Perhaps it is time we pay
attention to what is best described as empirical evidence. There are a handful of very successful
communities around the world were it appears the majority of the inhabitants
survive nicely into their nineties and age 100 plus is very common.
Rather obviously, one should try
to at least imitate them!
In fact such empiricism has
inspired the commercial health food industry for decades but has typically
forgotten to fully integrate the package as their business model could never
support a proper synergistic program.
Eat few if any processed foods.
Eat the right kinds of fat (omega-3s).
Take in very little sugar that is not from fruit.
Eat lots of real fiber (plant products).
Drink a moderate amount of alcohol almost every day.
Take in relatively few calories every day.
Focus on togetherness, family and community.
Stay very active and social, doing everything from gardening to
celebrating with each other, not alone.
Celebrations, three-day parties, family fun, lots of social
interaction, fresh local foods and wine.
I read this list and I am more
convinced that ever that a number of protocols that I have posted here in this
blog need to become mainstream. I have
argued that the modern farm needs to be integrated into an adjunct village
which also possesses title to the farm itself and provides management
oversight. That adjunct village retains
excellent communications to external jobs but way more important it encourages an
internal economy which employs all in local endeavors. It would obviously be easily able to apply
the list described above.
They would also provide a natural
base economy for displaced individuals to retreat to in times of personal
economic stress.
Dr. Sears at The Lake of the Gods – Cotacachi , Ecuador
The wind made me sway a bit as I slung the little orange life jacket
over my head and onto my shoulders. Without thinking I tightened the thin white
nylon strap around my waist before I climbed in the boat. I don’t know why.
Like this tiny thing was going to save me if this boat ever flipped over. It
looked like it was made for a little kid. And the life jacket wasn’t very big,
either.
But whatever. The waves weren’t very high anywhere across the cold,
dark waters that had carved out “The Lake of
the Gods,” as the locals called it.
The driver fired up the motor and the boat jumped forward. I thought my
camera and I might get dumped in for an unexpected swim after all, just to
prove me wrong, and despite the calm water. But the boat straightened out after
a second, and I took a moment to look around me.
We were headed toward the tiny volcanic rock islands in the center of
the lake. The sheer cliffs of the crater sliced straight down into the deep
water.
The sun was bright, but I noticed there was still one stubborn cloud
blocking my view of the 16,200 foot peak
of Mount Cotacachi
It didn’t matter, though. Here I was, near the equator high in the Andes Mountains
Do you know what Blue Zones are? These are little-known but very
special places tucked away around the world where the people who live there
stay active and healthy well past the age of 90 and many times well over 100.
My trip to northern Ecuador
They claim the people there often live past 100 because of the water.
It flows down from the ice cap on top of Mount Cotacachi
When I was there, I tested it for its high mineral content. Above the
town of Cotacachi
[More likely it is loaded with
what I refer to as biological oxygen which remains presently practically
unknown and unexplained]
Many of the farms I saw still worked their fields by hand, and send
their produce to a fantastic organic farmer’s market in the village. It’s part
of the the largest indigenous market in South America .
It’s full of crafts, clothing, leather, inlaid silver... almost too big of a
variety to count. Over a thousand sellers gather there every Saturday.
Cotacachi is at the northern tip of a long Blue Zone called Ecuador ’s “Valley of Longevity
Another Blue Zone stop farther south in the Valley
of Longevity is the Llanganatis region
in the center of Ecuador
Vilcabamba, at the southern end of the valley, is also known for its
long-lived people.
I haven’t been to either of those places yet, but I’m hoping to go
before too long. I’ll tell you all about it when I go… and whether or not I
find the gold!
Jamaican Secret To Long Life
Another Blue Zone I have visited is near Long
Bay , on the eastern tip of Jamaica , in Portland
One local named Granny Mary just passed away this year. They claim she
was 128, but records in Jamaica
I don’t know why they live so long, but it may be because they eat
freshly caught fish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Omega-3-rich mackerel,
tuna, snapper, cod, dolphin, shrimp, and Caribbean
lobster are staples.
[but so does everyone else around
theses regions]
Omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and plaque build-up in your
arteries, both of which are primary causes for chronic disease. Plus, all the
fish is wild caught – not farm-raised fish. Farm-raised is loaded with
inflammatory arachidonic acid instead of healthy omega-3s.
