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It’s a shade that inspires tranquillity in the psyche, while communicating trustworthiness in business – which is why so many companies select it for their marketing collateral. but what does ‘blue’ mean when it comes to health and longevity?
Although not strictly a scientific term, a ‘blue zone’ still carries much weight among gerontologists because it describes the rare geographic regions where residents reach over 90, even over 100, years of age. For some health-conscious individuals, it’s a whole new concept to add to the likes of a healthy diet, frequent physical activity, hygienic living conditions, and easy access to reputable healthcare.
According to the University of Florida’s Department of Physiology and Ageing, which offers online graduate programmes in innovative ageing studies, genetics only accounts for ‘20–30% of someone’s expected lifespan’, with the effect of genes on longevity only becoming pronounced at about the age of 60 — whereas ‘environmental and lifestyle factors play a much more critical role’ when people are younger.
Further, the Lancet article, ‘Crucial factors affecting longevity’, emphasises the toxic consequences of ‘a high consumption of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco’ on the health status of all age groups, and hence significantly affects how long an individual partaking regularly in such vices may live.
BLUE CIRCLES ON A MAP
But then we come to the work of Dan Buettner, a speaker, best-selling author, and ‘blue zones’ expert, who coined the term while studying five specific areas in the world in which people appear to live exceptionally long lives. Buettner and his colleagues apparently drew blue circles around these zones on a map during their research, and the name stuck!
Healthline lists the world’s five best-known blue zones as follows:
- the island of Icaria (Greece), where a Mediterranean diet (olive oil, red wine, homegrown vegetables) is abundantly consumed;
- Loma Linda, California (USA), where highly religious Seventh Day Adventists consume a strictly vegetarian diet within their tight-knit communities;
- Nicoya Peninsula (Republic of Costa Rica), where a combination of a heightened sense of life’s purpose called plan de vida and a diet based on beans and corn tortillas sees residents performing physical jobs into old age;
- the mountainous Ogliastra region of Sardinia (Italy), where residents do farm work and are known to enjoy their red wine; and
- the small and sparsely populated island of Okinawa (Japan), where a soy-based diet is consumed and residents follow the meditative practice of tai chi.
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SHARED CHARACTERISTICS
For South Africans wanting to tap into a long life well lived, it appears important to incorporate these ‘blue zone’ features into your daily life: consume a predominantly pesticide-free plant-based diet (the specifics are less important than the extent to which red meat is considered a rare treat); exercise daily, while avoiding stress as far as possible; drink moderate amounts of alcohol (particularly red wine, for the antioxidants which appear to limit age-related DNA damage); get sufficent sleep (generally as much as your body tells you to each night, with short naps in between); and cultivate strong spiritual, family, and social networks (that is attending church for its depression-lowering ability, maintaining key friendships, and caring for grandchildren and the wider community for the sense of purpose these activities instill).
But there’s more, suggests an article for FirstRand employees, entitled ‘The Blue Zone Phenomenon’. Because such a high percentage of deaths (consistently above 85%, year on year) in the country result from natural causes (see box below), it should be possible to extend the average lifespan of most South Africans without medical intervention, from the 60s (between 60 and 67, to be exact), by a decade or even two — simply by improving lifestyle with ‘exercise, meaningful social interactions, and dietary changes’.
To reach that century and beyond, however, may require a greater and more intense combination of ‘blue zone’ peculiarities, which it can be tricky to get a handle on — unless you have more time, less pressure, and significantly more mountain air, or island-style living, at your disposal.
This news piece was brought to you by Medihelp
