Why People in these 5 Countries Live Longer
Did you know that there are certain parts of the world where individuals have been found to live particularly long lives? These areas are called “blue zones,” and they may contain more than just people that practice active, healthy lifestyles.
“Have you heard of ‘Blue Zones’? They are regions of the world — five of them, to be exact — where people live abnormally long. First identified by Dan Buettner through his work with National Geographic, they include Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Loma Linda, California; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; and Ikaria, Greece.” [1]
There is no question that diet plays the biggest part in determining not only longevity, but also the quality of life, especially during the later years. A study has been published which clearly identifies the common dietary habits of some of the healthiest communities in the world. Five of those have been listed above and each one reflects a similar pattern of diet.
“Take specifically the people of Ikaria, Greece — Buettner’s personal favorite population. ‘When it comes to diet, they have three key things,’ he tells Yahoo Health. ‘Ninety percent of their calories come from plants, 65 percent of their diet is complex carbs, and the third thing — and this is a supplement everyone should run out and buy — is beans. A cup of beans a day for longevity.’” [1]
As stated, the key aspects of their diets revolve around plant-based calories, complex carbohydrates, and regular bean intake. Actually, many vegetarians living anywhere are often eating the same mix and amounts of similar type foods. What further distinguishes these 5 communities — “Blue Zones” — is that they are all located on the coastline.
Read: The 5 Foods ‘Essential for Longevity’
Negative Ions Versus Positive Ions
Seashore living usually guarantees one element that folks living in the cities or near industrial areas lack. The ambient air found on the seashore is much more clean and fresh than inland air. The winds and gentle breezes which regularly visit the coastal communities ensure a constant revitalization of the ambient atmosphere. This constant turnover with negative ion-rich ocean air ensures that negative ions are always found in much greater concentrations along the seacoasts of the world.
Wherever the air is saturated with negative ions, the human body and mind feels better. The health-promoting negative ions have many beneficial aspects which positive ions do not.
In other words, stale, polluted and particulate-filled air will always be less healthy in the long run because of the increase in positive ions.
People who live by the sea, particularly in the warmer climates, often have no need for air-conditioning or heated air. They are able to live with their windows open and frequently breathe truly fresh ocean air most of their lives. Contrast their status quo with the city dweller who is almost always living in either artificially heated or cooled air.
Then, when they navigate across the urban cityscapes, they do so in an automobile or a truck usually in long lines of traffic. Each time they stop their cars and pickups, they are sitting in the exhausts of so many other vehicles, including their own.
Related: 6 Reasons Okinawans Live to be 100+
This quite common and ever-worsening scenario speaks to the fact that the great majority of residents on planet Earth are breathing substandard air. One of the most practical ways of addressing this situation is for folks who have any kind of an acute illness or chronic disease to spend as much time as possible at the beach or in the mountains, depending on exactly what ails them.
Mountain Air is Also Saturated with Negative Ions
For the very same reasons, air in the mountains is also full of negative ions. Not only are the foothills and mountainous areas typically located far from the cities and other high-density areas, they are often covered with oxygen-producing trees and/or dense forests.
Being situated at higher elevations, the air turnover is naturally greater. Mountain streams and rivers serve to further this negative ion effect, especially where there are many or a confluence of two or three.
There is very good reason why vacationers like to go to either the beach or the mountains. They know that both venues provide a healthier environment with clean, fresh air. Not only do they feel much better on the beach or in the mountains, they can also get away with eating foods that would set them back at home.
It is a relatively unknown fact that when the human body spends most of the time in air that is super-saturated with negative ions, everything works better, especially the digestive process. Even injuries will typically repair faster by the shore, just as cuts and wounds heal up in the warm ocean saltwater.
However, it is the combination of a predominantly vegetarian diet together with fresh clean air that has set these seaside “Blue Zones” apart from their inland counterparts. Of course, the degree of stressful living is also a major component of the longevity equation, but that will be taken up in another article.
Sources:
[1] Yahoo Health
i love the smell of ocean fresh fukushima neg ions in the morning… cecium 137 with a cup o tea …bliss 😉
I known two centenarians, both females, one is of the upper class and resides in the country while the other is of the lower working class and resides in a city. The first does not smoke nor drink alcohol while the other does but the common feature is that their main meals are principally meat and two veg which tends to contradict what this article is suggesting.
I lend support to your experience as I too was a vegetarian for 18 years when I was rushed to hospital for an emergency quadruple by-pass. On coming out of the intensive care I was asked what I wanted for breakfast and my reply was, ‘Well, if I am about to die then I am going to die happy, so make it streaky-bacon with eggs fried in dripping’. That was 25 years ago and today I am 84 and feeling fine; I do however reside in a small laid-back parochial town.
I doubt eating a vegetarian diet is what harmed you. You probably just didn’t eat enough variety of foods and maybe you ate too many non-organic genetically modified grains and too much refined sugar and refined carbohydrates. Grains should be eaten in moderation not in large amounts. Most of a vegan or vegetarian diet should consist of organic fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds. Cow’s milk products which some types of vegetarians eat should especially be avoided. Casein is very harmful and many people have lactose intolerance as well. Wheat should be avoided as well. Both vegans/vegetarians as well as meat eaters are likely to suffer from a Vitamin B12 deficiency. There is very little B12 in foods. You won’t get very much from spirulina. Everyone should take a Vitamin B12 supplement and it should be in the form of methylcobalamin not the synthetic form of cyanocobalamin and supplements need to be free of chemical additives like magnesium stearate. Otherwise they will likely be worthless because of poor absorption. Everyone is exposed to heavy metals regardless of what diet they eat. Its impossible to avoid heavy metals completely. All you can do is limit your exposure as much as possible. Everyone has some amount of heavy metals in their body. The key to getting rid of heavy metals is to improve the function of your organs of detoxification especially your liver, kidneys, and colon. Smoking cigarettes is harmful even if you don’t have an allergy to cigarette smoke and just breathing it in is harmful as well.