Interesting article: Why is it that there are pockets in the world where some people seem to love forever! National Geographic writer Dan Buettner and a team of researchers travelled the world to identify these pockets where people live a higher quality of life than the norm. From their observations they identified the Five (5) Blue Zones. “The Blue Zones are places where the inhabitants have the greatest life expectancy and where more people live past 100 years more than anywhere else in the world. They identified Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, Loma Linda in California, Nicoya in Costa Rica and Ikaria in Greece as places on earth where people live to 100 years ten times more often than the equivalent in the United States.” Buttener identified six areas where lifestyle choices affected the longevity of the inhabitants of these regions. These centers include: community, workplace, social, financial, domestic and self. Two of the blue zone areas that have been studies most widely include the Ikaria islands and the Okinawa . Ikaria Ikaria lies in the Aegean Sea between the Greek Islands of Samos and Mykonos and has reportedly one of the longest life expectancies in the world. One of the main reasons for its people’s longevity is the increased physical activity level of the islands’ inhabitants. Approximately 90% of the males and 70% of the females reportedly took part in daily physical activity, mainly occupational. Ironically Ikaria males live longer than any other males throughout the world. These percentages far exceeded those of the other Greek Islands where 50% of males and 25% of females were reportedly active on a daily basis. More than 60% of the Ikaria inhabitants over the age of 90 years reported they were still physically active on a daily basis. Very few males and females were current smokers although a large proportion had smoked at some stage in their lives. The Ikaria people eat a Mediterranean diet high in vegetables, fruit and salads and were not influenced by western style foods or diets. Other characteristics that contributed to a long life included: avoidance of smoking, midday naps, social engagement and family coherence. Okinawa The Okinawan centenarian study, which has been ongoing since1975 ranks Okinawa as the number one location in the world for longest life expectance and also world’s longest health expectancy. When compared to the USA (which represents western lifestyle) only 18 per 100,000 people suffer from cardiovascular disease, 97/100,000 from cancer, 35/100,000 from stroke and 335/100,000 for all cause mortality. The USA, which is ranked 18 in world, presents with 100/100,000 for cardiovascular disease, 132/100,000 for cancer, 28/100,000 for stroke and 520/100,000 for all cause mortality. These numbers are amplified by 50 per 100,000 people reaching 100 years of age in Okinawa compared to 10-20 people per 100,000 reaching the same age in the USA. The longevity of Okinawans has been attributed to genetics, caloric restriction and metabolic damage, cardiovascular health, increased physical activity, stress reduction lifestyle and hormonal profile. Perhaps the two characteristics that continual to appear in other studies are caloric restriction and physical activity. Typically Okinawans consume a low calorie, low glycemic and caloric control diet. They practice a cultural habit known as “hara hachi-bu” where they only eat until their stomach is 80% full. This method is said to reduce the formation of free radicals generated by metabolizing food into energy. The free radical production has the potential to damage organs over a long period of time. It has been observed that Okinawans keep active through domestic activities, occupational activities and general lifestyle prescriptions rather than formal exercise interventions. Okinawans also demonstrate lower levels of osteoporosis possible due to the low to moderate levels of weight bearing activities performed as well as a diet high in calcium. So if you want to live to be a 100 years old pack your bags, buy a plane ticket (make sure you move constantly in your seat or buy a business or premium economy class ticket) and move to a Blue Zone!! Dr Paul Batman is Director of Education at Australian College. Australian College is one of Australia’s accredited leading online college delivering over 100 online courses across 10 faculties. australiancollege.edu.au
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 07:23:48 +0000
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