What the Blue Zones teach us about living a longer, healthier life

Originally published in 2008, author and National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner’s book on the Blue Zones has become popular again thanks to a new Netflix documentary featuring actor Zac Efron. 

And while we’re often talking about research on specific diets for weight loss and disease prevention, the Blue Zone book and ongoing research is looking to discover clues on how to live an overall longer, happier, and healthier life. 

Whether you’ve watched the documentary and have more questions, or are hearing about Blue Zones for the first time, let’s take a look at what the Blue Zones are and what they can teach us about lifelong health. 

What are Blue Zones?

The discovery of Blue Zones first started in the early 2000’s when a Belgian deographer Michel Poulain and an Italian doctor Gianni Pes, noticed a large clustering of centenarians — individuals who live to be at least 100 years old — in an area of Sardinia, Italy. 

Using a blue pen (hence the term “blue zones”), Poulain and Pes began noting down these clusters of centenarians around Sardinia. 

A few years later as part of a National Geographic expedition, Buettner along with scientists and anthropologists set out to study other areas around the world that have a similar trend of large clusters of individuals living to be 100. 

Along the way, Buettner and his team discovered five areas, now known as Blue Zones: 

• Okinawa, Japan
• Sardinia, Italy
• Nicoya, Costa Rica
• Icaria, Greece
• Loma Linda, California

While in the U.S. the average life expectancy is 78, in these Blue Zones, a much greater percentage of individuals are living to be 100 or older. 

In fact, Buettner’s team found that those living in Blue Zones are reaching age 100 at 10 times greater rates than those living in the U.S. 

So what do all these areas have in common? Buettner and his team found 9 common characteristics between these populations, which they named the Power 9: 

1. Move naturally.
2. Purpose.
3. Downshift (a.k.a reduce stress)
4. 80% full rule.
5. Plant slant.
6. Moderate wine consumption. 
7. Belong.
8. Loved ones first. 
9. Community. 

Let’s take a look at what each of these mean and how you can apply them to your lifestyle. 

How to apply Blue Zone principles to your lifestyle 

The Power 9 can be condensed into 4 main categories: move naturally, right outlook, eat wisely, and belong. 

1. Move naturally

Whether it’s in the car commuting to and from work, sitting at a desk, or watching TV, many of us spend most of the day sitting.

Sure, we may get a 30 minute run in in the morning or lift weights for 45 minutes, the rest of the day we’re typically sedentary. 

While gyms and running marathons aren’t common in most of the blue zone regions, one thing they all have in common is that the people who live there are active throughout the day. 

This isn’t to say that there’s anything wrong with purposeful workouts — there isn’t — but it does highlight the importance of continuing to move during the day. 

Some ways to get in additional movement include: 

• Walking or biking instead of driving or taking the bus. 
• Gardening. 
• Shoveling snow or mowing the lawn.
• Playing with your pets or kids/grandkids. 
• Cleaning your house or apartment. 
• Taking extra trips to bring the groceries in from the car. 
• Taking the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. 
• Parking further away. 
• Dance breaks during the work day. 
• Going for short walks throughout the day. 

2. Right outlook

This point incompasses points 2 and 3 in the Power 9: purpose and downshifting. 

Purpose

Having a sense of purpose is linked with increased feelings of happiness and may contribute to a longer life.

Another way to think of a sense of purpose is having a motivation that drives you towards your goals, whether they be health, career, or family/relationship-related. 

Some examples of a purpose include: growing your own business, supporting your family, charity work, educating others, working for change in your community, creating music/artwork that brings people happiness or comfort, or taking care of those who need help. 

Don’t know what your purpose is? Spend some time reflecting on what brings you happiness. Another way to define your purpose is to think about how you’d want others to remember you.

Downshifting

We all experience stress. But what individuals have in the Blue Zones are routines to help.

For example, Sardinians enjoy a happy hour most days, Okinawans spend a few minutes each day remembering their ancestors, and Ikarians take frequent naps. 

Stress has been shown to have many negative effects on our mental and physical health. And unlike those who live in the Blue Zones, many of us don’t have ways to relieve this stress on a daily basis. 

As busy and hectic as life can be, taking time each day to unwind can have immediate and long term benefits – the key is just getting into the routine. 

Whether it’s reading, dancing around your house, grabbing coffee with a friend, going for a leisurely walk, practicing yoga, or using a meditation app, try to find at least one stress-relieving activity that you can do each day. 

3. Eat wisely

Eating wisely refers to both the types of foods and the amount that those in the Blue Zones tend to eat. 

80% Rule

Another commonality in these regions is that the people living there don’t regularly overeat. 

In fact, the Okinawans have a rule, “hara hachi bu” which means to stop eating once you’re 80% full.

As a result, they tend to eat fewer calories overall. Compare this many of us in other societies where we often eat until we’re 100%, if not past 100%, full. 

While it can be hard to know what 80% vs. 100% full feels like, aim for feeling satisfied but not stuffed.

Of course, the hard part about listening to hunger cues is that there’s a bit of a delay between when we’ve had enough and our brain telling us that we’ve had enough. 

To help avoid overeating, try practicing mindful eating by eating slower and putting your fork or spoon down between bites, chewing your food (rather than scarfing it down), paying closer attention to how each bite tastes, and waiting 10 to 20 minutes before going back for seconds. 

