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-title: The Longevity Experiment
-date: 2009-11-25T16:24:41Z
-source: http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/live-longer-dan-buettner-text
-tags: travel, health
-
----
-
-Text by Josh Dean
-
-Dan Buettner knows a little something about longevity. He’s the holder
-of three separate Guinness World Records for distance biking: a
-15,500-mile ride from Alaska to Argentina in 1987, when he was 27; a
-12,888-mile journey across the Soviet Union in 1990; and a 12,172-mile
-jaunt through Africa completed in 1992. But it was research on longevity
-first published in *National Geographic* that really established his
-bona fides on the subject. The Minnesota native traveled to four
-countries to study the world’s heartiest humans. In Sardinia, Okinawa,
-Costa Rica, and Loma Linda, California, Buettner partnered with
-scientists to examine anomalous pockets where the number of centenarians
-vastly exceeded the statistical average. These areas became the subject
-of his book *The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People
-Who’ve Lived the Longest* (National Geographic). This spring Buettner
-continued his research, visiting a fifth zone, the Greek island of
-Ikaría in the Aegean Sea.
-
-Despite the tremendous cultural and geographic differences between these
-distant lands, Buettner has identified common practices that seem to aid
-in extreme longevity. He calls these “The Power Nine,” or the nine rules
-any person can follow in the hopes of emulating the world’s
-longest-living humans.
-
-We caught up with the author and anthropological explorer, now 49 and
-still based in Minnesota, and asked him about his work, as well as
-whether living the adventure life offers a speed pass to health and
-happiness.
-
-**Do you consider what you do adventuring?**\
- I’m of the impression that most things sold as expeditions are
-stunts—bungee cords from hot-air balloons or stunt-y trips up Everest.
-These things don’t really add to the public discourse. They don’t offer
-up ideas. In my opinion, expeditions need to add to the body of
-knowledge or they need to educate.
-
-[**The Power Nine:** Secrets of long life from the world's healthiest
-humans
-\>\>](http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/live-longer-dan-buettner-text/5)
-
-**OK, educate: I don’t want to die at 50. What do I do? The first step
-is to think about who you hang out with.**\
- There’s no silver bullet for longevity. I’m not gonna tell you to take
-a pill. If your three best friends are obese, there’s a good chance you
-will be. Surrounding yourself with people who don’t smoke or drink too
-much and who have a spiritual component in their lives has a profound
-impact over time. Cut out the toxic people in your life and spend time
-and effort augmenting your social circle with people who have the right
-values and a healthy lifestyle.
-
-**What’s the most important dietary change?**\
- It’s very clear that the more meat you eat, the earlier you die. Cut
-out as much meat as you can. Don’t cut it out completely. That’s boring.
-Maybe go down to twice a week. That will have a huge effect. Have turkey
-on Thanksgiving, but don’t have it every night.
-
-**Does fish count?**\
- Yes. None of the Blue Zone populations eat a significant amount of
-fish. All I can tell you is that it’s animal protein, and none of these
-cultures eat very much of it. You’re better off with a plant-based diet;
-that’s indisputable. Longevity is much more a function of what you don’t
-eat than what you do eat. The only proven way to slow down aging in
-mammals is caloric restrictions. We should take in about 40 percent
-fewer calories than we normally eat—but that’s unrealistic. Instead, try
-the 80 percent rule. In Okinawa they say *hara hachi bu,* which means
-eat until you are 80 percent full. How can you consciously cut out 20
-percent of your calories? For one thing, eat off of a smaller plate—as
-Okinawans do. Use a ten-inch plate instead of a 13-inch plate, which is
-a common size in the U.S.
-
-**But booze is OK?**\
- It is. I was most amazed when we discovered that Sardinian wine had at
-least triple the amount of antioxidants of any known wine, and
-Sardinians drink this wine with great frequency and gusto. So you say,
-wow, here’s an easy explanation. But it’s not that simple. You don’t see
-that in Okinawa, for example. They drink some sake, but not much.
-
-**I found it surprising that all of the Blue Zones consume pork, which
-probably has the worst reputation in the U.S.**\
- Pork is interesting. It’s an anomaly and I would not have guessed it,
-but I can’t deny it. One Okinawan scientist studied this. His theory,
-and I’m not sure I agree with it completely, is that because pig is the
-most genetically similar to humans, there’s something in the pork
-protein that helps repair arterial damage. What he cites is that in
-America we die of heart disease and the Japanese tend to die of strokes,
-but in Okinawa they have fewer strokes. This is part of the reason they
-live longer. The doctor theorizes that it’s because they eat more pork
-than any other prefecture of Japan, and pork protein serves almost as
-caulking.
-
-**Sardinians eat a lot of bread and cheese. I guess that means that not
-all carbs are evil?**\
- You should eat some fat, some protein, and some carbs. None of them are
-evil; it’s when the balance gets out of whack that you get into trouble.
-These diets [like Atkins, or the low-fat craze] are the worst. They do a
-huge disservice. No diet in the history of the world has ever worked.
-You can’t point to one that’s worked for more than six months. That’s
-why you go to the bookstore and see 1,287 diet titles.
