Good morning! Who doesn’t want a long life, well-lived? Quantity of years is important, but only if they’re filled with quality years. Human connection, joy, awe & wonder, service, heartache, longing, and the quiet, precious hum of everyday life in between. To experience a life full of these is a gift. To get an extra decade or two is icing—or should I say, olive oil—on top. 🫒

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Who wants to live to 100 with me?

There’s a hot new Netflix show out called “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones.” It’s a docu-series about Dan Buettner’s journey to each of the world’s five active (and one soon-to-be?) so called “Blue Zones.” These are small areas around the world in which people tend to live longer. These zones boast a significantly higher number of people in their 90s and 100s than anywhere else in the world. Suffice to say, these locations could probably teach us a thing or two about longevity.

The locations of the five Blue Zones (in the order they were detailed in the docu-series):

• Okinawa, Japan

• Sardinia, Italy

• Loma Linda, CA, USA

• Ikaria, Greece

• Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica

Big picture (and spoiler alert if you want to watch and learn this all for yourself): Buettner basically marked standout behaviors and practices from each Blue Zone and then categorized them into four principles that lead to longevity: Move Naturally, Outlook (on life), Eat Wisely, & Connect.

If you don’t want to rotate your phone or tilt your head, here’s each category, followed by three specific behaviors in each.

1. Move Naturally

   A. Do things by hand

   B. Garden

   C. Walk

2. Outlook

   A. Unwind

   B. Faith

   C. Purpose

3. Eat Wisely

   A. Plant-based

   B. Wine

   C. Moderation

4. Connect

   A. Family first

   B. Partnership

   C. Right “tribe”

I enjoyed watching the show, and below are my notes on specific qualities and behaviors of people from each of the communities that seem to help them lead such long, healthy, fulfilling lives. If you want the tl;dr on how to live a long life, follow most of these practices below and you’ll be well on your way.

Okinawa, Japan:

• TONS of purple sweet potatoes (a nutrient-rich superfood)

• They only eat until their stomach is 80% full

• Sing, dance, and laugh a lot

• Maintain mobility, cross your legs, and sit on the floor

• Maintain good walking speed

• Garden and train squatting and balance

• Enjoy the outdoors & sun

• Be in a supportive, loving friend/family group

• “Ikigai” (find your true purpose/calling, and live into it every day)

Sardinia, Italy:

• They have the most male centenarians in the world, a 1:1 ratio with women

  • Possibly due to lots of shepherding

• Walk hills (steeper villages had longer lifespans!)

• Maintain faith and hope

• If you’re eating bread, sourdough is one of the best

  • Otherwise, aim for complex carbs & whole grains

• Minestrone vegetable soup

• Stress management, and don’t be afraid of naps

• Keep elders living in the home and keep families tightly knit

• “Transmit serenity”

Loma Linda, CA, USA:

• This is primarily a Seventh Day Adventist Christian community

• Be wanted and needed, by your friends & community

• Volunteer and be of service to others

• Eat a plant-rich diet (many SDAs are vegetarians)

• Regular Sabbath (rest) and faith service attendance

• Find your “right tribe,” or others with similar healthy habits

Ikaria, Greece:

• Drink herbal teas often

• Consume natural, raw honey (not boiled or overheated)

• Invest in romantic partnership

• Don’t be afraid to enjoy high quality wine

• Dance and laugh a lot!

Nicoya, Costa Rica:

• Have a “plan de vida” (sense of purpose for your life)

• Do things by hand and move a lot throughout your day

• Work hard (but short), play hard, and rest hard. Slow down.

• Get some sunshine

• They have great proactive community healthcare

  • A community health worker visits each person’s home every year

• Beans + squash + corn are a magical combo

Bonus: Singapore:

• Public health policy plays a major role

• Prioritize pedestrians over vehicles

• Intergenerational gatherings

• Build your environment for health, and results will follow

What I think the doc missed:

My one point of disagreement: The show was pretty anti-protein. Or at least anti-animal protein. One of the behaviors in Buettner’s “Eat Wisely” category is going plant-based.

• At one point, they showed a graphic comparing a dozen eggs to a few vegetables like squash, corn, and beans, and the only stats they showed were fat and cholesterol. It didn’t show total grams of protein (eggs would’ve been way higher), but basically said both were equally protein-rich because they contained all 9 essential amino acids—true, but highly misleading. In this comparison, of course a dozen eggs looked less “healthy” compared to the veggies, because they had much higher fat and caloric content. (Also just the myth that dietary cholesterol leads to increased cholesterol in the blood has been debunked. Eat your eggs!)

I think a primary reason a high-protein diet doesn’t fit into the Blue Zone blueprint is because most countries where protein is widely available, affordable, and consumed in large amounts are usually the wealthy, industrialized, modernized countries. And most people in these areas typically also exhibit a slew of unhealthy lifestyle and behavioral factors (fast food, sedentary lifestyle, high stress, individualistic culture) that run counter to longevity practices.

But we’re learning that quality animal protein is really not detrimental to our health, as many would have us think. Resistance training has proven incredibly beneficial for healthspan. That’s why I don’t believe we’ve yet fully seen a culture that integrates all the principles of the Blue Zones and consumes a high-quality high protein diet. I believe some individuals are now doing this well, but not whole regions or communities.

Don’t get me wrong. Eating lots of plants is definitely important. But I would much rather promote a plant-rich diet, accompanied by lots of good animal protein, as opposed to just a plant-based diet.

Given the recent research coming out on the utmost importance of protein and muscle in health and longevity (the practice of muscle-centric medicine even cites muscle as the “organ of longevity”), it just can’t be left out. Remember that the vast majority of “data” we have about the Blue Zones is just observational. Meaning we find a place with a bunch of old people and find out what they’ve done. It may be correlational, but all findings are not causal.

I’d hypothesize, given protein and muscles’ outsized effects on healthspan, that increasing protein from high quality sources alongside a Blue Zone lifestyle would have synergistic effects and perhaps produce the healthiest, most robust, longest-lived population yet. Will you join me in this lifelong long-life experiment and test it for yourself?

✅ Take Action

Every newsletter's Take Action section will invite you to take small steps to improve your health. Recognizing that we all have different capabilities, I'll offer three different levels of action you can choose to take.

Level 1: Pick one of the four categories to improve this week.

Level 2: Pick one or two behaviors from each of the Blue Zones to incorporate into your life.

Level 3: Take all four categories and make them cornerstones of your life. Customize your behaviors and environment to what makes the most sense for you, and live to 100 with me!

This newsletter is brought to you by… me!

Interested in becoming a sponsor? Know someone else who might be? I’d love to get to know you and/or your business and see how we can partner together. Reply to this email!

✍️ Drew's Picks:

• Watch: “Live to 100” on Netflix! (I ~think~ this link will take you to it. If not, just search it.)

• Beleaf it: The 2023 Fall Foliage map is out and I couldn’t be more excited! Check to see when foliage is expected to peak in your area (I think it works better on desktop)

All sounds pretty fun, eh? On your journey to live another six decades or so, don’t forget to enjoy every “today” you’re given. Have a lovely one. 💛 

Keep moving,

Drew

The content in Move to Improve is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. It is always a good idea to consult with a trusted health professional before making any major lifestyle changes that could have a significant impact on your health. This is not a medical resource, and any opinions and articles are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional. Please think critically and take what I say with a grain of salt (aka don’t sue me).