Hello Warriors, hope you are well! Have you heard of the Blue Zones? Even if you aren’t familiar with the exact term, I can bet you have at least an inkling about them. But, I’ll get to that in a minute. Today I want to chat about the Blue Zones and what they can teach us about healthy living.
So, how do I know you probably have some latent knowledge of the Blue Zones? Because it is a pretty sure bet that you’ve heard of the Mediterranean Diet. Nutrition science brought us that gem because two of the five Blue Zones are located in the Mediterranean region.
Blue Zones are five areas in the world where the population not only lives a much longer life on average, but also enjoys a happy and relatively disease free life. The Blue Zones got their name because when researchers were first looking at data, they drew blue circles around them on maps. The five Blue Zones are Sardinia, Italy; Icaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; and the Seventh Day Adventists in Loma Linda, California.
In these areas of the world, people are more likely to live to 100, have the lowest mid life mortality rates, and the lowest rates of heart disease, cancer, and dementia. Additionally, residents of these areas self report lower incidence of depression and anxiety, and higher incidence of social support and happiness.
And since I doubt there are many who wouldn’t want to live longer or better, science has tried to figure out why these five areas of the world seem to have the answers. Which brings us back to the Mediterranean Diet. With areas of both Italy and Greece on the list, you can see why olive oil, fish, and veggies gets so much love. It has to be what they are eating!
While consumption gets the bulk of attention, it is after all easy to measure, boil down, and then sell to others, there are eight other variables that research teams have noted as important. These variables are referred to as the Power 9. Not every Blue Zone ascribes to all of the Power 9, but the exceptions are pretty few and far between.
For example, on the diet end of the spectrum you can also find the 80% Rule and Wine at 5 (obviously the Adventists abstain here). Moderate alcohol consumption, with food and ideally friends and family, is linked to longevity. How many of us miss the “with food” part of that equation? And the 80% Rule, followed by just about all the communities, means stopping at 80% full during meals.
But the important point I want to make here, is that while science has been focused on these nutrition related variables and how it can be repackaged, there are other variables that should garner equal attention. Also in the Power 9 are Natural Movement, a Sense of Purpose, Downshifting, a Sense of Belonging, Putting Loved Ones First, and Right Tribe. Feel free to do your own research on these, but I believe that these could be categorized as Mental, Emotional, Spiritual, Social, and Vocational Health.
Yep, the Blue Zone communities haven’t just figured out what to eat for optimal health and longevity. They figured out, before the rest of us, that optimal wellness and happiness occur when attention is paid to all the different Dimensions of Wellness. And when I say that they figured this out, what I should note is that each generation has taught the subsequent generations these values by passing them down. That is something that you can’t get from a cookbook or meditation retreat.
Because living better, not just longer, should be the goal, and because of my love for the Dimensions of Wellness, I am going to take some time this year to talk about each of these in more depth. Once a month, I’ll dedicate a post to a Dimension, break it down (as best I can) and try to pose some questions so we can each figure out the role these play in our own unique lives. Hopefully by the end, each of us will have a clearer idea of who we are, what we can work on, and what we are doing well.
So, I hope you are along for this journey, Warrior, so we can circle our own homes in Blue on Google Maps! Until next time, be well, friends!
