Blue Zones
Blue Zones are specific regions around the world where people tend to live significantly longer, healthier lives, often reaching the age of 100 or more. Initially identified by researchers Gianni Pes and Michel Poulain, the concept gained wider popularity through the work of explorer Dan Buettner, who highlighted five key Blue Zones: Sardinia (Italy), Icaria (Greece), Okinawa (Japan), the Nicoya Peninsula (Costa Rica), and Loma Linda (California, USA). The lifestyle practices of these populations share common elements that contribute to their longevity, including natural daily exercise, a predominantly plant-based diet, strong social ties, and a sense of purpose in life.
Buettner and his colleagues identified nine shared characteristics, known as the "Power 9," encompassing habits such as mindful eating and stress reduction. While the idea of Blue Zones has inspired public health initiatives aimed at promoting healthier living, it has also faced criticism regarding the accuracy of the data supporting the original findings. Some studies have raised concerns about inconsistencies in age reporting among residents and the overall quality of life in these regions. Despite this, the principles derived from Blue Zones continue to be recognized for their potential in fostering healthier lifestyles across diverse communities.
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Blue Zones
Blue Zones are areas of the world with a higher percentage of people who live to old age in good health. Five areas initially were identified as Blue Zones, though more may exist. Researchers argued that these areas have several habits in common, including diet, exercise routines, and social structure. In each case, however, these practices are part of the area's normal lifestyle, not a specific effort to be healthy. The idea of Blue Zones first became popular as a result of a 2008 New York Times bestselling book on the topic. It later expanded to become an effort to promote healthy habits around the world based on the practices of people living in these Blue Zones. However, the concept has drawn occasional criticism, with some researchers arguing that there were inaccuracies in the data backing up original conclusions about Blue Zones.
Background
The concept of Blue Zones originated with research conducted by medical statistician Gianni Pes and demographer Michel Poulain and was described in an article in the Journal of Experimental Gerontology in 2004. Census data were used to find areas of the world with large concentrations of people with certain characteristics. Poulain and Pes searched for areas in which people lived extremely long lives, reaching or exceeding one hundred years of age. They first identified an area in the Ogliastra region of Sardinia, Italy, where the men lived to exceptionally old age. As they were working through the research, they used blue ink to draw circles on a map to identify the areas under consideration. The name "Blue Zones" was derived from these blue circles.
Explorer and author Dan Buettner became interested in the work Poulain and Pes had conducted. Subsequent research identified five areas where people have lower-than-average levels of chronic disease and higher-than-average numbers of people who live very long lives. In 2005, Buettner published an article in National Geographic titled "Longevity, the Secrets of Long Life," which brought the idea of Blue Zones to a wider audience. In addition to Sardinia, other Blue Zones include Icaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan; the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica; and the section of Loma Linda, California, that is home to a large population of Seventh-day Adventists.
In 2008, Buettner published a book titled The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest. The book expanded on the 2005 article and provided details about the aspects of life in these areas that seemed to have the greatest effect on longevity and disease rates. Buettner followed the effort with additional books, audio CDs, articles, and other media about Blue Zones. He also helped found the Blue Zones Project. The project works with nonprofit organizations and communities to replicate some of the conditions found in Blue Zones with the intention of improving health in other areas.
Overview
Each of the five Blue Zones was chosen because its people demonstrated some sort of unique characteristic. The people of Icaria are among the least likely in the world to die in middle age and suffer from dementia. This island community in the Aegean Sea eats a mostly Mediterranean diet, including an abundance of vegetables, foods that are rich in healthy fats, and very little dairy and meat. A typical meal might be a stew made of beans or black-eyed peas simmered with garlic, onion, fennel, carrots, tomatoes, and olive oil.
One of the largest concentrations of men over the age of one hundred live on the island of Sardinia, which is part of Italy. Many are farmers who live in mountainous areas. Farming makes physical activity a part of their normal daily activities. They eat a low-protein diet and have low incidence of chronic conditions such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. They work hard but have low levels of stress. They also enjoy a moderate amount of red wine on a regular basis.
