Today’s Wall Street Journal had an article written by Dan Buettner, author of “The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World’s Healthiest People“.
Buettner found that the keys to longevity in these blue zones were diet, community, family, and exercise.
The cornerstone of every longevity diet in the world was the humble bean. One five-country study showed that beans were the only food that predicted a longer life—for each 20-gram serving (about two tablespoons) eaten a day, the chance of dying dropped by 8%. Dollar for dollar, most beans deliver more protein than beef. More important, beans’ high fiber content serves as a gut compost of sorts, enabling healthy bacteria to thrive.
Life in these communities is very social, and family is at the heart of the social network. In the U.S., you’re likely to live eight years longer if you have a strong social network, compared to someone who is lonely.
When it comes to exercise, it’s just a natural part of the day. Buettner found that people living in blue zones were engaged in physical activity every 20 minutes. Such activity burned 500 to 1,000 calories a day.
Buettner concludes that successful strategies to avoid disease and yield longevity require decades of adherence—or entire lifetimes. He recommends that for enduring gains in health in the U.S., we should shift our tactics away from trying to change individual behavior to optimizing our surroundings. We should make healthy choices not only easy, but also sometimes unavoidable—so that longevity “just happens” to Americans.
People in the blue zones lived in cultures that made the right decisions for them. They lived in places where fresh vegetables were cheap and accessible. Their kitchens were set up so that making healthy food was quick and easy. Almost every trip to the store, a friend’s house, work or school occasioned a walk.
So it seems that the key to longevity is going for walks with family and friends, after eating some beans. Just don’t walk behind them…
Borden's Blather 
I think community is one of the greatest treasures people can give each other.
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I agree Mona!
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I did cook the pot of beans, and they smelled wonderful. We had a family event after church, so no bean dinner. 🙂
I remember sitting at the church taking pictures while my cousin was being ordained as a deacon and thinking, “It’s so nice to have us all gathered here for something besides a funeral.” It was in a small country church, where my family took up the entire right side of the pews.
This is a major reason I moved back to my hometown, and I’m so glad my husband loves it, too. (I have a LOT of relatives here, so it’s a good thing he’s patient!)
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It sounds like you had a great day, and congratulations to your cousin. The picture you paint of your hometown sounds idyllic, and I think that’s the type of community that the author of Blue Zones has in mind when he talks about social networks.
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I love the article you linked to! So many great takeaways. And, while it would take a seismic shift in our society, our politics, our government and most of our systems to be like those villages, it’s heartening to know that we have little pockets in our towns in the form of farmers markets, co-ops and such.
Last week at my local farmers market:
– I was asked to speak next month at the market about wellness.
– I tasted a recipe made on site with ingredients purchased there (instead of the traditional veggies made with that dish).
– I bought a handmade rug I didn’t need simply because I spent a few minutes talking to the woman who recently learned how to make rugs, and she uses fabric remnants and old sheets.
(I think I just wrote a blog post.)
The WSJ headline writer was right: It takes a village.
Thanks for this post, Jim. I think I’m going to put a pot of beans in the slow cooker before church!
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It was a great article. I’ve read bits and pieces of the Blue Zones book, I should read the entire book. We also had beans for dinner today after reading the article!
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Oops. Forgot to opt in to follow-up comments.
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