Blue Zones—The Remaining Frontiers of 100-Year-Olds

Originally Published July 11, 2022

As we hit the nail on the head of the first chapter, we’re putting something ironically shortlived into our petri dish to start off the next chapter. But before all that we would like to thank everyone who supports the stories that we believe, are worth telling. Now, we’re taking you on a journey of discovery that involves geography whether it may be barren lands, uncharted territories, or a town hall that changed our lives’ vista.

Following his National Geographic feature on the secrets of living longer in 2005, New York Times bestselling author, Emmy Award-winning producer, and 3x Guinness World Record holder Dan Buettner spent more than a decade doing his research on Blue Zones. It was when he came across the Danish Twin Study that Dan thought of the places where there are more 100-year-olds than the rest of the world—particularly in Okinawa, Sardinia, Nicoya, Ikaria, and Loma Linda.

Although these places are wildly different from one another, they share a lot in common. One is the sense of community despite the mileage of walking. Exercise for them is not intentional but ensued in daily life. When we talk about their social support, we’re not talking about DMs and tweets, these are meet-up groups with a lot of dancing and singing. Most centenarians didn’t have to go to the gym because they had so many meaningful activities under the sun. If you ask them “how to live longer” they would say that it is because they don’t even try. It was never their goal to live long, it wasn’t a part of any wellness program.

Another key factor to these Blue Zones is the remoteness and isolation that keep out the western food culture. With that being said, they have to grow their own food. Believe it or not, only 1% of the edible food on the planet is being consumed by mankind. A lot of corporations tolerate unhealthy diets to either profit by fixing our problems or get more sales by selling delicious but deadly food. Omega 3 fat is not from the fish but from the algae that they eat. Even microwaving damages the enzymes of the food. The process is something that differs from the food that Blue Zones have. They eat 95% plant-based—60-75% astonishingly carbohydrates, mainly fiber, they fast every single day and they follow the 80% rule. You might think of plant-based as something that is expensive. Yes, it is if you don't grow it on your own. As you might have imagined, their routine includes a lot of gardening. Contrary to the health-conscious, they drink a lot of wine and coffee. Not in one seating, but through small amounts daily.

A man in Ikaria aged 106 with no signs of dementia, says that he’s waiting on death without complaining even if he has lived through 2 world wars and 2 pandemics. It could be too simplistic to hear the advice “smile all year round” but honestly, even the mayor doesn’t know the secret if there is even a secret. Many of the similarities are counterintuitive. They are agile because they have to walk up and down the hills. There is no age discrimination so they don’t keep up with the Joneses. With good quality and purpose in life, they pretty much don’t care about the woo-woo of class distinction. It is almost egalitarian. So remember, loneliness is just as bad as smoking cigarettes so if you want to age gracefully, get less blue light and be with the right people. Make the healthy choice the easy choice!

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