The Japanese women of Okinawa are more likely than most to reach the age of one hundred. Their diet is low in meat and dairy and high in soy-based foods, such as tofu, and vegetables. They also engage in meditative practices such as tai chi.
The diet of the people on the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica features meatless dishes made with beans. An active lifestyle comes naturally because people continue to work for as long as they are physically able. They have a culture that encourages each individual to have a life plan that includes a fulfilling purpose.
A portion of the California city of Loma Linda also made the Blue Zone list. At the time of the research, that area was home to the largest concentration of Seventh-day Adventists in the United States. The members of this close-knit religious group are all strict vegetarians. They invest much time and energy in their faith and in their relationships with one another. On average, they lived ten years longer than other Americans at that time.
Buettner and the researchers working with him identified nine characteristics that people who live in Blue Zones have in common, referred to as the Power 9. They include the following:
- Natural exercise. Blue Zone residents live lifestyles that make movement a normal part of their day. They frequently walk places or engage in work that requires a steady amount of movement throughout the day.
- Purpose. Blue Zone residents have a sense of purpose that gives them a reason to keep going. This adds an average of seven years to their life spans.
- Stress reduction. Blue Zone residents have habits that allow them to relax on a regular basis. These include taking naps, engaging in meditation or prayer, remembering family, and pausing for a calming social beverage.
- 80 percent rule. Blue Zone residents stop eating when they are 80 percent full. As a result, they consume fewer calories.
- Vegetable-based diet. Blue Zone residents eat a mostly vegetarian diet. They eat beans or other plant proteins daily and have small portions of meat once a week or less.
- Moderate alcohol consumption. Residents of many Blue Zones, including Sardinia, have one to two glasses of good-quality wine daily, usually in the company of family and friends.
- Faith. Nearly all the Blue Zone residents who achieved long life were a part of a faith community. The particular faith did not matter, but their participation did.
- Focus on family. Blue Zone residents have strong family ties and know they have the love and support of this tight-knit group.
- Tribe. Blue Zone residents often are part of an intentional social circle of friends who not only share their lifestyle but also serve as a support system.
Criticism
Throughout the 2010s and 2020s, the concept of Blue Zones continued to attract interest from people studying longevity; meanwhile, certain habits of Blue Zone inhabitants, including consumption of a Mediterranean diet and moderate, consistent physical activity, were promoted by doctors and other health experts. However, while few researchers disputed the benefits of some of these habits, the concept of the Blue Zones itself, and the original research backing up the concept, attracted some criticism.
In an independent study published in 2019, geneticist Saul Newman found inconsistencies and inaccuracies in the lifespan data collected by the original Blue Zone researchers. Newman gathered self-reported age data in some of the Blue Zones from the original study and compared them with official birth records and found that, in many cases, the ages either did not match official records or did not have any official birth certificate to back them up. This led Newman to the conclusion that many Blue Zone residents appeared to be either incorrect or actively lying about their ages; while some residents appeared to be genuinely mistaken about their own ages, others appeared to be actively lying due to a number of incentives, namely to qualify for their pensions at an earlier date.
To further back up his conclusion, Newman cited high poverty rates and low welfare spending in some Blue Zones as factors which could contribute to welfare fraud. Focusing on Okinawa as an example, Newman also questioned whether Blue Zone residents truly enjoyed a higher quality of life in old age, citing the island's high levels of depression among older adults, high rate of obesity, lower levels of fruit and vegetable consumption compared to the rest of Japan, and higher levels of beer consumption. In a strongly worded response to Newman, Buettner noted that Newman's study had not been peer-reviewed and asserted the accuracy of the data he and other Blue Zone researchers gathered. Additionally, while many Blue Zones did indeed experience high levels of poverty compared to more developed countries such as the US, Buettner argued that this actually helped protect Blue Zone residents from "diseases of affluence," such as heart disease and diabetes, which have been linked to processed food consumption, living a sedentary lifestyle, and other factors more commonly seen in affluent, developed countries.
Bibliography
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