Live Younger, Better
You've come to the best place to track, improve and discuss your healthy lifestyle.- Vitality Compass: find out how long you'll live given your current habits.
- The Power9: the nine common denominators that all of the world's longevity all-stars share.
- Blogs: Daily, practical tips and up-to-the-minute research on health and aging.
- Community: share what you know, connect with others, enhance our discussion.
Blue Zones: Live Longer, Better
Welcome to Blue Zones!
What if I could tell you how to live another 10 years, as well as look younger and feel younger at every age? Something called the Danish Twin Studies established that less than 25% of how long the average person lives is dictated by genes. In other words, most of how long and how well you live is up to you.
The premise of Blue Zones is: identify the optimal lifestyle of longevity and you have a de facto formula of longevity.
What is the optimal lifestyle of longevity? Does it involve diets? supplements? exercise programs? Should you be eating organic, free range chicken or tofu? And what about physical activity? Should you be running marathons or doing yoga?
To answer these questions, I teamed up National Geographic and hired the world's best longevity researchers to identify pockets around the world where people are living MEASURABLY better. In these Blue Zones we found people who reach age 100 at rates 10 times greater than in the United States, where people suffer a fraction of the rate of heart disease and cancer than we do and where people are getting the extra 10 years that we're missing.
Then, we took teams of scientists to each location who know how to identify lifestyle characteristics that may explain longevity. In Sardinia, Italy we found a wine with the world's highest-known levels of antioxidants, and in Ikaria, Greece we discovered ancient herbal teas that lower blood pressure. On the other side of the planet, we found an island where purpose and mutual support networks called Moai explain an extra half dozen years of life. In Nicoya, Costa Rica it's the mesoAmerican diet of beans, squash and a special corn tortilla that is propelling people into their 90's at rates 4 times greater than in the US. Finally, among Loma Linda's Seventh Day Adventists, we found America's longest-lived culture. They're living about an extra decade longer than the rest of us. How? Part of the reason comes from a diet inspired from the Bible. Genesis, Chapter 1, vs 26.
For the first time in living history, life expectancy of our children is projected to drop, as a nation we're getting fatter every year. Diabetes is on the rise. Is this because Americans are less disciplined? Have we undergone a moral degeneration or are we somehow inferior to previous generations? I don't think so. We are products of our environment. Every day, hundreds of marketing messages rinse over our psyches--many of them encouraging us to eat things that aren't good for us. Machines have engineered physical activity out of lives and networked electronics are replacing face-to-face human contact. We live in environments of sickness. The key to getting the extra 10 years we're missing is to follow the lessons from world's longest-lived people and create environments of health.
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How it Works
In my book, The Blue Zones, I reveal the secrets of the Power9: the nine common denominators that all of the world’s longevity all-stars share. Here at BlueZones.com, we've organized these behaviors into four main categories:
Move Naturally – Make your home, community and workplace present you with natural ways to move. Focus on activities you love, like gardening, walking and playing with your family.
Right Outlook – Know and be able to articulate your sense of purpose, and ensure your day is punctuated with periods of calm.
Eat Wisely – Instead of groping from fad diet to fad diets, use time-honored strategies for eating 20% less at meals. Avoid meat and processed food and drink a couple of glasses of wine daily.
Belong to the Right Tribe – Surround yourself with the right people, make the effort to connect or reconnect with your religion and put loved ones first.
This may all sound too simple, but the payoff is huge. The average American could live up to 14 more good years by putting these habits to work.
Get Started Right Now
To help you model your habits after the Blue Zones centenarians, we’ve created several tools, beginning with Vitality Compass
The Vitality Coach® uses the best behavioral science available to guide you in getting the most good years out of life. Six seconds a day for six weeks can add up to four years to your life expectancy, effectively making you biologically younger.
And each day at BlueZones.com, we offer fresh news and articles, digging up the most interesting research and healthy living tips.
To get started, click on the Vitality Compass tab and begin the journey to a younger you today.
