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

Dan Buettner's THE BLUE ZONES is sub-titled LESSONS FOR LIVING LONGER FROM THE PEOPLE WHO'VE LIVED THE LONGEST. With support extending over years from NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine, Buettner assembled star teams of linguists, anthropologists, medical doctors, reporters, psychologists and others. They visited and interviewed hundreds of people 90 years and older residing in pinpointed areas in four countries: Italy/Sardinia, Okinawa/Japan, Loma Linda/California/USA and Costa Rica. ***

After hearing in October 1999 a scientific paper describing the high percentage of centenarians in the Ogliastra district of Sardinia, skeptical Belgian demographer Dr Michel Poulain took action (26 ff). Beginning in 2000 Poulain made ten visits to Sardinia. When he found an area with phenomenally high numbers of age-validated 100-year olds, Poulain circled it with blue ink on a map. Hence, the now universally accepted name "Blue Zone" for centenarian-dense locales. ***

Dan Buettner is a rare popularizer. Many, perhaps most, popularizers of scientific theories and expeditions simply describe or summarize the work of others. Buettner does plenty of that. In addition, remarkably he has himself done, inspired and led an enormous amount of interviewing of the aged in various parts of the world. He has raised funds and public awareness of the existence of at least four Blue Zones and probably inspired a younger generation as well as a now heavily supportive AARP to probe why in certain areas so many people live to 90 and beyond before becoming seriously diminished in their ability to work, relate to others and be content. Buettner also flagged his rich web site http://www.bluezones.com. ***

The book is a quick, easy read. It concludes with nine generalizations from the life styles of the four geographic areas studied. Readers are invited, for example, to adapt what they like from insights of the Seventh Day Adventists clustered in Loma Linda, California. Ditto from Okinawan gardeners, pious Costa Ricans and Sardinian shepherds. A diet rich in nuts is recommended, with kind words as well for Sardinian red wine, Cannonau, rich in flavonoids good for your heart. ***

If I have one complaint about THE BLUE ONES, it is a serious one. In a book focused on tiny, not well known areas in four widely scattered parts of the globe, there are NO MAPS! The author teaches us readers demographics, health, psychology, how to interview. He scatters black and white photos and sidebars throughout his text. But Dan Buettner does not bother to show us precisely where thousands of the centenarians interviewed reside and are busy on their stationary bikes, receiving friends in the afternoon, confessing their sins or playing with their great, great grandchildren in houses shared by their 75 year old children. A friendly hint at no charge to editors of the next edition of a pretty good book! -OOO-