Dan Buettner is a writer and researcher for National Geographic and has made it his mission to identify the "Blue Zones" on the planet. These "Blue Zones" are places where the happiest and longest living people reside. Two of these featured "Blue Zones" in his Ted Talk are actually islands, Okinawa, Japan and Sardinia, Italy. Dan interviewed, lived with and studied these centennials in order to identify the life style choices that lead to a happy, healthy, long-lived life.
His findings fit into these few categories:
Diet/Exercise
When it came to food, it was no surprise to me that these cultures ate a primarily plant based diet and drank daily, but very little alcohol. Their portion sizes were smaller and controlled. In Okinawa, they consumed much more tofu on a daily basis than the average American. I found it interesting that the cheese that was eaten by the Sardinians was produced by grass fed animals, which is healthier for you than cheese that is produced by corn-fed animals.
As far as exercise goes, these centennials aren't out running marathons or doing Buns of Steel. According to Dan, none of them exercise at all! But they are physically healthy because they have a healthy diet, and low impact exercise is built into their everyday lives. Almost all of the individuals that live in "Blue Zone" locations have gardens. They work in their garden, prepare food by hand and walk everywhere they need to travel. As Dan stated in his talk, "walking is the only proven way to stable off cognitive decline." So not only is walking good for the body, it is also good for the mind. Walking in nature also helps to increase your memory, self-esteem and creativity.
Community
As far as community was concerned, these "Blue Zones" were not comprised of incapable, dependent and lonely elderly people. This was due in part to the fact that in these areas, the elderly were respected and revered as wise and worthwhile human beings. These are family-first societies where people can trust in the support of their family and friend network. This in turn contributes to their overall happiness and positive quality of life. Dan stressed the idea of making sure that you are surrounding yourself with mentally and physically healthy people. The overall happiness of your supporters with often dictate your own happiness.
Spirituality/Personal Purpose
All of these centennials where people who took the time to have quiet relaxation in the form of prayer or meditation throughout their lives. Dan said that even slowing down for 15 mindful minutes per day could drastically effect your physical and mental health. A sense of purpose was an extremely important attribute that these "Blue Zone" people had in mind. Dan relayed in this talk that aside from the first year of life, the second most dangerous year for mortality is the year that a person retires. He said that the most dangerous thing a retiree can do, is not have a sense of purpose or reason to wake up in the morning. For some of these "Blue Zone" elderly it was their sense of purpose came from God, karate, fishing for their family or the joy felt from holding their great-great-great-great granddaughter.
After watching Mr. Buettner's talk, I went to to www.bluezones.com and stumbled upon a "True Happiness" Test. The test took under 10 minutes and the results indicated that as far as "true happiness" goes, my life currently is graded at a "B+." In order to get my grade up to an "A" the website recommend getting a pet, finding a faith, getting out of debt, meditating, hanging out with happy people and seeing more of the sun. I did agree with all of these recommendations. The question now is whether to get a french bulldog which my boyfriend loves, or a Yorkshire terrier which I love. :)
I would definitely recommend checking out Dan Buettner's Ted Talk and the "True Happiness" Test below to find out more information on how you can lead a longer healthier lifestyle. Good luck!
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_buettner_how_to_live_to_be_100.html
http://apps.bluezones.com/happiness/
Photo taken of beautiful St. George, Utah sky. Summer 2012
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