The Best Health and Longevity Tips From the Blue Zones

American explorer, longevity researcher, author, and speaker, Dan Buettner, has written several books on the Blue Zones — regions worldwide where people often live to over 100 years old. Buettner developed his “Blue Zone Solution” after researching centenarians in these regions for over a decade. Much of these well-lived people’s secret to longevity comes down to their diets. 

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What are the Blue Zones?

In line with Buettner’s longevity research, the Blue Zones exist in several regions worldwide. He identified the residents in these areas for their penchant for good health and long lives, with specific lifestyle factors contributing to their healthy longevity. The five regions that Buettner noted in his research and subsequent books are:

• Sardinia in Italy: This Blue Zone is Ogliastra, a former Sardinian east coast province known for its mountains. Its population consists mainly of shepherd communities living off a plant-based diet supplemented by some pork and red wine.
• Icaria in Greece: Named after Icarus in Greek Mythology, this island in the Aegean Sea is known as “the island where people forget to die.” It boasts a population where a third of the residents live to over 90 years old. Legend says sickly people move to Icaria and lead long, healthy, fruitful lives. 
• Okinawa in Japan: Five times as many inhabitants reach 100 years old on this Japanese island as anywhere else in the country. If you visit Okinawa, you’ll eat some of the best Blue Zone foods to increase longevity, including fruit and vegetable stir fry and pork varieties served with the signature dish “soba,” a buckwheat noodle dish.
• Nicoya in Costa Rica: Residents of Nicoya have an average lifespan of 85 years, with the majority leading physical work lives into their golden years. Plant-based diets are the norm, and Nicoyans are known for possessing a strong sense of purpose.
• Loma Linda in California: Inhabited mainly by Seventh-Day Adventists, this religious community doesn’t eat meat or sugar. Unlike other Blue Zones, they don’t drink alcohol and also shun tobacco and caffeine.

What is the Blue Zone Solution?

First and foremost, the Blue Zone Solution is more than a diet — it’s a way of life that incorporates dietary habits and eight other lifestyle characteristics to create the right environment for prolonged living. These characteristics, termed the “Power 9” by Buettner, each fall into one of four categories — activity, outlook, diet, and connections.

1. Activity

• Move Naturally — In the Blue Zones, people move around often, almost always on foot. They have a high level of what’s called incidental exercise. They may rest for a short time, but in between, they do daily tasks, including making bread, gardening, and household chores. All the tools they use are manual or hand-operated. You observe them walking everywhere, even when they leave their homes for school, work, or to socialize.

2. Outlook

• Purpose — According to studies that Buettner quotes, if you can understand and articulate your sense of purpose, you have a 15% lower chance of passing away and can live as many as seven years longer. 

• Down Shift — With life comes stress, which doesn’t change in the Blue Zones. The difference is that people practice habits, rituals, and exercises to reduce stress-related inflammation and anxiety. Prayer, happy hours, nap times, and ancestor veneration are all commonplace in the Blue Zones.

3. Diet

• Plant Slant—The best Blue Zone foods to increase longevity are plant-based. According to a Buettner meta-analysis, most 100-year-olds in the regions eat plenty of inexpensive fiber and protein-filled legumes, fruits, vegetables, and other earth-grown derivatives. Blue Zone diets only include minimal dairy products and meat. Older occupants eat plenty of carbs, but in the form of sourdough and whole-grain breads.

• 80% Rule — Blue Zone occupants will likely pray before meals, eat with their families, and take their time over meals. Eating slowly aids your digestion, and consuming foods like legumes and leafy vegetables means their high antioxidants improve your gut health, so you feel fuller while eating less. It’s called the 80% Rule because people in the Blue Zone only eat 80% as much before their brains tell them they’re full.

• Wine at 5 — Most people of age in the Blue Zones enjoy between two and four glasses of alcohol daily (apart from residents of Loma Linda). Past studies confirm that moderate alcohol intake may reduce heart attack risks. The premise is that the consumption raises “good” cholesterol levels and causes the blood to clot less, reducing heart attack rates. However, recent studies include notes of caution. Much of the current research shows no evidence of health benefits from alcohol and instead a health risk from any amount. Those in the Blue Zones may be healthy despite their moderate alcohol intake, not because of it.

4. Connections 

• Right Tribe — Like the proverbial “birds of a feather,” Blue Zone inhabitants find social circles that fit and support generally healthy behavior patterns. According to Buettner, these social circles cause the associated healthy habits to become contagious. 

• Loved Ones First — The older Blue Zone residents prioritize their loved ones, working hard to support and have strong relationships with their immediate families. The other family members often draw on the experience and wisdom of their elders to learn and progress in similar ways in life.

• Belong — Buettner’s research indicates that Blue Zone community members who attend faith-based services may live 4 to 14 years longer than their non-practicing counterparts. He prescribes this to their sense of belonging within a faith-based community setting. 

These “Power 9” characteristics form the foundation of the Blue Zone Solution, of which diet connects to only three. You can apply these characteristics to your life and control your environment wherever you live. Like the others, your diet and the way you eat are essential parts if you look to extend your lifespan. 

What are the best Blue Zone foods to increase your longevity?

Although it’s not specifically a diet, Blue Zone foods follow a largely Mediterranean style of eating, which focuses on:

• Plant-based foods: Beans and other legumes provide folate, magnesium, and iron. They also have plenty of antioxidants and vital minerals. These incredible healthy eating ingredients can reduce blood pressure, cholesterol, and coronary heart disease. Along with fruits and vegetables, nuts, grains, seeds, and other whole foods are regular ingredients. Consider the delicious recipes you can make with Blue Zone foods.
• Healthy fats: Instead of using trans and saturated fats, Blue Zone meals provide healthy fats from sources like seeds, nuts, and olive oil.
• Minimal animal protein: Protein is part of mealtimes, but the amount varies to the odd portion of fish or lean pork, if these are eaten at all.
• Low sugar: Sugar content usually comes from fruits, while residents generally ignore processed foods and other sugars.
• Water, tea, and coffee: Blue Zone occupants drink much more water than anything else, although the occasional cup of tea or coffee may bring a little variety. The exception is in Loma Linda, where residents shun coffee and any teas containing caffeine.
• Alcohol: Alcohol, especially red wine, is a frequent part of Blue Zone diets. People in the regions enjoy moderate amounts daily. Again, because of their religious beliefs, Loma Linda’s Adventists don’t partake in any alcohol whatsoever. 

Remember, food in the Blue Zones takes a while to eat. As part of the 80% Rule, diners allow time for their food to digest when eating, so they don’t eat as much. The largest meals normally happen at breakfast, with smaller lunches and dinners quelling potential hunger later in the day. 

There is much you can do to adhere to the Blue Zone way of eating — whether you enjoy a hearty bowl of steaming lentil soup or cool gazpacho, or use a pork belly portion with whole wheat pasta. In these ways, you can utilize the best Blue Zone foods and help increase your longevity.

Take a page from the Blue Zones book and increase your chances of living to a healthy age

Dan Buettner’s revolutionary longevity research is enough to make you think. So many of the “Power 9” characteristics he mentions make sense for improving and advancing your life. If it works for the people in the Blue Zone regions, perhaps it’s worth creating a lifestyle and environment based on the principles mentioned.   

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