Dealing With Stuff
  • Dealing With Stuff
  • About
  • Contact

The Blue Zones

2/5/2016

 
Picture
Dan Buettner is a longevity researcher.  The Blue Zones is a book about areas of the world that have an  unusually high concentration of centenarians, and Buettner’s search for what makes them live so much longer than average.  The book is light-hearted, even funny in places. For instance, an elderly Costa Rican woman describes how she caught a man watching her take a bath, chased him down, and beat him with a stick.  Her age at the time?  Seventy.  The centenarians and super-centenarians (people over 110) come across as lively, friendly people who enjoy their social circles and daily routines.

There are some very intriguing findings from this research.  For one, the Blue Zones appeared across multiple continents.  Out of the five areas studied, two were in North America, two in Europe, and one in Asia.  When the researchers got down to the particulars, there were comparatively few things the various cultures had in common.  I noticed this before, anecdotally, in reading What Makes Olga Run?.  Elderly people in that book attributed their long life to completely different factors and ate completely different foods.  Clearly, there is no one single element of lifestyle that can build a 100-year lifespan.  Just because someone is healthy at a ripe old age does not necessarily mean that person understands why.  That’s where the research comes in.

Buettner identifies nine points that the centenarians of the Blue Zones do have in common.  Only three of them have anything to do with food.  Buettner says he began his research in hope of finding some superfoods that could be made into a supplement.  Most of the longevity factors seem to have more to do with social network, having a purpose in life, being close to family, and having a relaxed, stress-free attitude.  I felt a pang when I kept reading how many of these ancient people had family, friends, and neighbors dropping by the house throughout the day.  They certainly seem to have a better social life than I do!
​
There were, of course, some important lifestyle elements having to do with health and fitness.  None of the centenarians were obese.  None of them had diabetes, heart disease, or dementia.  All of them walked regularly and bustled around doing chores throughout their lives – including heavy labor like chopping firewood.  One woman, in earlier days, would routinely walk an 18-mile round trip to buy salt.  None of them smoked.  They all ate a fairly low-calorie diet based around garden vegetables that they grew and cooked at home.  They ate a traditional diet, not liking modern junk food or soda.  They ate at least two vegetables at every meal.  They ate meat no more than five times a month, in servings of no more than two ounces.  The Okinawan group ate soy every day, and the Costa Rican group ate corn every day, although for skeptics, take note that these were processed at home, not industrially.  The other interesting thing was that, while income wasn’t mentioned, it seems like at least most of the centenarians were financially poor.

One of the factors behind longevity seems to be a belief that one will live to be old.  I always thought I would.  In my family, we seem to live to at least 75, and it seems prudent to me to assume I’ll live at least that long.  That motivates me to save money and take care of myself, especially my teeth!  The elderly folk in The Blue Zones remind me of my own elderly relatives, playing dominoes and poker (cards and Scrabble in our case), laughing and joking.  It takes a picture of extreme old age that includes plenty of friends, plenty of things to do, and the ability to stay healthy and active.  Very old people seem better able to take the hassles of life in stride.  Even if we don’t learn what they do to live so long, we can try to learn from their attitude, one informed by extra decades of experience.


Comments are closed.
    New podcast!
    Clutter of the Day

    Author

    I've been working with chronic disorganization, squalor, and hoarding for over 20 years.  I'm also a marathon runner who was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and thyroid disease 17 years ago.

    I have a BA in History.

    I live in Southern California with my husband and our pets, an African Gray parrot and a rat terrier.

    #Questioner
    #ENTP

    This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies.

    Opt Out of Cookies

    Archives

    January 2022
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015

    Categories

    All
    ADHD
    Birdwatching
    Body Image
    Book Reviews
    Books
    Cleaning
    Clutter
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    COVID 19 Chronicles
    Fibromyalgia
    Filks
    Fitness
    Food
    Future Self
    Futurism
    Goals
    Habits
    Humor
    Languages
    Martial Arts
    Mindset
    Minimalism
    Money
    Motivation
    Movie Reviews
    Moving
    Organization
    Past Self
    Pets
    Preparedness
    Procrastination
    Public Speaking
    Quests
    Relationships
    Resolutions
    Running
    Sleep
    Technology
    The Woo Woo
    The-woowoo
    Thyroid Disease
    Timemanagement
    Time Management
    Tiny Houses
    Travel
    Weight
    Work
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Dealing With Stuff
  • About
  • Contact