HEALTH
(What are the chances...knew we picked the right color for One Blue Land!)
What better way to show health than by learning from people who reached the age of 100?
Centenarians:
There are 5 places in the world where people are consistently living over the age of 100, named the "Blue Zones" (Buettner & Skemp 2016):
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Loma Linda, CA, USA
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Nicoya, Costa Rica
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Sardinia, Italy
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Ikaria, Greece
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Okinawa, Japan
What do they all have in common?
1. Move Naturally
Live in environments where they move consistently. Gyms not necessary. They do gardening and yard work.
2. Purpose
3. Routines to Lower Stress
Stress is inflammatory. Examples they use to reduce stress include: praying, napping.
4. Eating only up to 80% Full
5. Diet (low protein)
Eating their smallest meal in the late afternoon or early evening, then nothing the rest of the day.
Diets composed of beans, soy, lentils. Meat (mostly pork) eaten only 5x a month. Serving sizes of 3-4 oz only. This is contrary to the popular high protein, low carb diet nowadays!
6. Moderate Wine
7. Faith
1-2 glasses per day with company and/or with food. (No going all-out in 1 day). Moderation!
Belonged to some faith-based community.
8. Family First
Parents and grandparents are nearby or in their homes, committed to a lifelong partner, and children.
9. Social Circles
Friends that commit to each other and that supported healthy behaviors.
For more information, please see the full amazing journal by the authors Buettner and Skemp (2016) below:
Reference:
Buettner, D., & Skemp, S. (2016). Blue Zones: Lessons From the World's Longest Lived. American journal of lifestyle medicine, 10(5), 318–321. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827616637066