Live Large,
Dan Buettner
Blue Zones Founder
If you're happy and you know it
There is a tendency to think of old age as a curse, a time in life when the aches and pains take over. But take heart. Dan Buettner’s experience in the Blue Zones is entirely different. Elderly populations there tend to be happy and well adjusted, as well as being much loved by their families and communities.
The same may be broadly true in America. The April issue of the American Sociological Review has two articles on Blue Zone topics. One study analyzes how connected older Americans are to their communities, and the other looks at American levels of happiness broken down by age and race. The good news is that while older Americans do have smaller social networks than younger people, these ties are robust. The article "The Social Connectedness of Older Adults: A National Profile" shows "that age increases the frequency of socializing with neighbors, religious participation, and volunteering.” So as we age, we tend to keep up these important social connections, and these activities may correlate to the fact that generally we become happier as we age. The one exception seems to be Baby Boomers, who are not as happy as the rest of us. The study notes, “Baby boomer’s unique experiences during early adulthood may have had a lasting impact on their sense of happiness.”
Previous research also has shown that mid-life tends to be the most stressful time, said Cornell University sociologist Elaine Wethington. "Everyone's asking you to do things and you have a lot to do. You're less happy because you feel hassled.”
The lessons from Blue Zones populations are especially important for those of us in midlife as well as underscoring the importance of the aging process. Instead of dreading getting older, look to the lessons from the Blue Zones and current research--The golden years may just come at the end of life.
The Health Foods of Summer
Summer is the best season to get outside, hit the bike trails, and enjoy a glass of sangria at your favorite outdoor cafe. It’s also a great time of year to savor fresh fruits and vegetables. While it’s always smart to indulge in fresh tomatoes and watermelon at the local fruit stand, there are probably a few summertime treats you’re not including in your daily diet. Here are my recommendations. 
Pomegranate Juice
Pomegranate juice is full of antioxidants. But, it also has a rich, syrupy taste that can turn people off, i.e. me. A great way to cut the syrupy taste and keep the health benefits, is to mix a few ounces of pomegranate juice with some sparkling water and a slice of lime. Add vodka to that glass and you’ve got a happy hour worth repeating!
Swiss Chard
Swiss chard tastes an awful lot like spinach and it’s in season from June to August. This long, leafy green, with a spray of red, white and yellow fanning leaves, is a bitter green packed with nutrients. It’s great cooked with a little olive oil and lemon. Swiss chard is fiber rich, and contains nutrients that have been linked with preventing digestive tract cancers. It also contains loads of vitamin A that may reduce your risk for developing cataracts.
Who Needs the Gym? Outdoor Excercise Tips
Global regions where people are living the longest are not close to a 24 Hour Fitness or a YMCA. Centenarians are not marathoners, weight lifters or gym rats. They make moving a part of their daily life by gardening, farming and simply walking. 
People in Los Angeles are canceling gym memberships in record numbers due to current economics and gas prices. All that sunshine doesn’t hurt of course, but gyms, yoga studios and pilates centers are feeling the hurt and loosing members in record numbers. What’s bad for business does not have to be bad for waistlines! Los Angeles residents are hitting the beach, the park, hiking trails, and doing yoga outside, often for free. Don’t live in L.A.? You can still take your workout outside, just check out these outdoor exercise tips.
What’s that I hear? Excuses?
Interested in quitting the gym and hitting the bike trail but worried about seasonal allergies? Learn how to beat allergies and still give up the gym!
Workout Tips
You’re excited. You just bought new jogging shoes and you’re ready to go! Remember to take things slow at first, there are rocks and uneven sidewalks to watch out for. Just like you would indoors, warm up and cool down, and it’s important for joints and ligaments that if you run, jog, or plan on doing lunges or squats that you make time to stretch!
Happy trails to you!
FEATURE: Slow Down, You're Moving Too Fast!
If you don’t take the time to be well, you will have to make the time to be sick.
Sardinians take to the streets for a late afternoon stroll, Nicoyans break from work in the afternoon to relax and spend time with with friends. Last night? My buddies and I played some bar trivia. I know people who sit still when they meditate, and people who get a sublime release from putting on a favorite record and rocking out while doing the dishes. Slowing down is about unwinding, relaxing, and the people who live the longest know how to unwind.
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