To Do: “Live Long and Prosper” with Lessons from The Blue Zones

By now many of the findings from Dan Buettner’s 2008 book The Blue Zones have become best practices for health and wellbeing into advanced old age. Although long-lived people in each of five Blue Zones practice their own traditions, there are commonalities across geographies and cultures, and many lessons we can implement ourselves.

Buettner closes his book with nine lessons, and I’ve added some ideas for ways to adopt them. As always, if you plan to make any dietary or exercise changes, be sure to consult your physician before you begin.

One: Move Naturally

Don't even look for a parking spot! Take the stairs, enjoy a walk every day, make yoga a part of your daily routine.

Two: Reduce Your Caloric Intake (and avoid tricky restrictions)

Stop eating when you feel 80% full. Experiment with intuitive eating to identify when to put down your fork (before you feel uncomfortable). You can divide your plate into sections and store what’s left from large portions for later. This same strategy goes for restaurant servings.

Three: Eat Mostly Plants Reduce or avoid meat consumption and avoid processed foods. Frequent your local farmer’s market. Cook at home. Enjoy a variety of vibrant fruit and vegetables.

Four: Enjoy A Little Red Wine Red wine contains antioxidants (polyphenols) which may help protect the lining of blood vessels in the heart, and may help prevent coronary artery disease, the condition that leads to heart attacks. One serving of wine measures five ounces. (The Mayo Clinic, “Red wine and resveratrol: Good for your heart?”)

Five: Know and Live Your Purpose Craft a mission statement or consider the way you wish to be remembered. Also continue to learn new things, commit to lifetime learning, start a new hobby.

Six: Relieve Stress Every Day Take a media moratorium. Be early for your appointments. Practice mindfulness, meditation and of course, yoga. Take deep breaths. Relax sometimes.

Seven: Belong Find the place “where everybody knows your name.” Find your tribe, your community. Know your traditions and stay active with “your people” on a regular basis.

Eight: Put Family First Call your mother, or your children, or your cousins, or your “found family.” Enough said.

Nine: Surround Yourself with Like-minded People Especially those who share your spirituality and these Blue Zone values so you are fully supported in your journey.

The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest, by Dan Buettner, 2008, National Geographic Society