BY JAMIE DUCHARME
Global life expectancy averages out to 71.4 years.
That means, of course, that some parts of the world see much shorter life spans,
while others enjoy far greater longevity.
TIL that areas where it is common for people to live over 100 years are known as
“Blue Zones”. There are 5 on Earth: Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; Loma Linda, California; and Icaria, Greece Blue zone – Wikipedia I live 15 minutes from Loma Linda and it doesn’t surprise me. It’s a really nice city and their hospital is the best I’ve ever seen.
Five places, in particular, fall into the latter category. They’re known as Blue Zones—named for the blue circles researchers drew to identify the first one on a map—and they’re home to some of the oldest and healthiest people in the world. Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones and The Blue Zones Solution, told TIME why residents of these places live so long—and how you can steal their habits.
COSTA RICA
Average national life expectancy: 78.7 years
Capital: San Jose
Official language: Spanish
Inside Costa Rica: The longest-living residents in Costa Rica credit their plan de vida, meaning reason to live, which gives them a strong sense of purpose. Plus, the Caribbean nation boasts sunny, tropical weather and has excellent healthcare.
Costa Rica’s beautiful jungle-ridden Nicoya Peninsula is a designated Blue Zone, singled out by experts for being home to the planet’s healthiest and longest-living citizens.
Bottom line: Nicoyan centenarians rise and set with the sun, and spend their days working, eating and playing in equal measure. They maintain a positive outlook, credited to their Catholic beliefs. Most spend a significant amount of the day active, either working the farmland or walking around the neighborhood to visit loved ones.
Spanish colonizers thought they’d discovered the fountain of youth when they reached Costa Rica’s natural hot springs in nearby La Fortuna, and they weren’t too far off the mark. The springs indeed provide a health boost to citizens, as they do to those passing through. RELATED: Oldest Hotels in the World – Search (bing.com)
Ikaria, GREECE
Average national life expectancy: 80.7 years
Capital: Athens
Official language: Greek
Inside Greece: It’s no secret that the Mediterranean diet is extraordinarily healthy and decreases the chance of cardiovascular disease. Those with doubts needn’t look any further than Greece, where the diet has contributed to extraordinary longevity, as it has in many other places around the world.
Grecians are also active, often partaking in farming and fishing, and make time in their daily lives to socialize with loved ones, walk in the sun and nap.
The Island that holds the secret to long life – Bing video
Bottom line: Ikaria, a Grecian island off the coast of Turkey in the Eastern Aegean Sea,
is a Blue Zone with numerous nonagenarians — people between the ages of 90 and 99.
In fact, a remarkable third of Ikaria’s population lives to be 90.
Blue Zone researchers have found that locals in Ikaria are super healthy, and dementia, cancer and cardiovascular diseases are very rare. Like Costa Rica, the destination is home to mineral hot springs, which have been found to relieve pain, increase circulation and help with digestion.
Sardinia, Italy
A largely plant-based diet, daily physical activity and familial closeness have given this Blue Zone the highest concentration of male centenarians in the world. (Sheep herders, who tend to walk at least five miles a day, and men with daughters, who may get especially tender care as they age, live even longer than most in this area.) It also doesn’t hurt that the M26 marker, a genetic variant linked to extreme longevity, has been passed down through generations in this secluded community.
Read more: How to Become Less Afraid of Death – Search (bing.com)
Okinawa, Japan
Many Blue Zones emphasize family and community, but bonding reaches its peak in this Japanese culture. Okinawans are supported by their moai, a small but tight-knit social circle meant to be there through all of life’s ups and downs, which provides social support strong enough to dull mental stressors and reinforce shared healthy behaviors. The result? A culture that boasts the longest-living women in the world, with many surpassing 100.
Nicoya, Costa Rica
Most Blue Zone residents avoid processed food, but Nicoyans take it to another level. The Costa Rican people traditionally get the majority of their caloric intake from beans, squash and corn, plus tropical fruits. This plant-forward, nutrient-dense diet— and plenty of time outdoors—makes for strong, well-nourished bodies. Meanwhile, a plan de vida, or guiding life purpose, helps Nicoyans stay mentally and spiritually fulfilled to age 90 and beyond.
