- [Narrator] Five regions around the world known
as Blue Zones are rare longevity hotspots
where people live to a healthy old age.
The term Blue Zone was coined by National Geographic
fellow and author Dan Buettner.
- There's a daily time where you just slow down
and you let the stress reverse course a little bit.
- [Narrator] He first used it in his
2005 National Geographic cover story
"The Secrets of a Long Life."
In these communities, people frequently live well
into their nineties and beyond the age of 100.
Many of these people exercise frequently
and maintain close social bonds with those around them.
They also follow a predominantly
whole food plant-based diet.
Number one, Okinawa.
- It's simple, not so oily.
And then they do not eat a lot.
They stop eating at maybe 70% or 60%.
- [Narrator] Some of the world's oldest
human beings live in Okinawa,
a string of islands in the south of Japan.
Their long life expectancy has earned the island
the nickname the land of immortals.
The Okinawan people have low rates
of cancer, dementia, and heart disease,
health conditions that plague many people
in the West when they enter old age.
The overall life expectancy in America is 78 years.
According to the CDC,
approximately 85% of older adults have at least
one chronic health condition.
In Okinawa, women live longer than
any other women on the planet.
For every a 100,000 inhabitants,
the string of islands has 65 centenarians.
Almost two thirds of its centenarian population have made it
to the age of 97 living completely independently.
Experts believe genetics could play a part
in their long lives as well as lifelong friendships
and a sense of purpose.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Translator] I don't try to live as long as possible.
It happens naturally because we all gather,
laugh, and cry together and that's what's good,
that's what we say.
- [Narrator] But lifestyle and diet are also important.
Only 2% of the Okinawan diet is made up of meat.
The rest predominantly consists of sweet potatoes,
rice, tofu, legumes, grains, and vegetables.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Number two, Sardinia, Italy.
- We think that's a hypothesis that maybe there is something
in the food, in the plants, in the herbs, whatever,
the microbiome that helps them to maintain
this excellent microcirculation.
- [Narrator] In Sardinia, Italy,
there's a kidney shaped cluster of villages
that make up the first ever officially recognized Blue Zone.
It's home to nearly 10 times more centenarians
per capita than the United States.
The people who live there are cut off
from the rest of Sardinia
and follow a mostly traditional lifestyle.
- There's something about this area
that is helping longevity of life.
And I wonder if it's in food that you're growing here.
- Organic here is not a trend here.
It's what you have.
They would not eat tomato in December
because they know there are no tomato in December.
- [Narrator] They do hunt and fish,
but their diet is predominantly plant-based.
They harvest their own vegetables and grains.
47% of their diet consists of whole grains.
Meat is only eaten on Sundays or on special occasions.
The residents maintain healthy close bonds
with friends and family, exercise regularly,
and drink one or two glasses of Cannonau red wine a day,
which they say helps to lower stress levels.
Number three, Nicoya Costa Rica.
Nicoya in Costa Rica is home to around
3 1/2 times the global average of centenarians.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Their long lives are attributed
to a sense of purpose, a focus on family,
a strong social circle, healthy amounts of sun exposure,
calcium enriched water, and a plant heavy diet.
- If the average American could eat a cup of beans a day,
it would add four years to their life expectancy.
They do it every day for an entire life.
- [Reporter] A morning ritual that's washed down
with a cup of black coffee.
- [Narrator] While Nicoyans do eat small amounts of meat
as well as eggs, cheese, and other animal products,
they eat significant amounts
of fruit, grains, and vegetables.
(speaking in foreign language)
According to Blue Zones, the Nicoyan
centenarians have eaten a traditional
Mesoamerican diet for most of their lives,
which highlight the quote "three sisters of agriculture,
corn, squash, and beans."
(speaking in foreign language)
Number four, Ikaria, Greece.
A small Island in Greece, Ikaria is relatively isolated
from the rest of the country.
The people who live there hold tradition,
family, and culture close to their hearts
and they live long, healthy lives.
One in three Ikarians live to their nineties.
According to Blue Zones, Ikarian centenarians
drink herbal tea, exercise frequently,
fast occasionally, nap regularly,
and prioritize their social circles.
They also eat a plant forward Mediterranean diet high
in greens, potatoes, legumes, and fruits.
- It's a lot of beans, vegetables, milk, eggs,
whatever from the nature.
