Blue Zones: Red Hot Tips for Living Longer

Marilynn Preston

Living longer has fascinated humans for the longest time. Just think of all the myths, legends and TV diets that have held our interest over the years, all promising to reveal — finally! — the secret to a longer life.

But what if longer isn't better? Forget that for now. Let's focus on longevity — thriving into your 80s, 90s, 100s. What have the longevity scientists recently discovered that the rest of us don't know?

"Most of us have more control over how long we live than we think," writes longevity expert Dan Buettner, author of a fascinating book called "The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest." (National Geographic; www.bluezones.com).

"The brutal reality about aging is that it has only an accelerator pedal. The name of the game is to keep from pushing the accelerator pedal so hard that we speed up the aging process. The average American, however, by living a fast and furious lifestyle, pushes that accelerator too hard and too much."

The premise of his best-selling book is simple and profound:" If you can optimize your lifestyle, you may gain back an extra decade of good life you'd otherwise miss."

And the best way to optimize your lifestyle?

Ahhh . . . now we can begin.

Backed by National Geographic, Buettner and his team of demographers, medical scientists and journalists traveled to the Blue Zones — "four of the healthiest corners of the globe" — to places where people enjoy up to a three times better chance of reaching 100 than we Americans do.

The four Blue Zones in his book are in Sardinia, Okinawa, Costa Rica and the Seventh-day Adventist community in Loma Linda, Calif.

"In each of the Blue Zones," Buettner writes, "we used a survey developed in collaboration with the National Institutes on Aging to identify the lifestyle components that help explain the area's longevity — what the inhabitants choose to eat, how much physical activity they get, how they socialize, what traditional medicines they use, and so forth. ... We looked for the common denominators —the practices found in all four populations."

"The Blue Zones yielded nine powerful lessons to achieve a longer, better life," writes Buettner. I won't keep you waiting a moment longer:

LESSON ONE: MOVE NATURALLY: Be active without having to think about it.

"Longevity all stars don't run marathons or compete in triathlons; they don't transform themselves into weekend warriors on Saturday morning. Instead they engage in regular, low-intensity physical activity, often as part of a daily work routine." Take nature walks. Plant gardens. If you're Sardinian, tend to the sheep. Yoga is ideal, and the overall goal is to get into the habit of doing at least 30 minutes of physical activity at least five times a week. Sixty minutes or more is even better.

LESSON TWO: HARA HACHI BU: Painlessly cut calories by 20 percent.

In Okinawa, the elders say a little mantra before they eat: "Hara hachi bu." It's a Confusian-inspired adage that means "Eat until you are 80 percent full." Americans, by and large — very large in some cases — tend to indulge in mindless eating and keep eating until their stomachs are full. We can retrain ourselves to sense when we are full, and stop short of that. Some strategies for following the Hara hachi bu 80 percent rule include serving smaller portions; putting the rest of the food away before eating; eating on smaller plates; drinking from tall, narrow glasses.

LESSON THREE: PLANT SLANT: Avoid meat and processed food.

Processed food is the enemy of long living. "Beans, whole grains and garden vegetables are the cornerstones of all these longevity diets." Sure, some of the long-lived Okinawans and Sardinians eat meat — mostly pork — but for the most part, meat is only eaten a few times a month and in the case of the strictest Adventists, not at all. Nuts are one of the most impressive of the longevity foods. The key is to eat modest amounts of real food, balancing calories between complex carbs, fats and proteins.

How many times do we have to keep learning that lesson?

NEXT WEEK: Six more lessons to help you living longer and better.

ENERGY EXPRESS-O! TAKE A PILL AND LIVE LONGER!

"A good start to adding more good years to your life would be to get rid of the anti-aging quackery . . . These guys are just trying to sell you stuff." — Tom Perls, M.D.

Marilynn Preston — fitness expert, personal trainer and speaker on healthy lifestyle issues — is the creator of Energy Express, the longest-running syndicated fitness column in the country. She has a website, http://marilynnpreston.com, and welcomes reader questions, which can be sent to MyEnergyExpress@aol.com. To find out more about Preston and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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