By Sarah Asp Olson / Photos by Michael Haug / Hair and Makeup by Susan Frey/Wehmann
You might find some of Dan Buettner’s books in your local bookstore’s health and wellness section. But Buettner himself is emphatically not a health guru. Rather, Buettner is a lifelong explorer. His work has taken him to the far corners of the earth, from the islands of Okinawa, Japan, to the mountains of Sardinia, Italy. His quest? To unravel the secrets of the cities and villages whose residents naturally live longest. These are the areas he’s dubbed the Blue Zones.
“I’ve spent most of my professional life studying the populations who’ve achieved the outcomes we want — to live a long time without disease,†Buettner says. “They don’t have a better set of genes or better discipline; they just have better environments, and we ought to be paying attention to them.â€
Buettner began his career as a National Geographic reporter specializing in solving ancient mysteries. In his early expeditions — or what he called quests — Buettner led teams of scientists to investigate the great puzzles of the earth, such as why the Maya civilization collapsed.
Then, in 1999, findings from a World Health Organization report altered the course of his research and, ultimately, his life.
“It was actually my brother, Nick, who was working for me at the time,†Buettner recalls. “He stumbled upon [the] report that showed Okinawa had the longest disability-free life expectancy in the world. “I thought, ‘Aha! That’s a great mystery.’â€
With that, Buettner’s next quest was set. He traveled to Okinawa in 2000 to puzzle together how this segment of the population reached the age of 100 at a rate three times higher than the average American. He and his team interviewed herbalists, shamans, demographers and some of Okinawa’s oldest residents. Buettner set up a satellite connection to his U.S. audience — primarily students — and each evening he’d make a dispatch recounting the day’s work.
The quest was wildly popular. It led to a cover feature in National Geographic Magazine in 2004. A year later, Buettner was back in Okinawa, asking even more questions.
“I reasoned that if there were areas in Asia where people are living a long time, there must be pockets of longevity in Europe and Latin America and even North America,†he says.
Eventually, Buettner pinpointed five Blue Zones around the world: Okinawa; Sardinia; Loma Linda, California; Ikaria, Greece; and the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica.
On the surface, these spots don’t have much in common. But the people living there live longer and healthier lives, primarily free from disease. Buettner wanted to know why.
Eventually, Buettner and his team of researchers identified some common elements. These included natural movement, putting loved ones first and having a sense of purpose and community. They dubbed them the Power 9.
One of the most remarkable findings from Buettner’s research is that people living in Blue Zones are not all that different from the rest of us, genetically speaking. What sets them apart is their environment. They live in places where the healthy choice is the easy choice.
Buettner is a three-time distance cycling Guinness World Record holder.
Over the course of the past 20-plus years, Buettner has shared the wisdom of Blue Zones residents with the world through half a dozen books, TV specials, articles and initiatives.
In his latest book, The Blue Zones: Secrets for Living Longer from the Healthiest Places on Earth, Buettner revisits the Blue Zones locations and expands on the original findings.
Some nuggets of wisdom unearthed in the book are simple but potent. For instance, those who consume walnuts live roughly three years longer than those who don’t. Vegetarians live 3–5 years longer than meat-eaters, but the addition of black beans to the diet can help even carnivores live longer. Some were just surprising, like the fact that none of the centenarians (people who live to be 100 years old or more) interviewed in Nicoya, Costa Rica, had ever driven a car.
Photo by David McLain
One key bit of wisdom is how Blue Zones communities look at aging, especially compared to the norm in the U.S.
“Beyond a shadow of a doubt, people in Blue Zones celebrate older people,†Buettner says. “They’re looked at as repositories of wisdom. They’re really seen as treasures.â€
This attitude influences how people in the Blue Zones perceive aging, fostering a positive outlook that contributes to their longevity and resilience.
“We know that people who have a positive attitude [about] getting older actually have lower rates of depression and live longer,†Buettner says. “So, yes, it’s very important to have a positive attitude about aging.â€
Buettner himself remains focused on living a life of purpose and staying active now that he’s in his 60s. He eats a plant-based diet. He speaks candidly about the value of community, underscoring the importance of investing time and resources into friendships.
Buettner lives in Miami Beach, in an area where he bikes most of the time. He’s also very intentional about how he spends his time and the choices he makes each day.
Buettner’s books help readers adapt and replicate his learnings in their own corners of the world. He aims to help readers make choices that subtly alter their routines, diets and habits in a positive way. His latest venture — a new line of frozen foods from the Blue Zones Kitchen — is intended to make these choices even easier. Buettner and his team of chefs and food pros spent more than a year coming up with healthy, cost-effective meals.
The most essential ingredient, though, was Buettner’s “maniacal focus on deliciousness.â€
“I could tell you that walnuts are the healthiest nuts and black beans are the healthiest beans. But if you don’t like any of these things, you’re not going to eat them long enough to make a difference,†he says. “Taste is the most important ingredient in longevity.â€
In his very first book about the Blue Zones, Buettner writes: “Encoded in the world’s Blue Zones are centuries — even millennia — of human experiences. … To learn from them, we need only to be open and ready to listen.â€
Buettner is not a health guru, and the Blue Zones isn’t a fountain of youth. But it just might be a guidebook to a life well-lived — if we’re willing to follow.
Consider incorporating these habits and activities into your daily life.
1. Move naturally. Make physical activity a part of your day-to-day life. Blue Zones environments are naturally set up to encourage movement.
2. Find purpose. Having a sense of purpose or a reason to get up in the morning is key to longevity and staving off disease.
3. Downshift. Make sure your daily routines include activities that shed stress, including napping, happy hour or prayer.
4. Follow the 80% rule. Stop eating when you’re 80% full, with the smallest meal of the day in the late afternoon or early evening.
5. Eat more plants. Plants, including beans, nuts, greens, sweet potatoes, fruit and whole note to nxtbook: extra copy here. grains, comprise most of the Blue Zone diet.
6. Wine at 5. Moderate drinkers in the Blue Zones outlive non-drinkers, especially if they enjoy a glass of red wine with friends.
7. Belong. Being part of some type of faith-based community and attending services four times a month adds to the longevity of the Blue Zones populations.
8. Put loved ones first. Blue Zones communities put family first. They invest time and love in their children, aging parents and grandparents nearby. They also commit to a life partner.
9. Find the right tribe. The social networks of Blue Zones communities shape their health and behaviors.
