07/26/14 10:47
Dan Buettner writes for National Geographic, and in his
TED talk, he presents the results of research into Blue Zones. These are parts of the world where the population lives to be much older and healthier than us.
While the average life expectancy for males in the U.S. is 76 years, it is believed we should be able to raise that to 90 years with changes to our lifestyles. Some of the Blue Zones have average life expectancies higher than that.
The first Blue Zone covered in the talk is in the highlands of Sardinia, consisting of a society of shepherds with the oldest male population in the world. They credit their longevity to a mainly plant-based diet, limited alcohol (they drink a unique wine with three times the level of polyphenols), and consistent low-intensity activity.
Next is Okinawa, with the oldest female population. Unique to them is the concept of Moai, which is a group of 5-6 people who travel through life together from birth. This group shares in the hardships and joys of life, and lend an important safety net to each other. Again, the Okinawans adopt a mostly plant based diet, with active lifestyles.
Finally, Dan talks about the Seventh Day Adventist community in southern California. Their members follow a strict lifestyle with a 24 hour sabbath on Saturdays, weekly hikes, and frequent social events.
Common in all the examples is the absence of explicit exercise. Instead the healthy populations keep themselves active doing household or community work. Most have gardens.
Based on their research, Dan offers the following lessons to help live longer:
- Eat a mostly plant-based diet
- Adopt an active lifestyle
- Maintain strong social bonds
While it is impossible to reverse the process of aging (many parts of our body such as brain cells simply don't get replaced), clearly there better ways to live that maximize our lifespans, and some communities have adopted these practices to their best effect.
More
info about Blue Zones here.