blue zones

Date: September 23rd

Location: Your couch! See your e-mail for the Zoom link!

Directions: See your e-mail for tips for signing into Zoom!

Credits: Today’s reading is adapted from lessons written by the incomparable Mary Burns for SDCE.

Musical Interlude: (100 Years by Five For Fighting)

Realtors and business people have long chanted the mantra “location, location, location” when it comes to buying real estate. We know location matters; fast food chains near a highway do better than those in the middle of a quiet neighborhood. Why? Location! Some of the most valuable properties to purchase a home are often along beautiful beach fronts or look out over beautiful vistas. What makes them so expensive? Location!!

It turns out, location can not only affect your home values, but your longevity too! Known as “Blue Zones” there are areas in the world that researchers have noted people live much longer than the average lifespan. They have a higher than average rate of nonagenarians (people 90 and older) and centenarians (those who are 100 and beyond). But why? Researchers and scientists have been looking into these regions and are working on determining what helps the people there to live much longer, healthier lives.

First of all, why the term “Blue Zones”? Back in 2000, Michel Poulain, a Belgian demographer, had just discovered that centenarians in Sardinia Italy were concentrated in one area. So, he used a bright turquoise blue marker to identify this area, thereby establishing the first “blue zone” on a map. He continued to travel the world, looking to scientifically validate longevity zones. He calculated the centenarian rate measuring the concentration in one area.

In 2005, journalist Dan Buettner became fascinated with this idea of concentrated areas of longevity. He partnered with National Geographic and began to travel. He took areas already recognized for longevity, and continued to work to find others.

In his book, The Blue Zones, Buettner described five zones and the factors he believes have contributed to their longevity:

• Icaria (Greece): Notable because of the emphasis on the Mediterranean diet, rich in olive oil, red wine and homegrown vegetables

• Ogliastra, Sardinia (Italy): Home to some of the oldest men in the world. They live in mountainous areas where they work on farms and drink lots of red wine

• Okinawa (Japan): Home to some of the world’s oldest women, who eat a lot of soy-based foods and practice tai chi.

• Nicoya Peninsula (Costa Rica): The Nicoyan diet is based on beans and corn tortillas. These people work physical jobs into old age and have a purpose in life (“plan de vida”).

• Seventh-day Adventists (Loma Linda, CA): The Seventh-day Adventists are a very religious group of people. They are strict vegetarians and live in tight communities.

So what is the secret? How do these people live so much longer, on average? Dan Buettner teamed up with National Geographic and the National Institute on Aging to explore these questions and observe people in Blue Zones. To watch some videos going through their explorations, click here:

We will be exploring the things these Blue Zones have in common in our class this week. See if you can spot the major things from these videos that we will discuss this week in class!

In 2009, Dan Buettner realized change had to come from communities. So he launched the Blue Zones Project which works with communities to make healthy choices easier. There are already 31 communities that have been included in the project. The plan of action is designed with the city council and major businesses, then implemented in local teams. Everyone is asked to take a pledge, such as (eat until you are 80% full), grocery stores replace candy with heathy snacks at checkout and local councils pass anti-smoking policies. Once the community has completed a series of requirements, it becomes a certified blue zone. So far, 19 communities have been certified.

The results are seen in falling childhood obesity, to lower health care costs. Although skeptics complain that the Blue Zones project “nudges” people towards behaviors which may seem a little far reaching, this project can change communities and improve health.

In the official website for the Blue Zones Project (The secrets of living longer, better are all around us, 2019), four components are highlighted in living a longer and healthier lifestyle. They include:

· Moving naturally: Making it easier for residents in the community to move without thinking about it.

· Eating wisely: Working with grocery stores, restaurants, schools and worksites to offer and bring attention to nutritious and tasty foods, as well as educating children to more healthy habits.

· Connect: Creating connections in the community between individuals and community organizations, faith based and community groups, as well as other social activities.

· Right outlook: Through mindfulness and purpose workshops, people are taught to shed stress, live in the moment and connect with their own gifts. They are helped in finding opportunities to match their passion with commitment to deepen their sense of purpose.

Results in communities that have embraced the Blue Zones project:

· Double digit drops in obesity, smoking and BMI (body mass index)

· Millions of dollars in savings in healthcare costs

· Measurable drops in employee absenteeism

Having identified some of the common characteristics of those in the Blue Zone, it would be interesting to compare it with those countries with the shortest life expectancies. The country with the shortest life expectancy is Swaziland.

Swaziland is a country in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has the world’s shortest life expectancy, 49 years old. About 45% of the general population has no access to clean water. A large section of the poor use water from waterways, streams and channels, which can be contaminated. As a result, there are many infections and diseases (like cholera and typhoid). There is a lack of proper health care, and many regions in Africa have a high rate of AIDS. In Swaziland, 26.5% of the citizens between the ages of 19 and 49 are infected. There is also the issue of corrupt government officials, with funds not allocated to those in need. As population grows, food supply diminishes. Unpredictable rainfall can trigger droughts.

So, in comparison to Blue Zones, those in countries with a much shorter life expectancy can struggle with the day to day necessities (clean water, health care, food, government corruption, famine, environmental conditions).

Other countries with the shortest lifespan include Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Ivory Coast, Angola, Nigeria, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau.

Buettner, D. (2016, November). Power 9: Reverse Engineering Longevity. Retrieved from bluezones.com: https://www.bluezones.com/2016/11/power-9/

Robertson, R. (2017, August 29). Why People in "Blue Zones" Live Longer Than the Rest of the World. Retrieved from healthline.com: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/blue-zones

Roca, C. (2016, November 28). How ‘blue zones’ offer secrets for long lives—and shorter ones, too. Retrieved from macleans.ca: https://www.macleans.ca/society/blue-zones-of-centenarians-are-dying-off/

The secrets of living longer, better are all around us. (2019, January 21). Retrieved from bluezonesproject.com: https://www.bluezonesproject.com/

Ziavash, A. (2017, April 25). 10 Countries With The Shortest Life Expectancies. Retrieved from worldatlas.com: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/10-countries-with-the-shortest-life-expectancies.html