Live Younger, Better
You've come to the best place to track, improve and discuss your healthy lifestyle.- Vitality Compass: find out how long you'll live given your current habits.
- The Power9: the nine common denominators that all of the world's longevity all-stars share.
- Blogs: Daily, practical tips and up-to-the-minute research on health and aging.
- Community: share what you know, connect with others, enhance our discussion.
Blue Zones: Live Longer, Better
Welcome to Blue Zones!
What if I could tell you how to live another 10 years, as well as look younger and feel younger at every age? Something called the Danish Twin Studies established that less than 25% of how long the average person lives is dictated by genes. In other words, most of how long and how well you live is up to you.
The premise of Blue Zones is: identify the optimal lifestyle of longevity and you have a de facto formula of longevity.
What is the optimal lifestyle of longevity? Does it involve diets? supplements? exercise programs? Should you be eating organic, free range chicken or tofu? And what about physical activity? Should you be running marathons or doing yoga?
To answer these questions, I teamed up National Geographic and hired the world's best longevity researchers to identify pockets around the world where people are living MEASURABLY better. In these Blue Zones we found people who reach age 100 at rates 10 times greater than in the United States, where people suffer a fraction of the rate of heart disease and cancer than we do and where people are getting the extra 10 years that we're missing.
Then, we took teams of scientists to each location who know how to identify lifestyle characteristics that may explain longevity. In Sardinia, Italy we found a wine with the world's highest-known levels of antioxidants, and in Ikaria, Greece we discovered ancient herbal teas that lower blood pressure. On the other side of the planet, we found an island where purpose and mutual support networks called Moai explain an extra half dozen years of life. In Nicoya, Costa Rica it's the mesoAmerican diet of beans, squash and a special corn tortilla that is propelling people into their 90's at rates 4 times greater than in the US. Finally, among Loma Linda's Seventh Day Adventists, we found America's longest-lived culture. They're living about an extra decade longer than the rest of us. How? Part of the reason comes from a diet inspired from the Bible. Genesis, Chapter 1, vs 26.
For the first time in living history, life expectancy of our children is projected to drop, as a nation we're getting fatter every year. Diabetes is on the rise. Is this because Americans are less disciplined? Have we undergone a moral degeneration or are we somehow inferior to previous generations? I don't think so. We are products of our environment. Every day, hundreds of marketing messages rinse over our psyches--many of them encouraging us to eat things that aren't good for us. Machines have engineered physical activity out of lives and networked electronics are replacing face-to-face human contact. We live in environments of sickness. The key to getting the extra 10 years we're missing is to follow the lessons from world's longest-lived people and create environments of health.
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How it Works
In my book, The Blue Zones, I reveal the secrets of the Power9: the nine common denominators that all of the world’s longevity all-stars share. Here at BlueZones.com, we've organized these behaviors into four main categories:
Move Naturally – Make your home, community and workplace present you with natural ways to move. Focus on activities you love, like gardening, walking and playing with your family.
Right Outlook – Know and be able to articulate your sense of purpose, and ensure your day is punctuated with periods of calm.
Eat Wisely – Instead of groping from fad diet to fad diets, use time-honored strategies for eating 20% less at meals. Avoid meat and processed food and drink a couple of glasses of wine daily.
Belong to the Right Tribe – Surround yourself with the right people, make the effort to connect or reconnect with your religion and put loved ones first.
This may all sound too simple, but the payoff is huge. The average American could live up to 14 more good years by putting these habits to work.
Get Started Right Now
To help you model your habits after the Blue Zones centenarians, we’ve created several tools, beginning with Vitality Compass
The Vitality Coach® uses the best behavioral science available to guide you in getting the most good years out of life. Six seconds a day for six weeks can add up to four years to your life expectancy, effectively making you biologically younger.
And each day at BlueZones.com, we offer fresh news and articles, digging up the most interesting research and healthy living tips.
To get started, click on the Vitality Compass tab and begin the journey to a younger you today.
Live Large,
Dan Buettner
Blue Zones Founder
Go to a Farmers' Market Near You!
It’s that time of year again! Time to hit the watermelon stand, tomato truck and outdoor farmers' market! When I was a kid, my grandma used to take me to this roadside, hole-in-the-wall, take-a-curve-too-fast-you’ll-miss it corn stand in the middle of a Minneapolis suburb. They sold the best corn on the cob, and the most unusually ripe yellow, seedless watermelon.
For a list of farmers' markets by city and state visit Farmers Market. If you happen to live in San Francisco, or you are visiting soon, The New York Times wants to be sure you visit the wealth of great San Francisco farmers markets. Here's the link.
FEATURE: Five Ways to Set Up Your House To Help You Move More Naturally
Exercise is great for our health and walking after you eat is wonderful for healthy digestion. So how can we design a home that incorporates ways to move more naturally? Get rid of the remote.
It may sound silly, but toss the remote and get up and change the dial when you watch TV. Better yet, cancel cable, and watch less TV. Take an evening walk, or read in bed and get a good nights rest instead.
Take the stairs.
I used to live in a fourth floor walk up in Brooklyn. A girlfriend lived in a seven story walk up. She didn’t need to squat or lunge, getting the mail was a workout! Next time you shop, visit the office, run in the park, find a pair of stairs and take them! Certainly avoid elevators at all costs!
Garden.
Plant a garden and get busy! It’s a great way to unwind, and break a sweat at the same time! All those great flowers and yummy vegetables aren’t going to harvest themselves!
Get rid of the garage door opener.
Better yet, get rid of the car! Buy a bicycle and use it more often than your car. Save on gas and save the environment!
Cook!
Skip the take out and get busy in the kitchen! Trying a new recipe, whipping your own whip cream, mincing and dicing and canning relishes and chutneys really is work! I know it might not sound like much, but cooking is a great activity that really gets you moving!
The Return of the Family Dinner
Want your young daughters to stay off drugs? Encourage them to eat dinner at home. 
A recent study, including 800 Minnesota school kids, examined the relationship between family dinners and alcohol and substance abuse in adolescence. The study found that young girls who routinely ate dinner at home, with their family, were less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. Young boys, did not appear to be any more resistant to drugs and alcohol based on sit-down meals with family, but other positive affects were documented.
Girls who ate dinner with their families at least five times a week during middle school, according to a report published in the Star Tribune, were “much less likely to drink, smoke or use marijuana five years later.
My Big, Fat Greek Pantry
There has been a lot said over the last decade about the virtues of eating a Mediterranean diet. Principally, research suggests that people who live in the region have lower rates of heart disease and improved longevity. 
What does a Mediterranean diet look like?
Traditionally, Greek food relies heavily on fresh vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, and whole grains. Foods are cooked in olive oil, and fish are favored on a daily basis over meat and poultry. Yogurt and cheese are sparse parts of the diet, used to flavor dips, and salads. Alcohol intakes is moderate and usually wine and ouzo, a anise flavored liqueur, the Greek national spirit, is favored over beer and other liquors.
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