The average lifetime in the United States is just over 78 years – but in some countries and regions, more people make it past 100, apparently without even trying.
What are the secrets of these pockets of the world – known as “blue belts” – where residents have not only longer, but healthier years?
Dan Buettner, a Florida-based author, researcher and longevity researcher, who first stamped the term “Blue Zone”, undertook a mission to find out.
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“Only about 20% of how long you live are dictated by your genes,” he told Fox News Digital during a room interview. “The other 80%, we reason that we may find among the longest living populations.”
Dan Buettner, a Florida-based author, researcher and longevity researcher, who first stamped the term “Blue Zone”, undertook a mission to find the secrets of longer-lived areas. (Fox News)
For the recent documentary on Netflix “Live up to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones”, Buettner visited five destinations – Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Ikaria, Greece; Nicoya, Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, California – to discover why they have the highest rates of living hundreds of years.
“We checked ages and we found that in these areas people lived about 10 years longer in the middle age,” he said.
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“It’s because they don’t suffer the diseases that plague us, like type 2 diabetes. They do not die from cardiovascular disease prematurely, or dementia, and they have 40% lower rates of cancer.”
Buettner and his team of demographics and researchers have explored the way of life and environmental features in these five areas to determine what people can do differently.
‘Healthy choice is easy’
“The great understanding we learned from blue belts is that in places where people actually live longer, not because they try,” Buettner said.
“In America, we tend to follow health. We try to identify the right diet or exercise program or additional mode – but our brains are difficult for novelty.”
Studies have shown that people who wake up and have a sense of purpose, whether it is a duty, passion or exit, has greater health outcomes. (istock)
“We are constantly bombed and bamboo with new health news and people – and in blue belts they have never tried to live long.”
The reason for this length, according to Buettner, is that they live in environments where the healthy choice is easy.
Nutrition and exercise
One of the features that most blue belts share is their walkability, as people walk to work, school, homes or gardens of friends.
“They get 8,000 to 10,000 steps every day without thinking about it,” Buettner said.
Also the cheapest and most appropriate foods in blue belts are unprocessed.
“The great understanding we have learned from blue belts is that in places where people actually live longer, not because they try.”
“People in blue belts also eat healthier, as they consume mainly whole, unprocessed, plant-based foods,” Buettner noted.
The average American eats about 220 pounds of meat a year, which he believes is “too much.”
“I’m not pleading for a ruthless diet, but I’ll tell you, people in blue belts eat about 20 pounds of meat a year, so about once a week as a festive food-and they get all the foods they need.”
One of the features that most blue belts share is their walkability, as people walk to work, school, homes or gardens of friends. (istock)
People also eat much more fiber in these areas, found BUETTNER.
“In blue belts, the cheapest and most affordable foods were full fibers,” he said. “They pull them out of their garden … whole grains or beans are the corner of every long -standing diet in the world.”
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Fiber is often neglected in the US diet, Buettner said, with only about 5% to 10% of Americans enough.
“If you don’t get enough fiber, it often works at the mucus membrane and creates a certain permeability or leakage intestine, and that causes all problems,” he warned.
Passion and purpose
Studies have shown that people who wake up and have a sense of purpose, whether it is a duty, passion or exit, has greater health outcomes.
“The purpose of a blue belt almost always includes an altruistic dimension,” Buettner shared.
“Almost always does it for the next generation, either for the community or their church. There is always some philanthropic dimension to their goal.”
Power of community
“In blue belts, we see very clearly that people connect face -to face, probably five to six hours a day,” Buettner said.
People in these areas often live in extended families.
“People in blue belts eat healthier because they consume mainly whole, unprocessed, plant-based foods.” (istock)
“Grandmother never becomes lonely, as she lives up and helps with the garden,” Buettner shared as an example. “She helps cook food and she helps with child care. And the children are doing better because they are better paying attention. And it’s this virtuous circle.”
In blue belts, people typically live in communities where they care about each other, he added.
“They don’t spend almost so many tense hormones arguing about things – and it’s more time for laughter when you are not angry.”
Faith factor
Data shows that people who regularly go to church live somewhere from four to 14 years longer than people who do not, Buettner have noticed.
“You can’t measure faith, but you can measure religiousity,” he said. “Scientists simply ask people how often they appear at a church, temple or mosque, and then they compare the length of the people who show those who do not appear at all.”
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Part of this probably stems from the fact that churchmen have a built -in community, he said, because loneliness proved to be “toxic.”
“Religious people are also less inclined to engage in risky behaviors, and they often have a sense of purpose, which is their faith in God,” Buettner added.
Data shows that people who regularly go to church live somewhere from four to 14 years longer than people who do not, Buettner have noticed. (istock)
Those who worship Sunday can also benefit from having one day a week, where they “stop everything.”
“Being a man is generally stressful, and a church gives us an hour or maybe a few hours, where we fully take out the focus of our daily life and problems, and we reach an increase to a higher plane and focus on greater good,” Buettner said.
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The action of prayer itself could also “stack the deck” in favor of length and health, he added.
“By the way, people who sing in the choir actually live longer,” Beuttner said. “So if you want a little extra blow, join the church and sing in the choir.”
The role of sleep in health
In his visits to blue belts, Buettner found that the residents usually go to bed early, early to get up.
“They have two sleeps where they go to bed shortly after sunset, and then rise at 3 or 4 o’clock and do some tasks, and then return to sleep until sunrise,” he told Fox News Digital.
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Napping is also very common across all blue belts.
“And some good investigations show that people who take a 20-minute nap five days a week have significantly lower rates of cardiovascular disease and about 30% lower rates of cardiovascular mortality,” Buettner said. “So Napado is definitely part of the blue zone approach to length.”
“Blue belts give us a very clear set of choices and environmental factors that would help us senselessly get the years we deserve.”
Overall, he concluded, anyone can benefit from the lessons learned from the blue belts – especially the importance of keeping people healthy first.
“It is about shaping their environment, so that healthier choices are easier or unjustifiable and setting them up for success, so they subconsciously make better decisions that day for years or decades,” Buettner said.
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“Blue belts give us a very clear set of choices and environmental factors that would help us senselessly get the years we deserve.”
“This is what works in all blue belts, and it will undoubtedly work for you – whether you live in Akron, Ohio or New York City.”
