Okinawa, Sardinia, Ikaria, Nicoya, Loma Linda: five places with strikingly many centenarians. What they have in common, what of it is myth and which nine habits can be adopted anywhere.
In short
- Five regions with many centenarians share nine habits, from everyday movement to close communities.
- None of the regions has a gym, a diet or supplements; all have beans, hills and neighbors.
- Part of the data is disputed because birth registers are patchy; the habits are well documented nonetheless.
- Transferable are a diet with legumes, movement in daily life, purpose, rest and social networks.
The five regions
Okinawa in Japan, the mountains of Sardinia, the island of Ikaria in Greece, the Nicoya peninsula in Costa Rica and the city of Loma Linda in California, home to Seventh-day Adventists: in these five regions strikingly many people pass ninety and one hundred in good health. The term Blue Zones comes from demographers who marked the regions in blue on a map, and it became known through the journalist Dan Buettner.
Nine shared habits
First, movement that does not count as sport: gardens, hills, walking, housework without machines. Second, a reason to get up in the morning, ikigai on Okinawa, plan de vida in Nicoya. Third, rituals against stress: the midday nap on Ikaria, prayer in Loma Linda, happy hour on Sardinia. Fourth, the 80 percent rule: stop before you are full, and the smallest meal in the evening. Fifth, plants at the center, beans as the base, meat five times a month. Sixth, wine in small amounts with food, except in Loma Linda where nobody drinks. Seventh, belonging to a faith or values community. Eighth, family first: grandparents nearby, partners for life, children with duties. Ninth, the right circle: friends whose habits are healthy, because behavior is contagious.
What of it is myth
Critics point out that in some regions birth registers are patchy and age claims may be exaggerated; for Okinawa and Sardinia that debate exists. It changes nothing about the habits, because those have been studied independently of the age statistics: the Adventists in Loma Linda live seven to ten years longer than other Californians according to prospective studies, and the ingredients are the same as everywhere in the Blue Zones.
What can be transferred
Beans, lentils and chickpeas three times a week. A dinner smaller than lunch. Walking, stairs instead of elevators, a garden or a balcony with work. A fixed group of people you meet weekly. A break in the day when nothing happens. And the honest question of what you get up for.
What cannot be transferred
The climate, the landscape, the isolation and the genetics. And the poverty that provided the movement in many Blue Zones. Whoever lives in Chicago has to build the hills and the beans in deliberately; the Ikarians simply have them.
Try it
Longevity ScoreTwelve questions about sleep, movement, food, stress and habits: your estimated biological age and the three levers with the biggest effect.Protein CalculatorWeight, goal and activity: how much protein you need a day, how to spread it across meals and where it comes from.Stress CheckTen questions about sleep, irritability, recovery and drive: your stress score with classification and three concrete countermeasures.Frequently asked questions
Are there Blue Zones in North America or Europe?
Loma Linda in California is one. Beyond that there are regions with high life expectancy, such as parts of Switzerland, the Nordic countries or the Colorado front range. The patterns resemble each other: wealth, movement outdoors, social networks, screening.
Are all Blue Zones vegetarian?
No. Sardinia and Ikaria eat meat, but rarely; Okinawa eats pork at festivals. Loma Linda is mostly vegetarian. What they share is the low share, not the abstinence.
Is wine part of the recipe?
In four of five zones people drink small amounts with food and in company. The fifth, Loma Linda, drinks nothing at all and lives just as long. So alcohol is not an ingredient you need.
This article is general information and not medical advice. If you have symptoms or existing conditions, or before changing any medication, talk to your doctor.
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