Netflix has a new doc on Blue Zones out this week. For the uninitiated Blue Zones are, in essence, places where life expectancy and quality of life are on a different level. People routinely live over 100 years and additionally stay mentally sharp for the entire ride.
Sounds like great places to live. Blue Zones can be found in Okinawa (Japan), Sardinia (Italy), and Loma Linda, California (cue real estate prices appropriately adjusting).
What specifically is working here? Is everyone crushing HIIT workouts, slamming green drinks, and injecting supplements from the local Pharma lab?
No.
Commonalities
There are commonalities between the various blue zones (despite their geographic distance) that should inform our health more than any instagram influencer. Let’s have a look at a couple.
Diet plays a role
There is an emphasis on home cooked meals, fresh, local ingredients, and plant based recipes. How the food is prepared and consumed is also note worthy. People walk to the local market, chat with clerks, workers, and friends along the way, buy their ingredients for the day (no bulk- sorry Costco fans), walk home, cook it up, enjoy it with loved ones, and stop eating before they’re full. For some Blue Zone recipes check out The Blue Zones American Kitchen. I’m about 10 recipes deep into this book and surprisingly it’s a solid pass for me. I’m not sold that the buffalo chicken cauliflower burritos that utilize an entire stick of butter are helping my longevity.
Outlook
‘Always have fun. Don’t get angry. Have fun with everyone. Make everyone happy.’ suggests Umeto Yamashiro, a centenarian from Okinawa featured in the doc. She’s in the Doc for about 4 minutes and laughs about 100 times.
I try to be this happy, but I also drive in Boston…
Exercise
There’s no emphasis on marathoning, lifting heavy or fancy programming. I would argue that smart, intense workouts early in life position your body for later success, but consistent, moderate intensity activity wins the day for centenarians. Exercise for Blue zoners is simple: from sitting down on the floor and getting back up (Okinawa), or constantly walking up hill (Sardinia). Members of an American Blue Zone population in California swim, play pickle ball and walk to stay fit. Enjoyment and socialization through sport is more important than winning, intensity and calorie burn.
Staying out of the Docs office…
is more important than the cutting edge drugs, or expensive medical treatment received once there.
Now we have a blueprint (pun intended) to create our own zone. What’s keeping us? Chiefly it’s time, stress, work, tempting junk food, social media and prestige TV are just a few of the many things that get in our way. Everything is sped up: Fast cars, fast food, speed work outs, connection speeds, instant gratification.
Everything about the Blue Zones emphasizes connection: to others, to food, to our bodies, to fun…
to life.
It’s slow; It’s genuine; and maybe it’s the key ingredient to our blue zone.