SpeedReader Summaries - The Blue Zones Solution by Dan Buettner: Summary and Analysis

Please note that this is an UNOFFICIAL summary and analysis. This summary and analysis is not affiliated, authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by the subject books author or publisher.

Blue Zones = Longer Lives

• Many of us think of the modern, industrialized world as the healthiest environment available to human beings. After all, technological advances, healthcare advances, and availability of supplements and organic foods must necessarily lead to longer, healthier lives. Blue Zones defeat this assumption.
• Blue Zones are what researchers have labeled certain environments and communities with the highest proportion of centenarians living without assistance.
• In a nutshell, Blue Zones are demographic or geographic areas where people live measurably longer lives.
• Researchers, so far, have identified five Blue Zones: Ikaria in Greece, Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa in Japan, Loma Linda in California, and the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica.
• Common traits shared by Blue Zones: their members have diets that focus on fresh produce, move around throughout the day, and prioritize close relationships with other people.

• Researchers have not come to a final agreement as to what, exactly, it is that causes people in Blue Zones to live longer.
• Because the human body is so complicated, researchers still are not able to pinpoint with precise detail all the things that lead to a long, healthy life, but are able to speculate.
• No researcher, scientist, or physician, however can provide absolute advice on what to do or habits to pursue that will enable you to live to be 100 years old.

The Importance of Environment

• You probably realize that the place where you live impacts your lifestyle and habits, but you may not realize how much influence it actually has. For the less privileged, living in an area where there is little access to inexpensive, healthy food will make it very difficult to follow a wholesome diet. The same goes for access to places to be active and socialize safely.
• Even for people who live in more affluent areas, environment can impact lifestyle in a way that shortens lives. Examples include easy access to convenience foods, driving cars everywhere instead of walking or biking, air pollution, regional food preferences, et cetera.
• To create an environment similar to the Blue Zones, one must be willing to give up some of the customary comforts and conveniences of the typical modern Western lifestyle.
• Blue Zone towns are designed to be walkable, and people do walk or bike much more than they drive.
• Blue Zones depend on fresh, local produce rather than processed foods.
• People in Blue Zones are very socially active with friends, neighbors, and family members.

• If you have the luxury of being able to move to a more active, more pedestrian-friendly part of town, you should seize that opportunity.
• If moving is not an option for you, but look for ways to make your environment more Blue Zone-like.
• Get a standing desk platform to put on your desk at work.
• Invite friends over after work for a bike ride or walk around the neighborhood
• Play outside with your dog and/or kids
• Avoid the center aisles of the grocery store (where the processed food is located).

Physical Activity

• People in Blue Zones dont do CrossFit or TurboKick or run ten miles a day. They dont need to. These exercises have little effect on long-term health if you spend most of your day sitting on the couch or behind a desk.
• In Blue Zones, people are active all day out of necessity. They walk to work, to the store, to each others homes. They stay active at their jobs and, when they come home from work, they dont veg out in front of the television but continue to be active doing housework, gardening, or playing with their children. They do these things not because they want to, but because these things are necessary.

• Dont let a machine do for you something you can physically do yourself (dish washing, push mowing instead of using a riding mower, driving when you could walk or bike, taking the elevator when you could take the stairs).
• Find ways to incorporate movement into your day. Notice how much better your body feels when its moving than when its sedentary.
• Look for hobbies that involve natural movement, like gardening or sports or even just leisurely walks.
• Think about getting a standing desk or treadmill desk.

Eating to Live, Not Living to Eat

• When most of us reach for protein, we tend to go for animal products, which contain lots of fat and toxic ingredients. People who eat a lot of meat have about 70 percent higher mortality than people who are eating very little meat, and are four times more likely to develop cancer.