Do you want to live longer? Forget the blue zones – these factors increase your chances of aging well | Melissa Davey

There it is a whole range of scientific research dedicated to uncovering the lifestyles of people living in the Blue Zones – areas of the world where a greater proportion of people appear to live exceptionally long lives beyond the age of 100.

From Okinawa in Japan to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, the seven Blue Zone regions have spawned books, diets, documentaries and endless social media posts from “wellness coaches” delving into what these places are that make people to live. so long.

What does the evidence say about blue zones?

In September, Australian researcher Dr. Saul Newman, now at the Oxford Institute of Population Aging in Great Britain, won an Ig Nobel Prize after discovering the one crucial factor for longevity common to all these regions.

Terrible administration, as it turns out.

Newman tracked down 80% of the people in the world who claimed to be 110 years or older and found that almost none of them had a birth certificate. His work is supported by a Japanese government survey that found that 82% of people over the age of 100 in Japan were actually dead or could not be located.

“Okinawans eat Spam and KFC at high levels and are last in Japan in vegetable and sweet potato consumption, eating 41 kg of meat per year,” says Newman. “They consistently have the worst BMI in Japan since 1975, including among the over-75s. These are not my details. It comes from the government of Japan, surveying the people of Okinawa in the world’s largest nutrition survey.”

It turns out that many of the components of diets such as those of the Mediterranean, Okinawan and other diets from the blue zone regions are cherry-picked and do not reflect how these people actually live.

What do experts recommend?

The doctor and executive director of the George Institute for Global Health Australia, Prof. Bruce Neals, says that if you look at many of the recommendations made in articles about the blue zone lifestyle, “some of the suggestions are good for people” .

Eating more leafy greens and getting exercise every day are important, evidence-based recommendations, he says.

“There are also a lot of things that are clearly wrong,” he says, such as including a certain amount of wine in the diet. Alcohol, for example is not part of a heart-healthy diet, but is recommended by some blue zone diet proponents.

“But the things that have really helped people live longer are environmental factors such as having a sewage system, having fresh water readily available, and living in a society where there is a reasonable degree of equality, peace and money” , says Neal. Also vaccines contribute significantly to life expectancy.

He says these are often factors outside the individual’s control and have to do with the environment, government policy and the distribution of wealth.

And for people privileged enough to have access to all these things? Are there ways to add longer life?

Registered dietitian Dr Daisy Coyle says: “There is no specific formula for living to 110 years, but we do know some factors that can influence longevity.”

A healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding smoking, exercising regularly and limiting alcohol consumption are important. Managing stress, getting enough sleep, creating healthy connections and avoiding risky behaviors are also important, she says.

“Adopting these lifestyle habits can increase your chances of aging well, but they do not guarantee that you will live past 100.”

Genetics plays a role, she says: “Not only in how long you live, but also in your susceptibility to conditions such as cancer and other diseases.”

Professor Yun-Hee Jeon, professor of healthy aging at the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre, has interviewed hundreds of older people in rural and regional areas about their health and quality of life.

She says social connection is an incredibly important factor that contributes not only to longevity, but also to quality of life and overall well-being.

“We’re not talking about hundreds of followers on social media,” she says. “We talk about having some people close to where we live and having a sense of connection with them.”

Jeon says finding the perfect combination of lifestyle hacks to live longer may seem appealing, but irritates her. She says that even people who do everything “right” are still likely to get sick once they reach a certain point.

“About 80% of people aged 75 and over experience more than one health problem, but that doesn’t mean they won’t age well, that they will all die soon or that they can no longer have a quality of life. she says.

“What we have to do is accept that we will be exposed to health challenges in later stages of our lives, and so for me a healthy life is about the ability to adapt to those challenges and have some independence to do things that you like. I am more interested in a quality life than a longer life.”

Melissa Davey is the medical editor of Guardian Australia. She has completed a master’s degree in public health and moonlighting as a fitness instructor

Antiviral is a biweekly column that interrogates the evidence behind health headlines and fact-checks popular wellness claims