An article on longivity & the fountain of youth!

[Guest guest]

MINNEAPOLIS – If you are looking for a Fountain of Youth, forget

pills and diet supplements. Adventurer Dan Buettner has visited four

spots on the globe where people live into their 90s and 100s and

outlines how they add years of good life in his new book, " The Blue

Zones. "

 

The answer, Buettner says, includes smaller food portions, an active

lifestyle and moderate drinking.

 

" If someone tells you they have a pill or hormone (that extends

life), you're about to lose money, " Buettner says.

 

Buettner identifies four hot spots of longevity: the mountainous

Barbagia region of Sardinia, an island off the coast of Italy; the

Japanese island of Okinawa; a community of Seventh-day Adventists in

Loma Linda, Calif., about 60 miles east of Los Angeles; and the

Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica, in Central America. (The term " Blue

Zones " takes its name from the blue ink Belgian demographer Michel

Poulain used to circle an area of long-living Sardinians on a map.)

 

What Buettner found in his seven years of research and travel were

common denominators among the vigorous super-elderly — close family

relationships, a sense of purpose, healthy eating habits. He distills

them into what he calls the Power Nine that readers can use to create

their own Blue Zone.

 

" Picking half a dozen things off of this al a carte menu, and

sticking to it, is probably worth eight to 10 (extra) years for the

average American. And you'll look younger and feel younger on the

way, " says Buettner, a tall and lean 48-year-old who says he hopes to

live until at least 100.

 

Buettner turned to probing the secrets of the longest-living cultures

after leading three long-distance bicycle expeditions — from the tip

of North America to the tip of South America; across the United

States, Europe and the Soviet Union; and across Africa — in the 1980s

and 1990s. He also used the Internet to take classrooms on

interactive quests to solve everything from the collapse of ancient

Mayan civilization to human origins in Africa.

 

Buettner made his first expedition to Okinawa in 2000 and eventually

wrote a National Geographic cover story, " The Secrets of Long Life, "

in November 2005. That led to National Geographic publishing " The

Blue Zones " this March. The book debuted at No. 15 on The New York

Times' list of advice book best sellers but has since dropped off.

 

Living long — even forever — is a human desire throughout history,

says Dr. Robert Butler, president and CEO of the International

Longevity Center-USA in New York. But Butler says he's skeptical of

claims of places of long-living people.

 

" There's always been these rumors but they've always turned out to be

inaccurate, " said Butler, who appears in " The Blue Zones " but has not

read it.

 

Buettner is aware of the skepticism, but says he and his team of

demographers, which included Poulain, scrupulously checked birth and

death records and vetted the ages of Blue Zone residents in his book.

 

" We have the numerical data that shows that these places (in 'The

Blue Zones') are living longer. It's not just anecdotal, " Buettner

said.

 

While ranking populations by average life expectancy is nothing new,

Buettner has " done a nice job putting faces to it and looking at some

of the special characteristics — be it diet or happiness — that

typify some of these regions, " said Dr. Thomas T. Perls, director of

the New England Centenarian Study and an associate professor of

medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine. Perls also

appears in the book.

 

Because of obesity and smoking, Americans are living about 10 years

less than they should be, said Perls, co-author of the book " Living

to 100. " He said if Americans embraced the healthy habits advocated

by Buettner, the impact on public health " would be huge. "

 

Buettner found long-lived people have a sense of purpose and a strong

support network. In Okinawa, women gather in social networks known as

moais.

 

" Even at age 100, they're all getting together in their moai ... at 5

o'clock every day. They sit around, they drink a couple glasses of

sake, they gossip, they talk about sex. If one doesn't show up to the

afternoon gathering, the other four sort of hobble over to see if

she's fallen down or if she needs help, " Buettner said.

 

Women in Okinawa also tend to be spiritual leaders, which imbues them

with a sense of purpose, or " ikigai, " Buettner said.

 

Regular attendance at religious services also is a factor, Buettner

said. Seventh-day Adventists observe the Sabbath on Saturday, which

gives them a weekly break from stress.

 

" There's no question but having a spiritual sense — a sense of

belonging, a sense of personal value — enhances a person's ability to

follow good health habits. Out of that arises the longevity, " said

Dr. Richard Hart, president and CEO of Loma Linda University

Adventist Health Sciences Center.

 

Limiting food intake and eating healthy also are key, Buettner said.

Elderly Okinawans follow a maxim to eat only until their stomachs are

80 percent full, Buettner said. Centenarians in Sardinia, Okinawa and

Nicoya rarely ate meat, and some Adventists stick only to a plant-

based diet. Adventists frequently eat nuts while Okinawans eat tofu.

 

Drinking in moderation can help, Buettner said. Sardinians drink a

dark red wine that's loaded with antioxidants, he said.

 

Exposure to sun — a source of vitamin D — also is common in Blue

Zones, where the residents are tan, Buettner said.

 

" We shouldn't be burning ourselves, we shouldn't be frying. But 20

minutes a day, in the climates or the latitudes that have quality

sunshine, it's probably a good takeaway, " he said.

 

Buettner also advocates low-intensity physical activity. After years

of biking, Buettner has switched to yoga for his main exercise. He

lives on Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis, where he can skate around

the lake in the summer and cross-country ski across it in the winter.

 

" You identify what you like to do, and you do it, because you're

likely to do that over the long run, " Buettner said.

 

Buettner also recommends " de-conveniencing " your home — getting rid

of the TV remote or the power lawnmower. Buettner moved up to the

third floor of his spacious home " so every time I need a shirt I walk

three flights of stairs. "

 

Modern life is threatening the Blue Zones' reputation for longevity,

Buettner said. Obesity rates have soared in Sardinia, where young

people are eating chips and drinking soda pop, he said.

 

" The phenomena of longevity is disappearing in all places, except for

maybe among the Adventists, and the purpose of this book was to

capture it and observe it before it disappeared, and measure it, "

Buettner said