Blue Zones – Live to be 100
As the weather turns colder and we’re spending more time indoors, my husband and I recently stumbled upon a Netflix documentary called Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones. Intrigued, we settled in and discovered what By Dan Buettner had to share.
He researched 5 different pockets of people around the world with the highest life expectancy, or with the highest proportions of people who reach age 100 (aka Blue Zones): the Barbagia region of Sardinia, Ikaria, Greece, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica, Loma Linda, California, and Okinawa, Japan. Nine common factors emerged from his research as elements of their longevity. Some may surprise you, others may not.
- Move Naturally – Some of these areas have variant terrain so the locals are walking up and down hills every day. Many residents engage in daily, low impact but whole body activities like gardening, getting up and down from the floor, or doing chores without mechanical conveniences.
- Purpose – All of the people in these communities have a strong sense of purpose or a reason to wake up in the morning. Studies show that knowing your sense of purpose is worth up to seven years of extra life expectancy.
- Downshift – We all experience stress in our lives, but these communities seem to have established healthy routines and ways of coping and reducing that stress, whether that’s by praying, napping, or sharing drinks and meal with friends and family.
- 80% rule – This could be the hardest one for us Americans to adapt… only eating until you are 80% full. People in the Blue Zones stop eating when they are 80% full. They typically eat their smallest meal in the late afternoon or evening and don’t eat anything else the rest of the day.
- Plant Based – According to Buettner, “Beans, including fava, black, soy and lentils, are the cornerstone of most centenarian diets. Meat—mostly pork—is eaten on average only five times per month. Serving sizes are 3-4 oz., about the size of a deck of cards.”
- Wine @ 5 – Most people in the Blue Zones drink 1 – 2 glasses of alcohol per day, with food and/or friends. Keep in mind however, their homemade wine is on a whole nother level than most of the wine you can buy in our stores. Sardinian Cannonau wine reputedly has more than three times the amount of antioxidants than any other red wine!
- Belong – Their researched showed that, “All but five of the 263 centenarians we interviewed belonged to some faith-based community. Denomination doesn’t seem to matter. Research shows that attending faith-based services four times per month will add 4-14 years of life expectancy.”
- Loved ones first – “Successful centenarians in the blue zones put their families first. This means keeping aging parents and grandparents nearby or in the home (It lowers disease and mortality rates of children in the home too.). They commit to a life partner (which can add up to 3 years of life expectancy) and invest in their children with time and love (They’ll be more likely to care for you when the time comes).”
- Right tribe – “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with,” a quote attributed most often to motivational speaker Jim Rohn. The long lived people of the Blue Zones all surrounded themselves with supportive social circles that empower them and reinforce healthy behaviors.
Which (if any) of these 9 traits do you feel you currently implement in your lifestyle? Which areas could you use for some improvement?
Similar factors could be applied to horses lives as well. Is your horse exposed to a variety of ground surfaces and elevation on a regular basis, or does it go from the flat, manicured pasture to the freshly drug arena? Does it eat a plant based diet, or are grains and sugar a large portion? Does it live in a happy herd environment or is it lonely or picked on? How much time does it get to just be a horse? All good things to consider if we want ourselves and our horses to live long, healthy lives!
Reference – https://www.bluezones.com/2016/11/power-9/
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