- [Narrator] Only 5% of their diet is made up of meat.
Number five, Loma Linda, California.
In the Loma Linda area of California,
there is a Blue Zone community of around 9,000 people
who belong to the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Health is central to their faith and their way of life.
They don't often smoke or drink alcohol.
They exercise frequently.
They eat little meat.
Most of their diet is made up of plants.
Adventists often cite Genesis 1:29 from the Bible
which reads, "And God said,
'Behold, I've given you every herb bearing seed,
which is upon the face of all the earth and every tree,
in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed;
to you, it shall be for meat.'"
Many experts believe the plant heavy diet
and active lifestyle in the Loma Linda community
helps them live up to a decade longer
than the average American.
American heart surgeon. Dr. Ellsworth Wareham
who died at the age of 104,
followed a vegan diet for 50 years,
attributing it to his good health.
- Well, I, of course, I then became entirely vegan.
I think that it has been a very fine form of nutrition.
- [Narrator] In 2009, Wareham, who lived in Loma Linda,
told the Los Angeles Times,
"The medical profession has done a great job
of treating a disease.
But I think we need to do a much better job
of preventing a disease."
Like other communities with a large number
of centenarians, Loma Linda residents
also attribute their long lives to a sense of purpose,
belonging, being around like-minded people and friends.
Blue Zones aren't the only regions
where people live well beyond 90.
There are other communities around the world
where experts have found that people follow predominantly
plant-based lifestyles and live to a healthy old age.
Number six, Hunza Valley, Pakistan.
In the idyllic Hunza Valley in Pakistan,
legend has it that some have even lived to be 160 years old.
Reports around the documented average life expectancy
of the Hunza people are varied, but most agree
that it is between 90 and a hundred years old.
While no one knows for certain how long they really live,
just like in the blue zones, rates of illness
among the Hunza people are low.
Visiting physicians found the elderly population
in the Valley to be fit and virtually free from disease.
This is attributed to frequent exercise.
The Hunza people have no choice
but to take constant physical activity.
The Valley is mountainous with rough terrain
and the nearest farmable land is a two hour walk away.
The Hunza people's diet includes minimal animal products
due to a lack of fuel for cooking as well as animals to eat.
They eat predominantly raw plant-based foods
like foraged berries.
- A very high life expectancy because of the fresh air,
and especially because of the food.
And so one of the very traditional dishes
that we've been eating, and actually it's probably
my favorite dish of the entire meal,
is the chapati which is filled with the apricot seed paste.
- [Narrator] They also grow their own crops
including wheat and barley.
Number seven, Abkhazia.
In Georgia, legend also surrounds the Abkhazia people
who live in an autonomous region near the Black Sea.
According to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry
of the Republic of Abkhazia, in the 1970s,
40% of the population were over the age of 90.
Reports from the 1970s also claim that some
Akhazia people have lived to 150 years old.
These reports are disputed although it is not unheard of
for a person to live decades past their hundredth birthday.
The oldest person ever is thought
to have lived to the age of 122.
There's no argument that the Abkhazia
people are generally very healthy and strong.
Elders rarely suffer from any old age illnesses of the West
and have even been known to run up and down mountains.
The Abkhazia people follow a mostly
plant-based diet consuming lots
of raw greens, whole grains, and nuts.
As well as lifestyle and diet,
some believe that their attitude toward life
and age could be important too.
Reports say that many Abkhazia people look forward
to growing old, unlike in the West,
where many people try to desperately
slow down the aging process.
Number eight, the Vilcabamba Valley in Ecuador.
In Ecuador's Vilcabamba Valley,
a region known as the Valley of Longevity,
aging is also respected and embraced.
Recent research suggests that people
who live there do not necessarily live longer
than other human beings, but they do tend to grow old
in good health without chronic illness.
Scientists believe this is due to lots
of physical activity and diet.
The people of the Vilcabamba Valley eat a predominantly
plant-based diet consisting of vegetables
freshly plucked from the ground,
as well as fruit straight from the trees.
Do you want to celebrate your hundredth birthday?
Maybe make like Wareham, the Blue Zones,
the land of immortals, and the Valley of longevity
and consider giving a life with fewer animal products a try.
What do you think?
Will you give it a go?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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(gentle music)