On top of that, the folks in Long
Bay
One is ackee, a fruit that is rich in omega-3s, vitamin A, zinc,
and protein. Ackee is a breakfast staple commonly served with saltfish. But you
need to prepare ackee properly. If it isn’t cooked, it can cause vomiting and
even death.
Another is calalloo. It looks like spinach or kale, and you’ll
find this green, leafy vegetable in many Jamaican dishes. It has four times the
calcium, twice the iron and more than twice the vitamin A found in broccoli and
spinach.
Living Healthy Past 100
I’m sure you’ve heard about the most famous Blue Zone, the island of Okinawa
in Japan Okinawa Centenarian Study. Okinawa has a higher percentage of 100-year-olds than
almost anywhere on earth.
The people who live there aren’t overweight, and they socialize
constantly. For example, people come from all over the island to be a part of
the world’s largest tug of war every year. And it’s been going on since the
1600s!
You also may have heard that Okinawans live a long time because of what they
eat – fish, edible marine plants and vegetables high in omega-3, minerals and
vitamins that help them fight inflammation. And what they eat may be a reason
for their long lives; we have no way of knowing for sure.
But what interests me most is how they eat.
What you probably have not heard is that Okinawans have a philosophy of
eating. It’s called Hari Hachi Bu, which literally means “stomach 80%.” They
eat until their stomachs feel 80% full, and then they stop.
In the West, we’re taught to clean our plates, finish what we start and
“give everything 100%.”
In Okinawa , they make sure they never
do this when eating.
To me, this is their longevity secret. They are practicing calorie
restriction, which is a documented way to live longer.
This was discovered about 20 years ago, when researchers found a family
of life-protecting genes called sirtuins (silent information protein
regulators). Conditions of severe stress, such as starvation, turn the sirtuins
on. And they transmit signals to every cell in your body to cancel out the
effects of aging.
A Johns Hopkins University
Another advantage Okinawans have is they have very low rates of heart
disease. One of the reasons is that they have the lowest levels of homocysteine
ever measured on Earth.
Homocysteine is a naturally occurring amino acid. But too much of it
irritates the lining of your blood vessels and prevents them from dilating.
This increases your risk of heart attack and stroke.
Turns out knowing your homocysteine level is even more useful than we
thought. Homocysteine can predict other diseases as well. It’s linked to
everything from gout and psoriasis to cancer and kidney disease.
The good news is, it’s easy to keep your homocysteine level low. The
famous Okinawa Centenarian Study found that Okinawans keep their levels low
because they eat foods high in B vitamins like folate, B6 and B12.2
For my patients with homocysteine levels higher than 7, I give them
those same B vitamins. I also add riboflavin (B2) and Trimethylglycine (TMG)
which protects your blood vessels.
California Blue Zone? You’re Nuts
I’ve read a lot of studies on places where people live a long time.
Some of these studies seem to want to include Loma Linda , California U.S.
I have a feeling there’s another agenda there, though.
That’s because they always tell you some form of, “The reason the
people there live longer is because they’re all vegetarians who don’t drink.”
Meanwhile, they only live a couple years longer than the average
American, and they have to live the life of a monk to get there.
No thank you.
Don’t get me wrong, I love vegetables, but animal meat is the only good
source of some of our most important nutrients like vitamin B12 and CoQ10.
Plus, it’s well-documented that a drink a day helps you live longer.
But, there is one interesting thing I learned about people in Loma
Linda. Many of them eat a serving of nuts every day. Nuts are rich in vitamins,
healthy omega-3 fats, and selenium… just like the foods they eat on Okinawa . That’s not a reason, but it’s something to think
about.
Keep The Party Going
One Blue Zone where they do not live like monks is Icaria , Greece
And this tiny island has the highest percentage of 90-year-olds in
the planet – one of every three people. Icarians also have about 20 percent
lower rates of cancer, 50 percent lower rates of heart disease and almost no
dementia.
A brand new study may point to why visiting friends and going to
parties might keep dementia away. Cambridge
University
The foods they eat on Icaria are
simple, raw and whole. Milk and meat straight from the goat, raw vegetables
from the garden, and olive oil with every meal.
