Blue Zones – How to Live Better and Live Longer

What have you read and remembered about the Blue Zones and their traditions that contribute to health, longevity, and resiliency? How would you rate your level of happiness, health, nutrition, and vitality? If you want more information and insights for longevity then this blog is for you. The media and medical community have daily ads, commercials, postings, and stories to grab your attention and sell you a pill, potion, or prescription to solve your problem. What if you could reverse your issues and turn back the clock to a happier and healthier you. This is an important idea to consider and understand because you created the issue you are struggling with and only you can reverse it.

There are many adverse reactions, serious side effects, and potential problems if you and your family rely on Allopathic medicine to solve your issues with solutions sold based on chemistry labs, surgery, and synthetic drugs. How much of your energy, money, and time are you wasting as you go down the man-made medical model rabbit hole trying to fix your health challenges only to experience frustration, feel worse, and have serious side effects? The crazy coronavirus conditions have been a wake-up call and warning that the current medical model does not have the best answers for us to be happy, live longer and prosper.

There can be a wide variety of adverse reactions, consequences, and side effects when you use synthetic ingredients to attempt to fix the symptoms rather than address the underlying contributing factors and core aspects relevant to your issues. Now is the time to take charge of your happiness and health and be the commander in chief of your body, brain, and broken beliefs about unresolved emotional events from your past. When you adopt the mental mindset, natural nutrition, and physical performance of people from the Blue Zones you will begin to notice a significant shift in your happiness and health. As more people begin to follow the Blue Zone formula we will see major progress in our environment, happiness, health, and overall wellness.

This blog contains specific strategies and suggestions to focus on in our daily life. Be sure to read and maybe reread some of my previous blogs with lifestyle tips for better health, longevity, and vitality. The blogs on Morningstar NEWS are my passion project to help you discover hundreds of terrific tips that can change the quality of your life. My goal is to find the resources, role models, and real-world wisdom to help you. Many people have ended up sad, sicker, and sorry they followed the medical model first instead of finding and implementing more holistic and natural methods first. The world is full of sad, sick, and struggling people because they are treating symptoms rather than treating the root cause of their health challenges. My goal is to help you stop the self-sabotaging stories and start the simple solutions to remember and rebuild the healthy body and brain you deserve and desire.

Better Zen in Blue Zones

Blue Zones are areas of the world where the population tend to be happier, healthier, and live longer due to their community, environment, and lifestyle. Research has identified many diverse and unique Blue Zones around the world that contain higher numbers of centenarians. Blue Zones can teach us some key life lessons on how to improve and increase our quality and quantity of life.

Let us look at several Blue Zones and discover what analysis and research have learned that can benefit us when we adopt their best practices:

Ikaria, Greece: Many people on the Greek islands live active lives. They consume a mostly whole foods plant-based diet. The main staples include fresh fish, fruits, grains, green plants, herbs, legumes, nuts, olives, olive oil, root vegetables, and vegetables. Some cheese, chicken, eggs, and meat like goat or sheep are consumed.  Their family and friends play a key role in their active social life. Having a garden or land requires carrying items, digging, gardening, and walking which help keep them active, lean, and strong. They receive plenty of sunshine every day.

Loma Linda, California – Seven Day Adventist community: In Loma Linda, CA there is a large community and concentrations of members of the Seven Day Adventist Christian community. They believe the bible guides them towards a healthy lifestyle and nutrition principles. They believe a well-balanced vegetarian diet focused on consuming healthy whole foods with a focus on beans, fruits, green plants, legumes, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and whole grains is best.

Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica: The people of the Nicoya peninsula consume a mostly whole foods plant-based diet. The main staples include beans, herbs, chicken, eggs, fish, fruit, green plants, plantain, rice, and root vegetables. Their community, family, and social networks play key roles. Chopping with a machete, digging, gardening, and walking keep them active and strong. They are exposed to sunshine every day. Their life requires them to do a lot of carrying and lifting. and walking.

Okinawa, Japan: The people of Okinawa consume a mostly whole foods plant-based diet. Main staples include azuki beans, bitter herbs, chicken, eggs, fish, ginger, green plants, green tea, mushrooms, pork, rice, root vegetables, soybean products (fermented), and sweet potato. Their community and social network play key roles in support. Digging, gardening, and working in the soil keep and sunshine them connected to the earth. They do a lot of carrying and lifting. and walking to stay active.

Sardinia Island, Italy: The people of Sardinia also consume a mostly whole foods plant-based diet. The main staples include cheese, chicken, eggs, fish, fruit, green plants, goat or lamb, herbs, and vegetables. Their active lifestyle, close community, family ties, and strong social networks play key roles in supporting them. They participate in gardening and walking in fresh air and sunshine regularly. Walking is a way of life and many of them walk several miles a day.

Blue Zones – How to Live Better and Live Longer

Dan Buettner has gathered a significant amount of information regarding Blue Zones and his books and website offer a wealth of wisdom. He shares what he learned about the healthy older people in the Blue Zones and how to live better and live longer. He is the source for the nine specific lifestyle habits that are shared below.

He calls them the Power 9 principles and it is well worth your time to read about some of the best ways to increase your longevity and quality of life:

1. Natural movement daily.  Move naturally throughout the day. The keys are to be active, carry things, engage in a wide variety of movements, and walk as much as possible and practically.
2. Have a passion and purpose for your life. Find your zen and zest for life and live it to the fullest.
3. Learn how to have less stress and more joy. How we reduce our stress and find our bliss and joy plays a key role in our health and well-being.
4. 80% rule guidance suggests you eat until your stomach is 80% full and then stop. Never overeat or eat a big meal late in the day. It is best to eat a more substantial meal around mid-day with a light breakfast and light supper.
5. Plant-based nutrition is the best place to find the healthiest carbs, fats, and proteins. Consuming minimal animal products is what they believe. They also feel any animal products must be from healthy animals that are well cared for and fed a healthy natural diet.
6. Limited and moderate alcohol consumption may play a role in longevity. They say a little red wine provides antioxidants and resveratrol that can be good for our health and vitality. Maybe it is the social aspects of sharing a glass of wine that contributed to this being on his list. It is important to understand the wine in Greece, Italy, and many other countries is very different than the wine consumed in the United States. Avoid wine that has chemicals like glyphosate, pesticides, and sulfites.
7. Belonging to a faith-based community with a group of like-minded peers and people provides a wide range of benefits.
8. Family comes first. Having a lifelong partner and maintaining family connections is important. Multigenerational families provide a wide range of benefits and support for each member and help contribute to longevity.
9. Right thinking and the right tribe play a significant role in our lifestyle and longevity. Look at your five closest friends and peers and determine if they are helping or hurting your chances for a healthy, long, and vibrant life.