Dan Buettner: Living Long Requires More Than A Plant-Based Diet

Dan Buettner’s Research On Blue Zones Reveals What Factors Contribute To Living 100+ Years.

It is a proven fact that plant-based diets can cure diseases that medicines and surgeries can’t.

There are alternative and integrative doctors and proponents who can present case after case showing how food has and can heal the body of even the expected to be “terminal” diseases like cancers and diabetes.

But what is it that we are ultimately looking for by turning to a plant-based diet?

…Are we looking for a way to ward off and cure disease?

What do vegetarians and vegans really want to achieve by eating a plant-based diet?

I equated living disease-free to living a long life. That’s what I thought a plant-based diet could achieve for you.

…Until recently

I recently read this research by Dan Buettner on what he calls “Blue Zones” which proves that more than eating a plant-based diet is required to live a long life.

Not only would you want to live long, but you would also want to live “healthy” and health reaches far beyond the foods you eat. As shown in Dan’s research, it reaches into lifestyle habits.

Dan defines his “Blue Zones” as communities that may be located anywhere in the world where you find that their elders live to record setting ages, ie. 100+, with vim and vigor.

Out of this research, Dan Buettner identified 9 diet and lifestyle habits that are common among these communities which he feels confident using as the formula for longevity.

9 Diet and Lifestyle Habits Is The Formula For Longevity

In the Blue Zones (Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Loma Linda, Calif.; and the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica), people live 10 years longer, experience a sixth the rate of cardiovascular disease and a fifth the rate of major cancers.

1. Move naturally — be active without thinking about it. Identify activities you enjoy and make them a part of your day.

Inconvenience yourself: ditch the remote, the garage door opener, the leaf-blower; buy a bike, broom, rake, and snow shovel.

Have fun, be active. Ride a bike instead of driving, for example.

Walk! Nearly all the centenarians we’ve talked to take a walk every day.

2. Cut calories by 20 percent. Practice “Hara hachi bi,” the Okinawan reminder to stop eating once their stomachs are 80 percent full.

Serve yourself, put the food away, then eat.

Use smaller plates, plates, bowls, and glasses.

Sit and eat not in the car or standing in front of the fridge.

3. Plant-based diet. No, you don’t need to become a vegetarian, but do bump up your intake of fruits and veggies.

Use beans, rice or tofu as the anchor to your meals.

Eat nuts! Have a 2-ounce handful of nuts daily (it’ll stop you from digging in the chip bag).

4. Drink red wine (in moderation).

Keep a bottle of red wine near your dinner table.

Keep the daily intake to two servings or less.

5. Plan de Vida: determine your life purpose. Why do you get up in the morning?

Write your own personal mission statement.

Take up a new challenge. Learn a language or an instrument.

6. Down shift — take time to relieve stress. You may have to literally schedule it into your day, but relaxation is key.

Don’t rush – plan on being 15 minutes early.

Cut out the noise – limit time spent with the television, computer, or radio on.

7. Belong /participate in a spiritual community.

Deepen your existing spiritual commitment.

Seek out a new spiritual or religious tradition.

8. Put loved ones first/make family a priority.

Establish family rituals (game night, family walks, Sunday dinners).

Show it off: create a place for family pictures and souvenirs that shows how you’re all connected.

Get closer: consider downsizing to a smaller home to promote togetherness.

9. Pick the right tribe — the people surrounding you influence your health more than almost any other factor. Be surrounded by those who share Blue Zone values.

Identify your inner circle. Reconsider ties to people who bring you down.

Be likable!