By Paul Goldfinger, MD. Editor Blogfinger.
There are five places — called “Blue Zones” — where a disproportionately high number of residents live to 100: Ikaria, Greece; Loma Linda, California; Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; and Nicoya, Costa Rica.
An Okinawan vegetarian stir fry–very healthy. From the Netflix documentary on living to a hundred. Blogfinger still photo.
The people who live in those places share certain features: stress free environment, healthy diets, weight control, physical activity and a good 8 hours sleep. Also there are undoubtedly genetic elements.
Netflix is now showing a new documentary called “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones.” It is an entertaining and beautifully crafted 4 part series where the writer visits 5 very special places. Much of the emphasis is on diet, but the topic is multifactorial.
Among the foods that are stressed are: oatmeal, coffee, modest alcohol, eggs, avocados, whole foods such as rice and corn, and garlic. It’s all very much like the classic Mediterranean diet which we favor in our book. The Netflix documentary does a great job with diet.
The low stress piece interests me. That link makes sense, although the exact mechanism is unknown, and then how to best reduce stress in our complicated lives?
Albert Ellis started a movement in psychiatry to reduce anxiety and stress called “cognitive therapy” or “rational emotive therapy”
It is a very practical approach. You may be able to find his first book “A Guide to Rational Living.”
Here is one example of Ellis’s method:
If you are anxious about some event in your life, analyze the situation and come up with a solution to the problem. Then implement that solution, and the anxiety will diminish. It makes sense, and it works.
Paul Goldfinger MD
BILLIE HOLIDAY. “Easy Living.”