How to live to 100 and beyond: blue zones’ healthy longevity secrets spread to new places

“The blue zones research shows it is all about changing your environment for the healthy choice to be the easy choice over a lifetime, even though that may seem traditional.”

Buettner, 63, practises what he preaches. He tries to incorporate all of the “Power 9” principles he learned from blue zone residents’ lifestyles into his life.

They are:

“These habits may be a bit difficult at first because changing any aspect of your life is hard, but once you start, you end up doing them naturally,” he says.

“You do not need to beat yourself up over the little details every day. As long as you are continuing to make small changes to a healthier you, you are on track.”

That begs the question, could anyone create their own personal blue zone?

Buettner says it is difficult to fully recreate the exact conditions of a blue zone, but anyone can adopt many of the core principles to improve their health and longevity.

“The rural and close-knit community aspects do play a significant role, but with intentional effort, urban and modern communities can also foster environments that support these healthy practices. It requires a community-wide commitment to creating supportive, health-promoting environments.”

This is the goal of the Blue Zones Project in cities across the United States and Canada, which works with local communities to transform the local environment to support health and longevity.

The Blue Zones project cities are undergoing community transformation programmes that lower healthcare costs and improve productivity.

The first project regions are Albert Lea, Minnesota; Beach Cities, California; Klamath Falls, Oregon; Southwest Florida; Spencer, Iowa; Hawaii; and Fort Worth, Texas.

“We continue to study the original blue zones, and while most still exhibit longevity, they are starting to disintegrate with the effects of technology and the Western diet.”

“Okinawa specifically has suffered the worst degeneration of all, and we do not consider it to be a blue zone any longer. With that said, you can still see many of the longevity principles if you visit the older generations on Okinawa,” he says.

“While many regions worldwide are adopting healthier lifestyles, the designation of a blue zone requires more than just recent wellness trends. The original blue zones naturally developed an environment over generations that made it so [that] health and longevity ensued rather than something they had to pursue,” he says.

“For a place to earn the blue zones label, it must exhibit a long history of healthy living, tight-knit communities and environmental factors that contribute to longevity.”

Singapore was able to achieve the label because its leaders made strategic changes through policy and environment for health and wellness to ensue over generations simply by living in the community, he said.

This could be a model for other cities wanting to improve the health of their ageing citizens.