WHEN YOU COMBINE a whole-food, plant-based diet with daily activity, stress reduction, and community involvement, does the outcome equal a longer, healthier life?
Blue Zones experts seem to believe that, yes, yes it does.
The Blue Zones lifestyle has been around for a while, but Netflix gave it a boost last year after releasing a docu-series, Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones. The dietary portion of the Blue Zones lifestyle even has its own meal planning service and line of frozen meals.
Unlike fad diets such as Whole30 and keto, the Blue Zones diet encompasses a lot of what dieticians have been recommending for decades.
Let’s take a look at what a Blue Zones diet entails, and if it’s right for everyone.
What are Blue Zones?
Blue Zones are regions all over the world where the lifespan – and health span – of residents is longer than average. According to research, people in Blue Zones reach the age of 100 at 10 times greater rates.
The actual term “Blue Zones” comes from the work of scientists Gianni Pes and Michel Poulain, who drew blue circles on a map around locations with outstanding longevity. They began referring to these areas as “Blue Zones.”
There are currently five Blue Zones.
- Okinawa, Japan
- Sardinia, Italy
- Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica
- Ikaria, Greece
- Loma Linda, California
Blue Zones are often touted as models of healthy living, with their commonalities around diet, lifestyle, stress levels, and community involvement. These factors, among others, are thought by some experts to be the reasons why people who live in Blue Zones are some of the healthiest and longest-living in the world.
What is lifespan vs health span?
Lifespan is how long we live. Health span is the duration of a person’s life during which they are in good health. In many cases, health span is shorter than lifespan.
In addition to a longer lifespan, people who live in Blue Zones reportedly a longer health span, living happier, healthier lives for far longer than the average person around the world. This is difficult to quantify objectively, however.
What is the Blue Zones diet?
The Blue Zones diet is made up of 95 to 100 percent plants and mostly whole, minimally processed foods, including 115g of nuts and 1/2 to 1 cup of beans daily. The food you eat is ideally locally-grown, with very limited animal products such as meat, fish, dairy, and eggs. The diet is also low in added sugar. Wine is allowed in moderation, as are coffee and tea.
The main pillars of the Blue Zones do seem to align with current research around diet and lifestyle: that plant-forward, high-fibre diets are associated with lower risk for disease, lower stress levels may improve cardiovascular risk, and a focus on community can improve at least self-rated health levels.
The benefits of the Blue Zones diet
Consuming a diet that’s high in plants, including beans and pulses (these come with bonus points for sustainability), soy products such as tofu, and a variety of fruits and vegetables, is associated with better health outcomes.
It’s important to remember that eating whole foods doesn’t have to be expensive – canned foods such as beans and lentils, fruit, and vegetables, as well as frozen whole foods definitely count towards your plant intake.
Cutting down on your intake of ultra-processed foods, even by a small amount, and drinking alcohol moderately, can benefit health.
The drawbacks of the Blue Zones diet
For people on limited incomes, affording a wide variety of fresh food can be difficult.
