By studying the world’s Blue Zones–“communities whose elders live with vim and vigor to record-setting age”–Dan Buettner and team discovered a set of common behavioural traits in their subjects.
In his TEDxTC talk Buettner discusses what he discovered to be the myths of living longer and the nine common diet and lifestyle habits of those who live to be active at 100+:
- Exercise Naturally: They don’t consciously exercise — rather, daily physical exercise was a natural part of their lives (walking, using stairs, cycling for transport, etc.).
- Downshift: They live a simple life.
- Have a Purpose: Knowing and acting with purpose and having a higher goal leads to around a seven year increase in life expectancy.
- Moderate Alcohol Intake: I’ve discussed this at length before.
- Plant-Based Diet: Not a vegetarian diet, but a largely plant-based one.
- No Overeating: They avoid overeating, typically by using ‘nudges’.
- Friends and Family First: They typically think of their close friends and family first.
- Belong to a Faith-Based Community: Belonging to a faith-based community, and meeting on average four times a month, can add four to fourteen years to one’s life. Does this exclude atheists? I don’t see why a humanist community that meets the same rules (meeting regularly) would be different.
- Belong to the Right ‘Tribe’: They surround themselves with the ‘right’ people. By doing so they prevent getting bad habits through social network effects (also discussed previously).
via David DiSalvo