The 9 Powers of Blue Zones
Having a long life and living for a long time are very different. No one wants to live to 80 or 90 if it means bed pans, forgetting your name, or a new unpronounceable medication every year. But thriving at 100—still golfing, having wine on a patio, and seeing your closest family members as often as you like—sounds a lot more enjoyable. I teach my students about Blue Zones every semester as part of their education on healthcare and how different life expectancy can be from one community to another. Blue Zones are regions that have been identified for the longer-than-average life expectancy of their inhabitants. Specifically, for the significant number of centenarians or persons living to be 100 or more who live in these communities. In the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine article titled “Blue Zones”, Dan Buettner and Sam Skemp share their findings from studying the commonalities between the 5 Blue Zones they identified (Okinawa, Japan; Ikaria, Greece; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, California). They named the nine commonalities they found the Power 9.
The Power 9
Move Naturally. Contrary to what social media tells us, running marathons or competing in CrossFit competitions is not how we should be moving our bodies for a long and healthy life. In fact, more active lifestyles that promote lower intensity constant activity, like avid gardening or seeking opportunities to walk instead of driving, have a more positive impact on life expectancy.
Purpose. What gets you out of bed every morning? Is it the joy of watching grandkids grow and learn? The passion to leave the Earth better than you found her? Finding out and living with it in mind could potentially add up to 7 years to your life expectancy, according to Buettner and Skemp.
Downshift. Stress is essential to our lives. Without it, we would never strive to improve, but stress in an overabundance will shave more than a few years of life off anyone. Blue Zone inhabitants have cultivated stress management techniques. Some rely on faith or spiritual reflection, while others utilize wine and napping (not necessarily in that order). By managing their stress, these individuals can better reduce the amount of inflammation and insomnia they experience.
80% Rule. This one got its start as a Confucius mantra, Hara Hachi bu. The mantra roughly translates to eat until you are 80% full. Eyes and plates are often too big for stomachs, but it is our stomachs that should dictate how much we eat.
Plant Slant. To the dismay of many westerners, the average centenarian is only consuming animal protein an average of 5 times a month. Furthermore, they are only consuming 3 to 4 oz at a time. I can hear the cries of blasphemy from the Tyson chicken factory one state over now.
Wine. I really don’t think I need to say more, but I will. The average centenarian is consuming 1-2 glasses of wine every evening with their dinner. I may not be a centenarian yet, but I sure am practicing like one. Cheers!
Belong. Whether you dance naked around a fire under the full moon or kneel at a pew every Sunday, your faith might actually be saving you. Buettner and Skemp found that of the 263 centenarians they studied, all but 5 of them had some level of consistent involvement with a faith-based group. There was no relationship between denomination and life expectancy, but regular attendance in any faith-based service was found to increase life expectancy by 4 to 14 years.
Loved Ones First. If you are like most people, you feel like your loved ones will be the death of you someday. However, they could be one of the biggest preservatives for your life. If you want to live to be a centenarian, then you might reconsider some of those familial relationships.
Right Tribe. I feel like this one could use a song, but I can’t sing. So you can settle for knowing that when you find your people, you need to hang on to them for as long as possible. Just make sure they are making healthy decisions too (ie, no smoking, excessive drinking, or bank robbery).
If you want to be as old as Edward Cullen, then I suggest you follow the Blue Zone lead with these 9 power moves.
#longevity #longlife #bluezones
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6125071/