One of the foods they eat a lot is mustard greens. High in vitamin A
and vitamin K (most Americans are deficient in this nutrient), the spicy greens
are good for your blood and bone strength. Icarians boil them with olive oil,
garlic, and lemon.
The newest research into mustard greens tells us that they are high in sinigrin andgluconasturtiian,
plant nutrients that are converted into cancer-fighting compounds in the body.
In an animal study, the cancer-fighter AITC derived from sinigrin inhibited
bladder cancer growth by 35%, and stopped 100% of the cancer from getting into
the muscles.4
In a human study, AITC killed off 30 to 50% of liver cancer cells, and
also stopped the cancer from spreading. Other studies show it stops colon,
breast and prostate cancer cells, too.5
A Big Fatty Secret
Another island Blue Zone is Sardinia off the west coast of Italy Ovodda ’s percentage of 100-year-olds
is six times that of Okinawa .
But where Okinawa’s 100-year-olds are mostly women, men live just as long as
women on Sardinia . They socialize often, and
always include the elders, who are respected for their storytelling and humor.
The people there eat all fresh, local foods like pork, lamb, oily fish
and shellfish prepared simply with olive oil, lemon and garlic. They drink very
dark red wines with meals.
Did you know that Sardinian wine made from cannonau grapes has up to
four times the flavonoids of other wines? A study in the journal Nature showed
that Sardinian wines are high in procyanidins, the most active and beneficial
of the red wine antioxidants.6
They also drink sheep’s milk called pecorino, a raw milk rich in
omega-3 fatty acids.
For dessert they eat cheese and fruit. One of the cheeses they eat is
allowed to get a little rotten, because Sardinians believe the bacteria are
good for your gut, which we now know is true.
For dessert, they make treats filled with pecorino cheese called
Seadas. A Seada is like a fritter with cheese in the middle. And it’s made with
almost 100 grams of pork fat and butter, honey, lemon and eggs. Yet the people
who eat them are not overweight, and live longer than anywhere on earth. Put
that in your “low fat diet” and smoke it!
Sardinians also have a tradition of walking. They raise sheep there, so
the shepherds walk all day, of course. But the houses and gardens are far
apart, and people walk rather than ride. It’s a social tradition to go for a
walk with the entire family.
Sardinia also has a community festival called Sa Sartiglia, where
masked riders gallop through the main streets of the town of Orisanto
How Do They Live So Well For So Long?
There are other places where the people who live there claim they live
to be very old: Abkhazia near Georgia ,
which used to be part of the Soviet Union . The
Hunza Valley
in Pakistan Bama , China England
So what else can we learn from the longest lived people on Earth? Can
we use their secrets to live healthier for longer ourselves?
Well, here’s my short list of things we can learn from Blue Zones and
actually do something about
.
Eat few if any processed foods.
Eat the right kinds of fat (omega-3s).
Take in very little sugar that is not from fruit.
Eat lots of real fiber (plant products).
Drink a moderate amount of alcohol almost every day.
Take in relatively few calories every day.
Focus on togetherness, family and community.
Stay very active and social, doing everything from gardening to
celebrating with each other, not alone.
Celebrations, three-day parties, family fun, lots of social
interaction, fresh local foods and wine... hmmm... seems I may have already
been living in a Blue Zone.
_______________________________________________________
1 Mark P. Mattson. "Energy Intake, Meal Frequency and Health: A
Neurobiological Perspective." Annual Review of Nutrition. 2005; Vol.
25: 237-260.
2 “Okinawa Centenarian Study”
www.okicent.org. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
3 Bryan
4 Bhattacharya A, Li Y, Wade KL, Paonessa JD, Fahey JW, Zhang Y.
"Allyl isothiocyanate-rich mustard seed powder inhibits bladder cancer
growth and muscle invasion." Carcinogenesis. 2010 Dec;31(12):2105-10.
5 Eun-Sun Hwang and Hyong Joo Lee. "Allyl Isothiocyanate and Its
N-Acetylcysteine Conjugate Suppress Metastasis … in SK-Hep1 Human Hepatoma
Cells." Exp. Biol. Med. 2006;231:421-430
6 Corder R et al. Oenology: Red wine procyanidins and vascular health. Nature 2006;444:566-7
6 Corder R et al. Oenology: Red wine procyanidins and vascular health. Nature 2006;444:566-7
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