Why People in “Blue Zones” Live Longer Than the Rest of the World

There is a connection between living healthily in our youth and our agility as older people with lesser dreadful diseases associated with old age. These chronic diseases often prevent older people from enjoying their old age to the fullest, leading to death in some cases, contributing to the world life expectancy of 70 years for men and 74 years for women. Interestingly, there are some places where old age is not a barrier to enjoying life, and people there grow more aged than 90 years and 100 years while being agile at those ages. Notable, isn’t it? 

These areas where people live longer than usual are called Blue Zones and only a few locations have been discovered. The zones are places that we might have heard of but glossed over. In this post, the Blue Zones would be analyzed briefly, and provide reasons for why they may be living for so long. 

Blue Zone Explained

Blue Zones is the alias given to specific places in the world that house some of the world’s oldest people. The term came about by the author of the Blue Zones book, Dan Buettner, who, with his colleagues when researching for the areas for people who lived extraordinarily long lives, drew blue circles on their locations on the map. The Blue Zones discovered by Dan Buettner are:

Icaria Island in Greece: The beautiful island is known for its sumptuous olive oil diet, exquisite red wine, and homegrown veggies. 

Okinawa in Japan: It is home to the oldest women globally. Their diet consists majorly of soy foods. These women love to meditate by practicing tai chi. 

The Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica: This Blue Zone is a place that has both older men and women. Their diet is majorly around bean and corn tortillas. The older people here are notorious for their strength and resilience as they participate in physical jobs right into their old age. 

The Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda, California, United States of America: This place has many religious people, both young and old, and have a communal way of life. 

Ogliastra, Sardinia in Italy: The place houses some of the world’s oldest men who love to farm and drink red wine. 

Why People In “Blue Zones” Live Longer Than the Rest of the World

Expert essay writers often joke that the older people in the Blue Zone have found the tools for longevity. These tools for longevity are what we all know and what our doctors have preached to us to try to achieve during our visits. The older people of the Blue Zone live longer than usual as they do the following religiously: maintain a healthy diet, sleep very well, exercise a lot, consume lower quantities of alcohol, and limit caloric intake.

1. They Maintain a Healthy Diet

The Blue Zone people consume a vegetable-based diet essentially, but they aren’t vegetarians per se. Some studies point out that red meat and processed meat have chemicals that can cause cancer. The diet of the Blue Zone people significantly reduces their chances of getting cancer and other diseases such as heart diseases. The Blue Zone people, as stated earlier, consume vegetables. Vegetables are rich in dietary fiber, minerals, and vitamins. They also consume legumes rich in dietary fiber and protein and have also been linked with longer life. They love eating whole grains and nuts rich in protein and unsaturated fats. 

Their vegetable-based diet’s combined effect is that they live long, have a reduced risk of heart diseases, etc. 

2. They sleep very well

The Blue Zone people don’t have to deal with city life’s stress, which involves waking up very early in the morning and scrambling for office. Sleep deprivation can cause serious harm to the body by putting a strain on the heart, increased blood pressure, kidney problems, causing diabetes and stroke. 

The Blue Zone people sleep well at night and even top it off with daytime naps. They allow their body to rest very well and heal properly before exhausting them.  

3. They Exercise a Lot 

People from the Blue Zone do not go to the gym to exercise every day. Their exercise comes through farming or navigating their terrain. For instance, the Ogliastra, Sardinia, Italy, is a mountainous place. 

4. They Consume Less Alcohol

Some of the Blue Zones we covered above drink red wine, which is regarded as the healthiest alcohol, if alcohol should even be considered as being healthy, as it has tremendous amounts of antioxidants in it.  

5. Reduced Caloric Intake

The Blue Zone people have a way of living that requires them to eat little. For instance, Okinawans have a way of life that has them eating and stopping when they are about to the full.