The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest

194 Pages·2010·1.63 MB·English

by  Dan Buettner

THE Blue Zones
THE Blue Zones
LESSONS FOR LIVING LONGER
FROM THE PEOPLE
WHO’VE LIVED THE LONGEST
DAN BUETTNER
WASHINGTON, D.C.
For Roger and Dolly
Published by the National Geographic Society
Copyright © 2008 Dan Buettner
All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents
without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.
ISBN: 978-1-42620341-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Buettner, Dan.
The blue zones: lessons for living longer from the people who’ve lived the
longest / by Dan Buettner.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Longevity. 2. Medical geography. I. Title.
RA776.75.B84 2008
613.2—dc22
2007044375
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A MESSAGE TO THE READER
This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author. It is intended to
provide helpful and informative material on the subjects addressd in the
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Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Get Ready to Change Your Life
Chapter One
The Truth About Living Longer
Chapter Two
The Sardinian Blue Zone
Chapter Three
The Blue Zone in Okinawa
Chapter Four
An American Blue Zone
Chapter Five
Discovering Costa Rica’s Blue Zone
Chapter Six
Your Personal Blue Zone
Bibliography
Illustration Credits
Acknowledgments
WITHOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA’S Dr. Robert Kane, who
endorsed and helped shape the Blue Zones premise, this book would have never
materialized. He and his colleagues from the National Institute on Aging, Dr.
Jack Guralnick, Dr. Luigi Ferrucci and Dr. Paul Costas; Dr. Thomas Perls from
the New En gland Centenarian Study; Dr. Greg Plotnikoff, Medical Director of
Allina’s Institute for Health and Healing; University of Lovain’s Dr. Michel
Poulain and University of Illinois, Chicago’s Dr. S. Jay Olshansky would spend
countless hours sharing expertise, identifying locations, developing
methodologies, and ultimately keeping me on the path of science and off the
short cuts of conjecture and hyperbole. I cannot thank them enough.
Of the many experts around the world who contributed to this project, I am
especially indebted to Dr. Craig Willcox, Dr. Bradley Willcox, Dr. Mokoto
Suzuki of the Okinawa Centenarian study; Dr. Tatsama; Dr. Luca Deiana of
Sardinia’s AKEA Study and his incandescently brilliant protégé Dr. Gianni Pes;
Dr. Paolo Francalacci; Drs. Gary Fraser and Terry Butler of the Adventist Health
Study; Dr. Luis Rosero-Bixby of the Central American Population Center; and
Dr. Leonardo Mata. They not only lent their expertise but also extended their
hospitality and generosity of spirit. Dr. Len Hayflick, Dr. Jack Weatherford, and
Dr. Richard Suzman graciously consented to many long interviews. The faculty
at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health, including Dr. Robert
Jeffreys, Dr. Tatyana Shamliyan, Dr. Robert W. Jeffery, Dr. John Finnegan, Dr.
Cheryl Perry, and especially Dr. Leslie Lytle have been and still are my academic
partners.
Many of the experiences on which this book is based reflect a shared effort
by the members of Quest Team who have traveled with me to the Blue Zones.
Photographer and long-time expedition partner David McLain deserves much of
the credit in developing the Blue Zones idea. Nick Buettner, Damian Petrou,
Gianluca Colla, Sabriya Rice, Rachel Binns, Sayoko Ogata, Dr. Elizabeth Lopez,
Eliza Thomas, Tom Adair, Michael Mintz, Meshach Weber, Thad Dahlberg, Eric
Luoma, Joseph Van Harken, and Suzanne Pfeifer all shared their ample talents
and endured many long days and nights to bring Blue Zones to life.
This story would have never been told without Peter Miller, my editor at
National Geographic. He backed the idea for the original magazine story and
guided me through my first drafts of the book. Michelle Harris further improved
the book through her thorough fact checking, and Dr. Robert M. Russell’s review
of our chapters helped keep us on track. Also at National Geographic, I thank
Lisa Thomas and Amy Briggs for orchestrating this book; Rebecca Martin for
shepherding us through the Expeditions Council grant process; Valerie May and
Miki Meek for bringing Blue Zones to life online; and picture editor Susan
Welchman for her fiercely relentless friendship and guidance. Assistants Jorge
Vindas (Costa Rica), Marisa Montebella (Sardinia), and Kadowaki Kunio
(Okinawa) were the unseen engines behind our successful stories.
No project of this magnitude happens without sponsors and financial
partners. I wish to especially thank Marty Davis, the Davis family, and
DAVISCO for their commitment to health and vast generosity; Jane Shure from
the National Institute on Aging who was instrumental in obtaining our initial
funding from the National Institutes of Health; Becky Malkerson, John
Helgerson, Laura Juergens, and Maria Lindsley who championed Blue Zones at
Allianz Life; Valerie May and Nancy Graham for navigating the waters at
AARP; Nishino Hiroshi who found most of the funding in Japan; the Target
Foundation, the Best Buy Foundation, Lawson Software, and the National
Geographic Expeditions Council.
At Blue Zones’ Minneapolis headquarters, Scott Meyer has been our mentor
and marketing guru from the very beginning. The office team: Matt Osterman,
Sarah Kast, Phil Noyed, Amy Tomczyk, Nancy Fuller McRae, and Jennifer
Havrish have endlessly helped with research, proofreading, and have patiently
endured my nonlinear methods; and the extended team including PR maven
Laura Reynolds; Remar Sutton, Dr. Mary Abbott Waite, and the late George
Plimpton, who provided crucial editorial assistance; Britt Robson for his help on
the Okinawa and Loma Linda Chapters; our advisors including Tom Rothstein,
Frank Roffers, Elwin Loomis, Jon Norberg, Ed McCall, Tom Gegax, Kevin
Moore, Molly Goodyear, Chris Mahai, John Foley, and John Gabos who lent
generous business advice; Thad Dahlberg, Dan Grigsby, and Bruno Bornstein,
who built the Blue Zones website; and Keiko Takahashi, who created the Blue
Zones identity.
And to the members of the media who have taken a chance and made the
Blue Zones a national story I’d like to thank: Diane Sawyer, Rob Wallace,
Jennifer Joseph, Anderson Cooper, Barbara Walters, Sanjay Gupta, Alyssa