Have You Heard of the Blue Zones?
Written by Amber Tannenbaum of Wellcraft Studio.
The concept of Blue Zones, founded by Dan Buettner, started from demographic work by Gianni Pes and Michael Poulain from the Journal of Experimental Gerontology. Through their work, Pes and Poulain discovered Sardinia to have the highest concentration of male centenarians. Dan Buettner built off this research, analyzing more demographic data and interviewing numerous centenarians, to find other longevity regions around the world, and those areas became known as Blue Zones.
In addition to Sardinia, specifically the Barbagia region, the additional Blue Zones include:
The Power 9
Why these places? Spread all over the world, it is clear geography itself does not factor into longevity. So what does? After examining health and lifestyle in each of these regions, the Blue Zones team discovered what has come to be called the Power 9:
Natural Movement
Purpose
Dietary Portion Control
Plant Based Diet
Moderate Alcohol (Wine)
Relaxation
Belonging
Loved Ones
Social Circle
As I understand the Power 9, I have grouped them together into these 4 common areas:
BALANCE
Each Zone has a balance between daily movement and rest. Movement happens through physical labor, manual jobs, housework, growing gardens, and walking places. It is natural movement. Rest happens through the stillness of prayer, meditation, or taking naps. Each Zone knows the importance of having both, as movement and rest are equally important.
DIET
Each Zone eats smaller meals, following the 80% rule (eat until you are 80% full), with their smallest meal in the late afternoon or early evening. Their diets are largely plant based, with beans as a cornerstone. And they have moderate alcohol consumption (wine in the late afternoon) or no alcohol consumption.
PURPOSE
Each Zone has a sense of purpose, and a why for waking up each morning. The Okinawans call it “Ikigai.” The Nicoyans call it “Plan de Vida.” No matter what you call it each Zone knows that having a purpose can add extra years to your life. Each Zone also has some kind of faith-based community that offers a sense of belonging and hope.
CONNECTION
Each Zone puts their family first, often with multiple generations sharing a home. They commit to a partner and create a family. Each Zone also prizes having a supportive social circle, understanding the value in establishing strong social networks.
Obviously diet plays a role in a person’s health, and has an effect on longevity, but it’s not the only factor contributing to the goal of living a long, healthy life. When we look at our health we have to look at the health of every system in our life. That’s called Whole Human Health. Because we humans are the sum of ALL of our parts.