-
-**Well, one diet works: Limit your calories and lead an active life.**\
- People don’t stick to that. What you find is that these Blue Zone
-cultures don’t deprive themselves, but they’ve learned to cook with
-recipes that are mostly plant based. You sit down to an Okinawan meal,
-and it’s this huge pile of food. But because it’s mostly greens and tofu
-and packed with nutrients, you’ll be full. It’s tasty; there’s no
-feeling of deprivation. The reason they stick with this sort of diet is
-because it tastes good.
-
-**You said it’s more about what we don’t eat than what we do eat.
-Anything we consider healthy that actually isn’t?**\
- Just about anything you pull a wrapper off of. Do most of your shopping
-in the outer aisles of the grocery store.
-
-**You found that the Seventh Day Adventists in Loma Linda go for hikes
-on the Sabbath. Does time off promote long life?**\
- The way I put it is ritualize. Ellen White is the primary architect of
-the Adventist religion, and she was way ahead of her time with her
-ideas. She ritualized at least one period of the week where you
-de-stress and do community building. You have lunch on Saturday with
-your family and friends. And she ritualized physical activity. She
-actually called for nature walks. Look at what they do on Saturday—they
-stop everything; they focus on their god; they cut the stress out of
-what they need to do; they all go to luncheons with really good friends,
-and then they’re off on the nature walk. And the payoff is six extra
-years of life for an Adventist female and nearly ten extra years for an
-Adventist male.
-
-**What other activities tack on years?**\
- One of the greatest activities is growing a garden. You can say “That’s
-boring!” but you put it in your yard, and it requires physical activity
-to till the land, weed, water, harvest, fertilize. It’s there as a
-constant reminder to do a little bit of regular activity. It’s a
-range-of-motion activity, and it’s low intensity. And you emerge with
-organic vegetables. It’s something you have to do throughout the week
-for the entire growing season, and that’s important: subtle things that
-play out over time and not just fanatic exercise.
-
-**So how can you be really active and not damage yourself?**\
- Do regular, low-intensity physical exercise. You get 90 or 95 percent
-of the benefit of running from walking briskly. We put an excessive
-emphasis on maximum cardiovascular exertion.
-
-**So running eight miles a day . . .**\
- Is a mistake. It’s short-term benefit for long-term trouble. If you
-start running eight miles a day when you’re 20, by the time you’re 45
-your knees and hips will probably wear out. The damage to your cartilage
-can’t be undone. Really hard exercise also contributes to chronic
-inflammation. And almost every age-related disease is associated with
-inflammation. Is it a bad idea to get a good workout? No. But I’d rather
-see people walking every day than running.
-
-**That doesn’t sound like much fun.**\
- Keep in mind that this isn’t just Dan Buettner pontificating. This is
-Dan Buettner having spent seven years with four—and soon
-five—populations of people who live the longest, and you don’t see
-marathoners and triathletes among them. You see shepherds and gardeners
-and people who take simple walks. The life expectancy through most of
-recorded history was 28, and our bodies aren’t designed for eight
-decades of pounding. If you want a body that’s usable after 70 or 80,
-you need to think about that now. Maybe don’t do marathons or
-triathlons. I was a fanatic athlete. I’ve backed way down. My addiction
-was biking. Now I do yoga. I walk.
-
-**Are you saying that all the endorphin-chasing, adventure-loving people
-reading this magazine should find something else to do with their free
-time?**\
- Not at all. Here’s one thing I can tell you for sure—we know this from
-a big, global values survey: Taking the time to know what your values
-are and acting out those values are important ingredients in the formula
-for happiness. And we know that happier people live longer than unhappy
-people. That’s measurable. If your values include travel and a certain
-testing of your abilities and limits, you should invest time and money
-to do that. If that means climbing mountains or biking across continents
-or kayaking down rivers, by all means, do it. It’s probably worth the
-wear and tear on your body. But it’s not a universal to tell people that
-adventure is the key to happiness. Because other people find happiness
-curling up by a fire and reading a novel.
-
-**What led you to the newest Blue Zone?**\
- On the Greek island of Ikaría, more people reach a healthy age 90 than
-anywhere else on the planet. We’re investigating the benefits of a local
-larval honey and the island’s radon-rich hot springs.
-
-**Do you think you’ll keep seeking out these pockets of hearty humans
-for the rest of your (hopefully) long life?**\
- I thought I was going to be done with this in 2005, and here it’s four
-years later and I see no reason to stop. Now I’m going to fold happiness
-into it. The effect of unhappiness on your body is about as bad for you
-as a smoking habit. An unhappy person is about three times more likely
-to die in a given year than a happy person, for a variety of reasons:
-suicide, chronic stress, illness. If we can extract happiness secrets
-from the happiest populations, like we did with Blue Zones, we will help
-people raise their life expectancy.
-
-**The Power Nine:** Secrets of long life from the world's healthiest
-humans
-
-\
-
-**1. Move:** Find ways to stay active
-
-**2. Plan de Vida:** Discover your purpose in life
-
-**3. Downshift:** Take a break
-
-**4. 80% Rule:** Don't overeat
-
-**5. Plant Power:** Choose greens
-
-**6. Red Wine:** A glass a day
-
-**7. Belong:** Stay social
-
-**8. Beliefs:** Get ritualistic
-
-**9. Your Tribe:** Family matters