Ikaria, Greece
A fierce sense of island pride keeps Ikarians invested in their community. That, combined with late bedtimes offset by daily naps and a strict adherence to the Mediterranean diet—eating lots of fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, potatoes and olive oil—propels 1 in 3 Ikarians to live into their 90s, often free of dementia and chronic disease.
Loma Linda, Calif., U.S.A.
The U.S.’s only Blue Zone is a haven for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a Protestant denomination. A shared set of principles, emphasis on community and adherence to the Sabbath—a day of rest, reflection and recharging— help Loma Linda Adventists live 10 years longer than their fellow Americans. Many avoid meat and eat plenty of plants,
whole grains and nuts.
Loma Linda Has a very high concentration of Seventh-Day Adventists, which do not eat meat, and their hospital is extremely advanced (literally on the bleeding edge of medical treatment). Them being in a blue zone does not surprise me. It’s not their hospital (although it is great). Loma Linda is a community full of Seventh Day Adventists,
they take amazing care of their bodies, and eat extremely healthy.
Source: I graduated from Redlands High.
Why is their hospital so advanced?
Lots and lots of money from the community goes right to the University. It is a very prestigious school of Medicine.which do not eat meatHaven’t seen this. It was a dairy they wouldn’t eat when I was anywhere near the religion, which was the 1980’s. They all loved a good turkey sandwich at the time. A lot depends on each person’s choice. Grew up SDA and knew elders who would have McDonalds on sabbath, while others (my dad, for example) who have never had alcohol, cigarettes, or meat of any kind.
Nobody really judges either end of the spectrum, but there are some areas like Loma Linda where the health message seems to get extra attention, probably due to the large number of SDA medical staff. I was raised Seventh Day Adventist. Meat and dairy with almost every meal, just no bacon or shrimp. There might have been more rules that we didn’t follow but I don’t remember milk not being allowed.
Literally. ‘Bleeding edge’ is a figure of speech. If you just say it we’ll know what you mean.
From a page on the Loma Linda University website: LLUMC – Search (bing.com) is amazing!
Had a cataract as a baby and was one of the few that had it treated at the hospital. It was too risky to do lens transplants at the time let alone to have my cataract removed, but the doctor was one of the best in pediatrics!
I live in Loma Linda! Gonna go cancel my life insurance!
The dietary questions included in the questionnaire showed that 21 percent of the Adventists said that they consumed beef more than twice a week, 10 percent ate fish as often as once a week, 35 percent admitted to coffee use, 77 percent consumed primarily whole wheat bread, 66 percent ate nuts at least once a week with 24 percent eating nuts more than four times a week, and 81 percent ate fruit at least once a day with 49 percent eating fruit at least three times a day.
It is kind of ironic that SDA stores sell faux meat products shaped like chicken drumsticks (for example) that are made of gluten. If they are vegetarians, why imitate meat?
The pseudo-meat is usually made of gluten because it can be shaped. From a nutritional viewpoint, it’s retarded. Here, have an enormous chunk of one amino acid, that presents a health hazard to a significant portion of humanity.
Health hazard? Really?
Getting kinda bloated is a health hazard. Also, more than 1% of people are coeliac,
hardly a significant portion.
I’m surprised that it’s as low as 1%, but I looked into it, and 1% is a good estimate of the incidence of celiac disease. There is also NCGS – Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity, which might affect as many or more, but the numbers aren’t in yet.
There are about 18 million Adventists world-wide, suggesting that something on the order of 180,000 Adventists may have celiac disease. Significant? Maybe not. It’s not a well-defined term.
Applied to humanity as a whole, the number with CD is more impressive: 1% of 7.3 billion humans => 73 million with celiac disease — though this math neglects the fact that CD seems to afflict Caucasians more than other races.
I wish the fact that being born in Loma Linda would allow me to at least get a few more years in life. I also live close to Loma Linda and have to agree. Fact about Loma Linda –
it has one of the only post offices open on Sundays in the US. There hospital is amazing!
I would be dead without them.
Seventh Day Adventists
How crazy are they on the scale of 0 to Scientology?
