Blue Zones – This is how you grow

Everywhere I've been This fall, people were talking about blue zones. Once I realized it was about living as long as possible, I have to admit my ears closed. We know what the recipe is; Exercise, a healthy plant-based diet, and sobriety are in everyone. Sure, different diets are subject to trends, but we've long known what to stay away from.

In recent years, health food advice has taken on a more futuristic tone, led by American billionaires who want to buy themselves eternal life. There is something fanatical and unnatural about the struggle against aging and death. Obsession doesn't sound very fun.

But imagine if the solution was neither science nor money? Maybe he's light-hearted.

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Blue areas appeared To be about something more than just living for a long time. It was about living well like an old man, without dementia, cancer, chronic disease and loneliness. The term was popularized by National Geographic writer Dan Buettner, who for 20 years explored the world's so-called Blue Zones, five different regions of the world where researchers found that an unusually large population lived healthy, active lives until their lives ended. 100 years. He has written several books and started his own Blue Zone project in his native USA, a country that could be considered the opposite of the Blue Zones lifestyle. In the fall, a Netflix documentary was released, leading to increased interest in Buettner's findings.

Unsurprisingly, four of the five Blue Zones are located in rural areas, in both Europe and Asia, far from supermarkets and fast food chains, where residents can rarely afford modern home technology and cars, or meat and ready meals. They eat a traditional vegetarian diet with little meat and sugar, and have a conscious relationship with the place surrounding the meal. Food should be shared and family and friends should gather for a break. You should be filling, but not overeat. They shouldn't argue.

Modern gyms over need. Naturally, people in the blue zones are doing what has now become a new low trend in the West, which is moving more on a daily basis. I remember my mother being like that. She rarely sat still, and walked at a brisk pace all day. Although she never set foot on SATS, she experienced youth on the highlands of Nordmarka until she reached adulthood. She was stubborn. That was before Netflix put everyone on the couch.

The secret to becoming a healthy 100-year-old is to be in motion.

In Dan Buettner's documentary, an Italian woman who is almost 100 years old claims that she has become old by the grace of God. How often do you go to church? Every day the God-fearing Italian affirms. Well, Buettner thought, could good health have something to do with the fact that the village is on steep terrain, and that churchgoers have to climb a steep hill to get to church every day? In a village further down the valley, life expectancy was lower. But somehow she was right. It was God who led her up the hill.

Desire to walk long distances Common in blue zones. They set foot not just because there is no alternative means of transportation, but because they want to. They go for a walk, preferably with a friend. You can imagine them talking together as people do while walking, not in one round as at the dinner table, but perhaps walking creates a space to vent ideas. Here are some of the gist of Buettner's theory. Yes, eat more legumes, by all means, but what separates the Blue Zones from the pressures of the urban world is unity and mutual respect. It's family and friends. belonging to. very easy.

No one in the blue zones puts seniors in nursing homes. Or they feel lonely. Bittner interviews the two 100-year-olds, who are incredibly fit — a Japanese grandmother dances steadfastly with a ceramic vase balanced on her head, an art I had barely mastered when I was 20 — and they all talk about feeling appreciated and having a meaningful life. They are not given a place at the table graciously, nor are they spoken to in a loud, condescending voice, but they are actively involved in the local community. It is clearly a culture that we have lost in modern society, where we cultivate differences between generations instead of what connects us to each other.

Is it still working? To learn from the blue zones and get something back? One of the five Blue Zones is Singapore, one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Oslo can just sleep, yes, even major American cities have to compete. Within a single generation, Singapore has increased life expectancy by 25 years and now has the highest and healthiest life expectancy in the world. This is not only because they live healthier lives, but because they live in an area where healthy food is subsidized, unhealthy food is taxed heavily, driving is taxed heavily, and public transportation and walking are available. The authorities also provided tax exemptions for maternity homes. They explain these radical measures by the fact that Singapore is a small city-state, where citizens are their main resource. In Oslo, the city council has been thinking like in Singapore for a long time. The government should also do so. Why aren't Norwegians the longest-living people in the world?

Recipe for Living a good, long life isn't just about eating more legumes, it's about being able to live a meaningful life until you die. It may seem that we have lost sight of this. We divide life into more or less productive stages of the family and the state. All life must be given meaning.