Have you heard of “Blue Zones”?

These pockets of the world are known for having citizens who live long and healthy lives.

Some of these locations may look familiar:

Okinawa, Japan (home of Mr. Miyagi from Karate Kid!). Sardinia, Italy. Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica. Icaria, Greece.

These locations have a higher percentage of people living longer because of their local whole food diet, high vegetable consumption, low incidence of disease, abundant social interaction, low stress, and many physical activity.

Books, documentaries, and countless news articles have promoted these societies, and millions of health-conscious individuals have modeled their lifestyles after how these people live.

there is only one problem with this amazing story.

It’s not really true.

The First Ig Nobel Prize in Demography

Last month, Dr. Saul Justin Newman was awarded the first “Ig Nobel Prize” in Demography.

These awards are given annually for scientific research that “makes people laugh, then think.”

For this particular award, Newman was recognized for debunking almost all the findings of any study related to the Blue Zones.

Here is the discovery of Dr. Newman:

“The highest level of attainment of extreme old age is predicted by high poverty, lack of birth certificates, and fewer 90-year-olds.

Poverty and pressure to commit pension fraud have been shown to be good predictors of reaching age 100+ in a manner ‘contrary to reasonable expectations.’”

It turns out that most of the “very old, healthy” individuals in these blue zones are simply the result of Thepoor record keeping, pension fraud, and outright lyingThe.

Let’s see what is really happening in Okinawa:

“Despite vegetables and sweet potatoes being promoted as a major part of Okinawan ‘Blue Zone’ diets, according to the Japanese government, Okinawans eat the least vegetables and sweet potatoes in Japan and have the highest body mass index.”

Ooooof. So, what do we do now!?

Beware of anecdotal narratives that make dramatic promises

Spend enough time on social media, and you’ll run into people telling you to eat only meat, cut out carbs completely, how this one supplement “saved their life,” or that doing XYZ were cured of their disease, and so on.

These anecdotal stories, especially when they have a villain, a victim and a hero about overcoming adversity, are incredibly powerful. They are also often used to sell you a solution in a pill or powder form.

The good news is that our data is constantly being refined by science.

we don’t actually need to know what the people of Okinawa eat, nor do we need to study the daily habits of a particular community in Costa Rica.

Don’t get me wrong, I too love a good exotic story about the customs of a faraway land, but it still comes back to reality and science!

And we can remember that we have to do the best for our particular situation. It may include that ThetherapyThemay belong to it Theweight loss medicationThethis might include just focusing on sleep now!

The decision is up to us, and we can do it with confidence. Not because this is what is happening in Costa Rica or Greece, but simply because it is what is best for us.

Here are some of the ways in which we can positively affect our lifespan and/or health span.

Yes, some of these things are part of the “Blue Zone Diet”… if only the sensationalism and pension fraud weren’t there.

And many of them may be out of our control!

For example, Thesocial determinants of healthThe (financial stability, access to health care, education, our neighborhood) are strongly associated with all-cause mortality, and many of these things may not be available to large portions of the population.

Life is messy

I’m not saying all this to tell you to avoid a Blue Zone diet.

Heck, you could do a lot worse than eating a Mediterranean diet! Of course you’ll likely lose weight and feel healthier if you eat fresh fish, whole foods, and vegetables.

I bring all this up to remind you that life is messy.

A long healthy life is a combination of dozens of interrelated things (like those listed above), thousands of decisions made throughout our lives, plus things like genetics, society, and luck! What works for one person may not work for the next person, and there is no “one diet fits all” solution to our problems.

We may get hit by a bus tomorrow, be diagnosed with cancer despite “doing everything right,” or experience a Thefreak accident that changed everythingThe next week.

So, instead of chasing immortality through surprising anecdotes, or getting swept up in the latest Social Media trend…

We can keep our focus on the things that we feel absolutely confident will make us better tomorrow than we are today.

Like the items on that list above! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to do some push-ups, eat some vegetables, and take a brisk walk while calling a friend.

-Steve

PS Hat tip to my friend Jodi Ettenberg, whose heartbreakingly powerful story about acceptance I linked above. It is Thehis newsletterThe That led me to this article!

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