All your questions about SDAs answered by NPR
A decent 3. They won’t lift a finger on Sundays (no work on the Sabbath) and won’t eat cheese (their founder saw an ugly dairy farm in the 19th century and declared all of it unclean). No jewelry, including wedding bands. Otherwise, they’re pretty typical. They do have a large infrastructure of their own regarding schooling (including medical centers),
They won’t lift a finger on Sundays,
What? The SDA Sabbath is Saturday. And those bastards eat a shit ton of cheese — they use it to make up for meat in their post-church potluck dishes. Also, wedding bands are common. I’d say most fall around there, but the crowd in Loma Linda often peaks around a 6 or 7. The more casual “yeah, I’ll avoid pork” SDA is easy enough to get along with though.
They won’t lift a finger on Sundays (no work on the Sabbath)
Dude, wut? Their holy day is Saturday. As in, (*looks at calendar) yep, the seventh day.
and won’t eat cheese (their founder saw an ugly dairy farm in the 19th century and declared all of it unclean).
While there are more than your average number of vegetarians and vegans in the SDA circles, most are lacto-vegetarians (again, those in the Loma Linda area are the exception. Even having grown up SDA and having gone to SDA schools through college, they’re a little extreme. Ever eaten popcorn with brewer’s yeast because “we don’t eat butter in this house”. Just for instance.
Unless you live outside of the US, where Sunday is the seventh day on the Calendar.
Is Saturday really the seventh day in the US? I was so confused there.
Before Christianity was widespread in the west, a prominent calendar was the Jewish/Semitic calendar. In this calendar, God started creating the Earth on a “Sunday”, this being the first day that God worked. He then worked five more days (Mon-Fri) and then rested on the seventh day (Saturday).
“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Exodus 20: 8-10.
In Israel, they still follow this calendar (along with the Gregorian one) and some people will treat Sunday as a normal working day.
With the death of Jesus and the rise of Christianity, some dude (Ignatius of Antioch) decided that Sunday should also be a day away from work and made this The Lord’s Day. He shares: “And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord’s Day as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days.”
Edit: well nobody has answered but I’m pretty sure there are a lot of SDA. Their doctrine states that they cannot drink alcohol (or smoke obviously) and it recommends not eating meat. So fast food and all the processed meat is out the window. So that probably helps.
I know of a few families that have moved to the region to receive treatment from Loma Linda hospital or else they refuse to leave the area.
Of course, these are extremely ill people who are still likely to die before one hundred.
My best friend’s dad was supposed to die 15 years ago, then again 9 years ago. Loma Linda Hospital performed an experimental surgery the first time, and the second time responded quickly and effectively to him bleeding out.
And just 5 minutes north is San Bernardino.
Where very few make it to 60, let alone 100.
I live like 20 mins from Loma Linda.
Let’s all move there and live.
I wish the fact that being born in Loma Linda would allow me to at least get a few more years in life. Actually, it probably does. Maybe we should study it and compare it with other cities.
Start with Andorra,
Andorrans long lived people Why? – Bing video
Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a sovereign landlocked microstate on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees, bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south. Aw, that’s not fair, Andorra is the one closest to having a life expectancy in the negatives. … somehow.
Nicoya in Costa Rica doesn’t surprise me, every old person in the beach area around there is really old. If you don’t die when you’re 40 you’re living until you’re like 120.
Are there any commonalities between these places?
Less smoking
Family ahead of other concerns
semi-vegetarianism (except Sardinia)
constant moderate physical activity
social engagement
legumes common in diet
Personal gardening. If you want to live to be really old you don’t want to engage in truly strenuous exercise like many sports that will cause your joints to break decades before you turn 100. What you want is constant low impact moderate exercise. Gardening is near perfect exercise and results in you eating a lot of fresh healthy food.
They are not contaminated by Tiberium – Search (bing.com)
I read somewhere that in these locations it’s common that people live to over 100 years old. IMHO “in my honest opinion” or “in my humble opinion.” this could have something to do with it.
Yes. And if you read the article, it lists them.
It’s a diet thing, eating meat about once a week, lots of healthy fats and not too much alcohol drinking. Adopting this kind of lifestyle won’t guarantee you live to 100, but it
will dramatically increase your chances
Honestly, I have such a small budget that is my diet.
Edit: The average person also gets decent amounts of exercise and has very little stress. And people don’t smoke
They do not eat a lot of meat.
