Blue Zones: what can we learn from them?

Longevity and healthy age­ing

To un­der­stand the phe­nom­e­non of Blue Zones, we first need to talk about longevity. Longevity refers to peo­ple who live longer than the av­er­age life ex­pectancy. How­ever, it’s not just about hav­ing a long life. It means en­joy­ing a very good qual­ity of life into very old age – both phys­i­cally and men­tally. Al­though ge­netic pre­dis­po­si­tions play a cer­tain role, your lifestyle has a far greater in­flu­ence.

Age does­n’t al­ways mean the same thing

There are two dif­fer­ent types of age: chrono­log­i­cal age and bi­o­log­i­cal age. Your chrono­log­i­cal age de­scribes the num­ber of years that have passed since birth. Bi­o­log­i­cal age, on the other hand, re­flects the state of your health and vi­tal­ity. This means that by tak­ing ac­tion on your own, you can turn the clock back and ex­tend your life.

In­gre­di­ents for a long life

• Social contact: people who cultivate their social interactions are more satisfied.

• Exercise: people who exercise regularly are happier and healthier.

• Meaning in life: work or leisure activities that fulfil you also contribute to your mental well-being.

• Stress reduction: stress has harmful effects on your health.

• Healthy eating: a nutritious diet reduces the risk of age-related illnesses.

• Stimulants: limit stimulants such as smoking and alcohol.

• Sleep: sleeping seven to eight hours per night reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Blue Zones – liv­ing longevity

The term “Blue Zones” was coined by re­searcher Dan Buet­tner. It de­scribes five re­gions of the world where an above-av­er­age num­ber of peo­ple live to be over 90 or even 100 years old – all the while en­joy­ing amaz­ingly good health. The com­mon de­nom­i­na­tor is that the peo­ple in these zones eat lots of fresh pro­duce and favour plant-based foods and nat­ural sources of pro­tein. Other fac­tors in­clude ex­er­cise as part of their daily lives, strong com­mu­ni­ties and hav­ing a clear goal in life.

Nu­tri­tion’s role in longevity

A cen­tral el­e­ment that is found in all Blue Zones is a bal­anced diet. Fresh fruit and veg­eta­bles, whole­grain prod­ucts, un­sat­u­rated fats, sen­si­ble amounts of meat, the avoid­ance of processed foods and re­duced sugar in­take are key fac­tors of a healthy diet. The fo­cus is on foods that re­duce in­flam­ma­tion, pro­mote sound car­diac func­tion and sup­port cel­lu­lar health.

Con­ve­nience reimag­ined

In to­day’s busy world, how­ever, the de­sire for quick, prac­ti­cal so­lu­tions for our di­etary needs is om­nipresent. Yet how can con­ve­nience foods fit in with the nu­tri­tional prin­ci­ples in the Blue Zones? They can if the con­ve­nience prod­ucts are de­vel­oped ac­cord­ing to the right pri­or­i­ties – just as we strive to do at ORIOR:

• Less is more: natural ingredients, fewer additives

• Plant-based protein sources: e.g. from pulses, tofu or tempeh

• Carefully selected ingredients: regional, seasonal and gently processed

• Recipes that are good for you: satisfying, easily digestible, energising

Achiev­ing healthy longevity is thus pos­si­ble de­spite a hec­tic mod­ern lifestyle and with­out com­pro­mis­ing on en­joy­ment and qual­ity.