Man’s Search for a meaning” by Viktor Frankl or “Find your why” by Simon Sinek or “Ikigai” by Hector Garcia.
Start dedicating 30 minutes to yourselves. You can meditate, nature walk, journaling, or anything you like but allow you to slow down. Allow yourself to be upset.
My conclusions
Most of the principles remind us of the pre-technological revolution and pre-industrial revolution times, where we moved much more throughout the day, where we evolved as a community, where overeating was not exactly an option and where we didn’t actually have cell phones and televisions to distract us and consequently the time to slow down was inevitable.
If the industrial and technological revolution has caused average life expectancy to rise considerably, all the advertising and increased easy and cheap access to processed food, greater stress and less time for what we like has made the difference between hope average lifespan and healthy years increased.
In the charts below Our Word in Data, you can see the values for Portugal from 1990 to 2016. There was a 9% increase in average life expectancy, but a 12% increase in life years spent with some disability. This means that the increase in unhealthy life years was greater than the increase in average life expectancy.
My experience
In 2021, he spent the first 4 months of the year in Brazil and, now reflecting on that time, it seems that we created a mini blue zone here. I worked part of the time standing up, walked a little long during the day, exercised 5 to 6 days a week, had a community of 6 people with whom I shared ideas and meals, ate 100% herbal, and felt like I was working for my purpose. I was able to wake up and give thanks daily, for having the health and energy to live another day. At least one day a week we all had dinner together and the best part was cooking together. The principle of wine was not fulfilled, only once a week (if that) I drank something with alcohol. The other principle that was more difficult to comply with was the rule to stop eating when it was 80% full, as the food was excellent. But after the first few weeks, I started eating more slowly so that my body had time to let me know it was full. Of course 4 months is not enough for this kind of experiences, but it was from the heights that I felt better physically, mentally and spiritually. I woke up feeling immensely grateful, I didn’t feel constantly looking forward to the weekend, but I use the week to work on my purpose and my weekend to work on me and my well-being.
And you, how close are you to the 9 principles of the Blue Zones and living to be 90?
You can take a test here to see. According to this questionnaire, I will live to be 95, of which 81 are disease-free, and potentially I can even last until 97.
According to Eurostat, in 2019, the average healthy life years (HALE — Healthy Life expectancy) in Portugal for women is 57.8 years and for men 60.6 years (European average is women 65.1 and men 64, 2 years). Regarding the average life expectancy, in 2019 in Portugal, for women it was 84.8 years and for men 78.7 years.
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