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1-Page Summary of The Blue Zones Solution

Overview

Dan Buettner’s book, The Blue Zones Solution, expands on research into the regions of the world where people live longer and healthier lives.

The original Blue Zones were in five places. The first was the Greek island of Ikaria, where Buettner studied the Mediterranean diet and learned about healthy eating habits. In Okinawa, Japan, Buettner met women who live to be 100 years old on average. He also visited Sardinia and Loma Linda in California, both communities with long-living populations that practice their faith by leading a healthful lifestyle. In Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula, Buettner discovered that people there live to 90 twice as often as Americans do but spend only 15% of what we do on healthcare costs.

The author chose to follow the example of Finnish health professionals who worked to decrease the rate of death by heart disease among men. They did this in five years, starting with a program that included social networking and menu makeovers for restaurants. The Blue Zones team created programs like these in three California cities and throughout the state of Iowa. Early polls show they’ve already made a difference in Iowans’ health.

To design a Blue Zone program, you need to incorporate more produce and beans in your diet and change the way you eat. You should also do more physical work around the house, find more occasions to walk, get enough restful sleep, strengthen friendships with healthy people and have a positive impact on your community.

Key Takeaways

Blue Zones are regions of the world where people live longer. They include Ikaria in Greece, Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa in Japan, Loma Linda in California and the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. Researchers disagree about whether these areas have higher life expectancies because of something specific or if it’s just a coincidence.

The environment a person lives in can help or hurt their health. It’s possible to change that environment to encourage healthy habits and discourage unhealthy ones.

People in Blue Zones (areas where people live longer) engage in a lot of physical activity, which is often mandatory for their jobs. They eat lots of beans and legumes. The opposite is true for meat-eating cultures.

People who live in the Blue Zones, such as Okinawa, Japan and Sardinia, Italy have a sense of purpose. They also have strong social ties with their family and friends. These people practice faith or mindfulness regularly.

To develop a Blue Zone, you need to expand biking and walking trails, slow down the traffic, reduce stress in restaurants by changing menus and teaching people to cook. Create an individual Blue Zone by getting rid of junk food, finding more occasions to move around, finding a cause in your community that inspires you and strengthening relationships with healthy friends.

Key Takeaway 1: Blue Zones are regions of the world where certain communities have a higher proportion of centenarians living unassisted. The five identified so far include Ikaria in Greece, Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa in Japan, Loma Linda in California, and the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica.

Deep Analysis

People might expect that the world is able to support a greater number of people living past 100 because of technological advances like readily accessible medical care and modern conveniences. Also, in modern regions of the world, consumers have access to allegedly life-extending foods and supplements that other regions cannot get. However, the Blue Zones are different from this stereotype for an important reason. Rather than individual food or exercise choices, consistent lifestyle patterns facilitate longevity. Blue Zone environments encourage residents to eat fresh produce and move constantly while forming close relationships with other people who live healthy lives as well.