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Let’s face it, it’s never easy to decide where to live, and sometimes it’s not even a choice.
With various economic limitations on top of other factors like family, occupation and more, people often have their home locations set in place for them. Things have become even trickier since Gianni Pes, an expert in experimental medicine, and Michel Poulain, an expert in migration statistics and longevity studies, identified Sardinia, Italy as the region with the highest concentration of male centenarians.
Centenarians are people who have lived for 100 years or longer, which is very rare with Americans only having a life expectancy of about 77.5 years, according to a 2022 CDC study. The experts placed blue dots where the concentration of centenarians was highest, which were eventually dubbed as “Blue Zones” by Dan Buettner, a National Geographic Explorer.
Buettner coined the idea of “Blue Zones” and identified more locations where people live longer and are healthier compared to the rest of the world. He also wrote several books about them and explored “Blue Zone” locations in the Netflix documentary “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones.”
However, for Buettner, it’s not just about the locations, it’s also about the lifestyles of the people that live in these exceptional regions.
Here’s what experts have to say about “Blue Zones” along with all of the regions they’re in.
People are trying to live longer
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As many of us try to boost our life expectancies, experts continue to assert that our lifestyle choices are some of the most important indicators of longevity. Healthy habits may slow aging at the cellular level. This means that people that stay active, keep a mostly healthy diet, avoid smoking and vaping, take care of their mental and physical health and get enough quality sleep are more likely to live longer.
Beneficial lifestyle decisions can even reduce the risk of developing chronic conditions and other illnesses that can impact lifespan. While some ailments can’t be helped, how we live can make them more manageable.
The bottom line is: how you live can be more key than where you live, with some exceptions.
Environment impacts life expectancy
Many people, often the most marginalized communities experiencing poverty and/or environmental racism, live in regions that are right next to toxic refineries, landfills, chemical plants, food deserts, and other hazards that give them higher rates of illness.
A 2019 study from the State of Global Air said, “Many factors can lead to poor health and can reduce life expectancy; air pollution is one of them.”
“Currently, air pollution is the 4th leading cause of death globally, accounting for nearly 7 million deaths,” the global study added.
While lifestyle choices can give us a better chance at a long life, where we live can shape how long we live in some cases. Not everyone has access to healthy lifestyles or locations.
blue zones are exceptions to the norm
The 2023 Netflix documentary series “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones” invites people to follow Buettner to five special regions where people live longer than anywhere else.
The “Blue Zones” that he visits include:
- Okinawa, Japan
- Ikaria, Greece
- Sardinia, Italy
- Nicoya, Costa Rica
- Loma Linda, California
Blue Zone lifestyles have a lot in common
While the regions identified as “Blue Zones” are all over the world, they have commonalities that are directly linked to their longevity.
“The habits, diets, and lifestyles of blue zone centenarians are simple, but they have the ability to change everything” Buettner told Netflix.
So, there’s no need to drop everything and immediately move to one of these places, but taking some notes from their lifestyle choices is recommended.
The diets in “Blue Zones” are mostly plant-based with lots of beans and whole grains. They also fast regularly while limiting calories and getting daily exercise. Additionally, “Blue Zone” communities have strong communities with close family ties and some form of regular religious practice.
People in blue Zones live over 100 years
People in “Blue Zones” consistently live for 100 years or longer, which is 10 times higher than in the United States.
According to the National Library of Medicine, each “Blue Zone” location has been studied by “anthropologists, demographers, epidemiologists, and researchers to identify the lifestyle characteristics that might explain longevity.”
Health Experts are trying to make everywhere a “Blue Zone”
The Blue Zones Project by the digital health company Sharecare, inspired by Buettner’s work, is a self-described “community-led well-being improvement initiative designed to make healthy choices easier through permanent changes to a city’s environment, policy, and social networks.”
They believe that everyone, no matter where they live, should have the access and education to understand how to live longer. They work to build community networks based on “Blue Zone” location lifestyles. However, they also realize that in order to achieve what the centenarians have, policy change is necessary to support those in the most historically ignored areas.
“Progress becomes apparent in the community surroundings—at the individual and neighborhood level—ultimately creating a healthier culture in your city, which further grows support and enhances results,” the Blue Zones website writes.
While there’s no guarantee to gaining a longer healthier life, “Blue Zones” may change the way many of us look at the human lifespan.
