Have you ever heard of “Blue Zones”?
These parts of the world are known for having citizens who live exceptionally long and healthy lives.
Some of these locations may sound familiar:
Okinawa, Japan (home of Mr. Miyagi from Karate Kid!). Sardinia, Italy. Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica. Ikaria, Greece.
These locations have a higher percentage of people living longer due to their local diet, high vegetable consumption, few cases of illness, rich social interactions, low stress and sufficient physical activity.
Books, documentaries and countless news articles have championed these societies, and millions upon millions of health-conscious individuals have modeled their lifestyles after the way these people live.
There just is An problem with this great story.
It’s actually not true.
The first Ig Nobel Prize for demography
Last month Dr. Saul Justin Newman the first “Ig Nobel Prize” for demography.
These prizes are awarded annually for scientific research that ‘makes people laugh and then think’.
For this particular award, Newman was recognized for debunking virtually all the findings of any research regarding the Blue Zones.
This is what Dr. Newman discovered:
“The highest rates of reaching extreme old age are predicted by high poverty, lack of birth certificates and fewer 90-year-olds.
Poverty and the pressure to commit pension fraud turned out to be excellent indicators of reaching age 100 and older in a way that is ‘the opposite of rational expectations.’”
It turns out that most of the “very old, healthy” individuals in these blue zones were simply the result of very poorly kept records, pension fraud and outright lies.
Let’s take a look at what is actually happening in Okinawa:
“Despite vegetables and sweet potatoes being promoted as important components of Okinawan ‘Blue Zone’ diets, according to the Japanese government, Okinawans eat the least vegetables and sweet potatoes in Japan and have the highest body mass index.”
Oooooof. So, what should we do now!?
Beware of anecdotal stories that make dramatic promises
Spend enough time on social media, and you’ll find people telling you how to eat only meat, eliminate carbs completely, how “this one supplement saved their life,” or how doing XYZ cured their disease, and so on.
These anecdotal stories, especially when they have a villain, a victim, and a heroic story of overcoming adversity, are incredibly powerful. They are also often used to sell you a solution in pill or powder form.
The good news is that we have data that is constantly being refined by science.
We don’t Actually We don’t need to know what the people of Okinawa eat, nor do we need to study the daily customs of any particular community in Costa Rica.
Don’t get me wrong, I also love a good, whimsical story about the customs of a faraway land, but it still comes back to reality and science!
And we must remember that we must do what is best for our specific situation. That could include therapyit could include weight loss medicationit may mean just focusing on sleep now!
That is for us to decide, and we can do so with confidence. Not because this is what happens in Costa Rica or Greece, but simply because this is what is best for us.
Here are some ways we can positively influence our longevity and/or health.
Yes, some of these things are part of the “Blue Zone Diet”… just without the sensationalism and pension fraud.
And many of them may be beyond our control!
For example, social determinants of health (financial stability, access to health care, education, our neighborhood) are highly correlated with all-cause mortality, and many of these things may not be available to large segments of the population.
Life is messy
I’m not bringing all this up to tell you to avoid a Blue Zone diet.
You could do a lot worse than follow a Mediterranean diet! Naturally You’ll likely lose weight and feel healthier if you eat mostly fresh fish, whole grains, and vegetables.
I bring all this up to remind you that life is messy.
A long healthy life is a combination of dozens of interconnected things (like those mentioned above), thousands of decisions made throughout our lives, plus things like genetics, society and luck! What works for one person may not work for the next, and there is no one diet that is right for everyone.
We could be hit by a bus tomorrow, be diagnosed with cancer despite ‘doing everything right’, or suffer from a A freak accident that changes everything next week.
So instead of chasing immortality through sensational anecdotes, or getting swept up in the latest social media trend…
We can keep our focus on the things that we are damn sure will make us better off tomorrow than we are today.
Like the things on that list above! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to do some push-ups, eat a vegetable, and take a quick walk while I call a friend.
-Steve
PS A tip for my friend Jodi Ettenberg, whose heartbreakingly powerful story about acceptance I linked above. It was her newsletter that led me to this article!
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