The Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest by Dan Buettner. 

4/5 rating.

Book #139 of 2019. Read December 6, 2019.

This was a very interesting book about Dan’s time in multiple “blue zones” around the world. These blue zones are areas with a population that is much longer-lived than the average, and home to the world’s oldest people.

Dan gives a lot of interviews with these amazing people. I think this actually is my favorite part about the book. They are such interesting characters and his explanations of their habits and interactions are definitely worth the read.

As a bonus, Dan gives some of the most likely contributing factors per zone, and sums up the most likely ideas for a longer and better life over his entire review of these areas. These are hugely important for how they impact people’s lifespans. But they are not secrets; they are what you have heard from REAL experts all your life: daily moderate exercise, diets heavy in fruits and veggies, but even more importantly, having a purpose for your life, taking time to relax, and ensuring a sense of belonging.

One 102 year-old, Okinawan woman summed it up best: “Eat your vegetables, have a positive outlook, be kind to people, and smile.” 

Quotes:

“Scientific studies suggest that only about 25 percent of how long we live is dictated by genes, according to famous studies of Danish twins. The other 75 percent is determined by our lifestyles and the everyday choices we make. It follows that if we optimize our lifestyles, we can maximize our life expectancies within our biological limits.”

“In fact, experts say that if we adopted the right lifestyle, we could add at least ten good years and suffer a fraction of the diseases that kill us prematurely. This could mean an extra quality decade of life!”

“If antioxidants were so healthy, the whole generation that grew up eating Twinkies, Wonder Bread, and the like (the kinds of foods that are loaded with antioxidants to assure that they had a long shelf life and would never spoil) should never grow old.”

“Most vitamin requirements are best achieved by eating six to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day.”

“They say they can stop – and even reverse – aging, claims which are absolutely false.”

“He received us at his kitchen table, where he greeted us with open arms and a tumbler of wine – which he insisted we drink with him. It was 9:30 in the morning.”

“The economic impact of cardiovascular disease on the U.S. health care system continues to grow as the population ages. The cost of heart disease and stroke in the United States has been estimated at $432 billion for 2007, including health care expenditures and lost productivity.”

“‘Hara hachi bu?’ I repeated.

‘It’s a Confucian-inspired adage,’ Craig chimed in. ‘All of the old folks say it before they eat. It means ‘Eat until you are 80 percent full.’”

“‘But there are simple things everyone could be doing right now that would save so much money and suffering – like drinking enough water every day, exercise, and eating healthy food. But hey,’ Wareham said, suddenly catching himself in his fervor, ‘everybody has his own idea about these things – it’s their lives, after all. You can tell somebody what to do, but it’s up to them whether they do it. But you can tell them how good you feel.’”

“Life is short. Don’t run so fast you miss it.”

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