Dietary Secrets for Living Longer

Throughout time, man has spent endless hours searching for the secrets of longevity.  Well the search is over.  Thanks to Dan Buettner, a group of longevity researchers and National Geographic, we now have some answers.  This group charged themselves to identify select areas in the world where the local population lived substantially longer than the general population. To this end, they identified five regions, where not only did the locals exceeded the age of 100 at a rate 10x more than residents in the USA, but also had a better quality of life doing so.  These areas are called the Blue Zones.

So where are these elusive areas located?  You can find them in Greece, Sardinia, Costa Rica, Japan and even in the United States. Yup, the good old US of A.  The Seven Day Adventists in Loma Linda, CA are one of the Blue Zone communities.

What’s so special about a Blue Zone diet?  Here is a list of commonalities that each of these communities share:

1. They eat a mostly plant-based diet; beans and legumes are favorites.
2. They eat animal protein (mostly fish, goat or lamb) about once/week.
3. They drink wine in moderation. Up to 2 glasses/day.
4. They choose local, real food ingredients.
5. They eat very little, if any, processed sugar.
6. They stop eating when they are 80% full.

Diet alone does not guarantee a free pass to becoming a centenarian however.  Other factors matter too.  These include regular routine activity, a family focused commitment, awareness of stressors and how to alleviate them, a strong social network and belonging to/engaging in a spiritual community.  Additionally, they each have a strong sense of purpose.  My Reclaim Your Health Program leads you through the process of how to make these lifestyle changes.

The Blue Zones, as well as other studies, prove that lifestyle choices trump medications to prevent and reverse chronic diseases.  Yet knowing the answers doesn’t always guarantee success.  For example, most of us know that diet and exercise are important components of our health.  In fact, some statistics show that almost 80% of our health is determined by lifestyle and environmental factors.  Yet, we currently spend over a trillion dollars on the care of the above-named chronic diseases and have a population where over 66% of adults are overweight or obese.  What’s the solution?

Dan Buettner suggests the answers lie in changing our systems which would make our communities supportive of healthier choices.  This is true, but I believe the change in our systems can and must start from the bottom.  Individuals learning and then teaching and supporting other to help create healthy communities.  Be the individual.  It would be my honor to be the teacher.