Dan Buettner, is famous for his research on longevity and book “The Blue Zones: Lesson for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest”. Research sponsored by National Geographical Expeditions Council and National Institute on Aging has enabled him to travel around the world to discover lifestyles promoting quality of life.
Research on aging is all focusing on adding up a few years to lifespan. Besides, following the guide of unique lifestyle guides blended with scientific progress can have consequent effect on longevity.
The Blue Zone Lifestyle can in general add as much as 10 years to lifespan without suffering from illness or handicaps. The so-called “Danish Twin Studies” proclaim that only 25 percent of our longevity is associated with genes. This implies that we have a 75 percent influence on how long we live.
The objective of the Blue Zone is to find the best lifestyle for longevity and a formula for increasing lifespan can be construed.
The question that all of us regard as fundamental is what an ideal lifestyle is. Are diets, exercise, supplements, yoga, relaxation or endless running needed? The research carried out by Dan Buettner in association with National Geographic identified people that had a significantly longer life. These so-called Blue Zones had people living above the age of 100 at a multiple of 1,000 percent more than in the U.S. These people enjoy longevity with more than 10 years to contemporary people and have an extremely low risk of both cancer and heart disease.
Scientists did afterwards evaluate attributes of lifestyle that contributed to longevity. Here are some findings per region.
1. Italy
A high intake of anti-oxidants, found in particular wine seems to account for the longevity in Sardinia, Italy.
2. Greece
In Ikaria, the consumption of very ancient herbal teas seems to positively lower the blood pressure and this reduces stress as well as risk of dementia (neurologic disorders) and heart attack.
3. Costa Rica
In Nicoya, people lived on average 6 years longer than normally because of the so-called Meso American Diet accounts for their longevity. The diet consists of distinct corn tortilla, squash and beans. It gives them a probability of a factor of four to live to the age of 90 compared to American.
4. American Culture
American’s longest living culture is mainly doing so because of the bible. The diets written in Genesis, chapter 1, and 29 promotes healthiness and longevity.
It is the first time in history that life expectancy can actually turn-the-coin and drop for our descendents. There are increasing levels of indiscipline amidst Americans to become fatter, causing a rise in diabetes and other health predicaments. The question that arises is whether the earlier generations were superior to us or are we simply in threat of moral degeneration? The answer is No. Our environment is making us vulnerable to undisciplined lifestyles. They are mainly influenced by powerful-psycho adverts. People are encouraged to consume unhealthy diets.
Automation has made it a fact, that physical activities are less practised as electronics are substituting the previous human contacts. The environment is more referred to one of sickness. The only sole strategy used to increase life expectancy by 10 years required the inducement of a proper lifestyle and healthy environment.
Source: Blue Zones
Thu, Jan 21, 2010
Gerontology, Health And Aging, Lifestyle, Longevity