Better than botox - lessons from the Blue Zones...

What is a Blue Zone? A blue zone is an area of the world where concentrations of some of our longest living people reside. An author and explorer by the name of Dan Buettner has written one of my favorite books titles "The Blue Zones". He has been to each one of the four main blue zones in the world and explored the cultures, people, traditions and eating patterns of some of the healthiest, longest living human being we have on this Earth. It is one of my all time favorite books and I think the lessons in in that are learnt about how to live longer and look younger are better than botox. I thought I would share with you some little tips from each of the five blue zone regions:

1. Sardinia, Italy: Many of the centenarians (people to live over 100 years) are Sardinian shepards. These shepards would hike up and down hills burning an avearage 490 calories per hour, for roughly 6-8 hours per day. How many Western jobs these days involve that much exercise in fresh mountain air, without phones, internet and a computer handy? Secondly they attribute their longevity to wine, goats milk and mastic oil. Sardinian red wine made from cannonau grapes is extremely high in compounds called flavonoids. Studies have shown that diets high in flavonoids are attributed with a lower incidence in cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancers. Goats milk has a beautiful balance of proteins and fatty acids and is easier to digest than cows milk. Lastly mastic oil - which has antibacterial and antimutagenic properties is used in place of olive oil in many homes. Sardinians also consume a lean, plant based diet accented with meat and consume cheese only madde from goats milk or grass fed sheep. As a community they celebrate their elders and laugh with their friends and family daily.

2. Okinawa, japan: Okinawans wake up each morning with a little something called an "ikigai" their ikigai is there sense of purpose and role of resposibility in their community. Each Okinawan can readily articulate their ikigai if you ask them. I wonder if someone asked you what your sense of purpose and responsibility was, would you be able to aplty reply? I know I had to have a long, hard think about mine. Nutritionally speaking an Okinawan diet relies on plants and properly fermented soy like tofu and miso. Many in the west are scared of soy (this includes myself) because the soy we are likely to consume is genetically modified, non-organic and unfermented, if we look at soy milk it is primarily chock full of sugar or corn/brown rice syrup - gross. The soy the Okinawans consume is tradionally fermented, local, organic soy. Okinawans also love their gardening and most of the produce they consume comes straight from the backyard. Many also have their very own medicinal herb garden which is used as their pharmacy. Key medicinal foods include garlic, tumeric, bitter melon (also known as goya, it is being studied to control blood sugar levels) and scallions.

3. Seventh Day Adventist Church, Southern California, USA: Again this is where I started to see a bit of a pattern occuring - the Seventh Day Adventist community consume a mostly plant based diet, consume a substantial intake of water and eat a light, early dinner. One of the key staples in their diet was nuts - a big variety or soaked nuts, snacked on regularly to control blood sugar levels. The key longevity secrets of the Seventh Day Adventists seemed to be thier beliefs and their ability to give back - many volunteered and focussed on helping others which contributed to their sense of faith. They also valued time, their Sunday was their 24 hours sabbath where all they do is focus on family, thier God, camraderie and nature.

4. Costa Rica, Central America: Sleep, sex, oranges and faith these are a few of these common traits Nicoyan people from Costa Rica have in common. Nicoyans love a good nights snooze, time and time again studies have shown how vital adequate sleep is for our immunes system, brain function and general health. Sex is something else the Nicoyans do well and have lots of. Enough said. Core foods in their diet are oranges, maranon (a red orange fruit five times higher in Vitamin C than orange itself) and maize meal (from corn). Corn itself is a good combination of complex carbohydrates, protein and calcium, however the Nicoyans soak the corn in ash and lime before grinding it. The lime which is simply calcium hydroxide infuses the kernals with the calcium and unlocks certain amino acids for the body to utilise. Lastly, they have a strong sense of faith, a key focus on their family and strong social networks.

Reading this book made me realise how much our Western society lacks many of these key longevity factors - faith, focus on family, strong social networks (no facebook does not count, it generally just makes us feel bad about ourselves and inadequate), food from our own backyard, adequate sleep, sunshine and a plant based diet. So for now I am getting off the computer, I am going to call my mum and sit outside in the sunshine with some goats cheese and red wine. Then I think I might have a nap.

#bluezones #longevity #health #centarians #goatsmilk #redwine #soy #nuts #sleep #sex