They worked for an average of 47 years (18 to 65) and are drawing an average of 35 years old age benefits ?
Check out this handy dandy infographic.
Less McDonald’s
Olive Oil probably
Shoreline access. lack of harsh winter (except for Japan I believe)
Tons of Seventh-Day Adventists in Loma Linda….
IIRC that’s specifically the group he studied.
There was a great National Geographic issue about this a few years ago. Great stuff.
What is this?
I guess Cali declaring everything as a cancer causing chemical isn’t BS after all…
I highly recommend The fountain of youth episode of the Ted talk podcast discusses this.
So… live on the beach, lead a low-stress life. Cool, all we have to do is just achieve the exact same goal we already strive for. Really though, I’m very happy for all these lucky old folks!!!
For some reason I am surprised to see California there.
I probably live in the opposite of a blue zone.
Currently in Okinawa and it’s so weird seeing so many old people just…living and doing normal things. I drove through Loma Linda on my way back from snowboarding one year. The Dennys we went to ran out of ketchup. Not related but I don’t like Loma Linda or Dennys anymore. No Denny’s in Loma Linda. You must have gone to one of them in Colton or Redlands.
I’m not surprised they live as long as they do.
They simply just don’t eat the same crap we do.
But you aren’t living until you can eat an entire large pizza in one sitting.
How about Low alcohol intake?
Not in Ikaria. The people of that island are known for their raucous festivals and heavy drinking. They smoke like chimneys too. I watched a video of Ikaria once, apparently one of the reasons they live so long is that they have a spoonful of honey every day for spiritual. Their honey prevents cancer apparently. Ikaria honey where to buy – Search (bing.com)
Icarus thought he could fly close to the sun until the wax that held his feathered harness melted and he dropped below to what is known today as Ikaria Greece. Maybe Moses was onto something when he claimed respect for elders would lead to longevity: These blue zones all contain strong family and community ties as part of their lifestyle.
Source: Am I Icarian-American – Search (bing.com)
I spent a lot of time in Ishigaki (one of the southernmost of the Okinawa islands)
when I lived in Japan, and the people are amazingly healthy. Even their sugar
(Kokuto) – Search (bing.com) is healthy…it actually prevents cavities o_O
I saw friends’ grandparents, who were well into their 80s, climbing trees and moving with the ability of a person half their age. They looked about 60 too (though the looks kind of go downhill once they hit ~100).
Can confirm. Grandmother lived and was born in Okinawa for 50 years.
Moved to Hawaii and is 89 playing golf and driving around all normal and shit.
Father was born there and lived there 35 years, now has to take TONS of medication due to car accident and is living 15 years PAST the deadline that physicians had expected still.
My great grandmother just passed away a couple days ago at the age of 105. She lived her entire life on a farm in Pebble City, Georgia. Up until the day she died, she’d get up every morning and feed the cats and make breakfast. If she hadn’t lived so far out, I don’t think she would have lived past 90
Actually Okinawa is no longer the haven of longevity after 1945 when Americans conquered the island. Okinawans nowadays are well-known as steak, spam and Vienna sausage lovers. Because so many Okinawans were killed in 1945 as cannon fodder and laborers, the real ‘longer-living’ Okinawans are only found in the more remote islands which Americans left alone. The study is from 2009, I doubt he used data before 1945.
Loma Linda is home to arguably the best cancer research hospital in the western USA.
I’m assuming that is a huge factor. LLUMC in tha house. Woo! I know that acronym!
The hospital has a good reputation and if your kid gets sick in the IE that’s where you go.
I went to high school in Lancaster which is not too far away from Palmdale.
I live in CA and figure I’d live a good, long life. I was doing fantastic up until recently.
I came into this thread and started reading the comments and they gave me cancer.
Basically, eating meat decreases your life expectancy.
Heart disease is the #1 cause of death in the US. It beats all cancers combined…
There are thousands of states/regions in the world. Some of them have to be above average, right? Just with a random distribution, you will get a few extremes. I looked at Loma Linda and it’s a tiny place with 23,853 residents. Out of 1000s of little cities in the USA, I’m surprised that there is only 1 where people average out to over 100 years old…
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