Another common feature in these areas is that they often eat their smallest meal of the day in the evening. And then once the meal is over, they’re done eating for the rest of the night.

While more research is needed, just as how much you eat affects your weight, when you eat may also be an important factor to consider. 

If you typically eat most of your calories towards the end of the day, try switching your eating habits so that dinner is your smallest meal of the day and breakfast or lunch is your biggest.

After giving this new routine a shot for a few weeks, see if you notice any differences in cravings, appetite, or weight. 

Plant Slant

Keto and paleo diets are trendy in the U.S. for weight loss. However research on the Blue Zones has actually found that centenarians in these regions tend to eat a mostly plant-based diet.

These diets tend to be high in minimally-processed carbs, such as sweet potatoes, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes (like beans and lentils), and even homemade pasta. 

Meat, fish, and poultry are often still eaten. But instead of being the star of the dish, these animal-based proteins are typically consumed infrequently as celebratory foods or in very small portions as more of a garnish or flavoring. 

In fact, one account says that Blue Zone areas typically consume just one, 3 to 4-ounce portion of meat 5 times per month.

Now, before you go out and stock up on pasta, breads, and crackers, note that processed foods are also rarely, if ever, consumed in these areas. 

Instead, the bulk of these diets consist of fruits, vegetables, minimally-processed whole grains, nuts, seeds, and plenty of beans and lentils. 

To put this into practice, you don’t have to go fully vegan or vegetarian. Instead, start by doing 1 or 2 days without meat. And on the days you do eat meat, try to reduce your portion size to just 4 ounces (about the size of a deck of cards). 

And again, make sure that you’re making up for the meat with whole foods, like beans or vegetables, rather than highly-processed ones. 

Moderate Wine Consumption 

Similar to the Mediterranean Diet, studies on the Blue Zones found that individuals in these regions (except for Seventh Day Adventists in Loma Linda, California) often enjoy one to two glasses of red wine per day. 

Just keep in mind that while moderate wine consumption may have some health benefits, excess consumption can negatively affect your health and actually increase your risk for several chronic diseases.

As a reminder, moderate wine consumption means up to 1, 5-ounce glass per day for women and no more than 2, 5-ounce glasses per day for men.

And of course this doesn’t mean that you have to drink every day, or even at all. Many of the antioxidants found in red wine can also be found in other foods like blueberries, pomegranates, and dark chocolate. 

4. Belonging

The final piece of the puzzle is having a sense of belonging, which encompasses the final 3 characteristics. 

Belong 

The majority of centenarians living in the Blue Zones were found to be religious and were active within their faith communities. 

In addition to providing a sense of purpose, this also gives these individuals a sense of community and emotional support, which is beneficial for mental health. 

However, you don’t have to belong to a religion to find this. Any meaningful community in which you feel supported provide you with the emotional benefits of belonging.

Loved ones first

In the Blue Zone regions, families are often quite close – both literally and figuratively. 

Not only do they often live near one another, or even in the same household, but they also prioritize taking care of one another throughout life, all the way from infancy to old age. 

This factor likely also ties into having a sense of purpose, as caring for a loved one can be a very motivating and driving factor. 

The right community 

The final characteristic is finding your right community. 

In addition to providing support, social circles can also have major effects on lifestyle factors.

For example, if your group of friends prioritizes being active and eating healthy, being around this group of people can make it easier for you to also stay active and maintain a nutritious diet. 

In contrast, if your social circle prefers to order pizza and watch TV all the time, it can be hard to stick with your goals and be the odd one out. 

The Framingham Heart Study has suggested that certain lifestyle factors, including smoking, obesity, and happiness spread throughout social circles. 

So, if you want to be healthier, it’s important to surround yourself with individuals who have similar goals and priorities. 

What about genetics? 

There’s no denying that genetics play a role in health. 

From how easily you gain or lose weight, your susceptibility to certain diseases, and even how long you’ll live, research has shown that our genetics can influence our overall health and longevity.

However, that doesn’t mean that lifestyle factors don’t matter.

Observational studies looking at the role of genetics vs. lifestyle in those living to be 100 or older have found that genetics seem to play an important role in your chances of living to be 90 or older. However, up until then, lifestyle factors seem to have a greater influence (1, 2, 3).

Similarly, a study of approximately 123,000 middle aged men and women identified 5 lifestyle factors that were significantly associated with a longer life: 

• 30 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day. 
• Moderate alcohol consumption. 
• High diet quality score. 
• Never-smoker. 
• BMI within the range of 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2. 

Adults who followed all 5 lifestyle factors were found to live 12 to 14 years longer than adults who maintain any of these lifestyle factors. 

So while good genes could help you live to be 100, your lifestyle can help you at least get to 80 or 90 years old.

The bottom line 

Many of the lessons from the Blue Zone regions aren’t things we haven’t heard before: move more, eat well, stress less, and connect with others. 

However, our current lifestyles often make regularly following these guidelines difficult. 

Instead of tackling them all at once, try to pick one or two of these Blue Zone principles and work to incorporate them more regularly into your life. As these new changes become habits, try adding in another. 

Finally, while these changes may not lead to dramatic changes in your weight or happiness overnight, they can build together to create a longer, happier, and healthier life in the long-term.