Believe it or not, most of us are trying to avoid death. You’re either consciously or unconsciously doing this.
We want to live longer.
However, if you ask most people “do you want to live to 100 years old?” … Many people will say NO because they imagine a weak, frail, sickly old person who can barely move or remember anything.
But what if you could live to 100 and be healthy and thriving? You’re still able to walk and do daily tasks. You still interact with other people. Your memory is still pretty good.
And basically, you would die of old age. Not cancer or some painful disease.
Wouldn’t you like that? Research has shown that most people will say yes, including me.
BUT, is it even possible?
The answer to this is also yes because there’s a lot of research studying centurions. These are people who live to 100.
Most of them live in the “Blue Zones”.
Blue Zones are regions in the world, where people live the longest.
The top blue zones are all over the world, such as:
- Okinawa, Japan
- Ikaria, Greece
- Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica
- Loma Linda, California
- Sardinia, Italy
The key factors contributing to their longevity include lifestyle habits and the environment they live in, rather than genetics.
So, you don’t have to blame your genetics anymore.
Once I hit my 50s, I became very interested in this topic.
I’ve listened to hours of podcasts and videos about this and have read a couple of books on living a longer and happier life.
And today I’m going to summarize it all for you in just a few minutes to save you time.
5 simple steps and easy action plans that you can implement today, so you can start to see and feel results quickly.
Plant-Based Diet
Most of the diet of blue-zone people living the longest is plant-based.
This would be whole grains, greens, tubers, nuts, and beans.
In Okinawa Japan, one of the most studied Blue Zones, 75% of their calories came from purple sweet potatoes.
Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t eat meat or animal protein. It just means that the majority of your diet and calories should be plant-based.
And if you’re going to eat animal protein, eat grass feed, pasture-raised, wild caught. The more natural and the less processed, the better.
Definitely no processed, packed meats.
ACTION STEP: Eat more plants. In fact, eating just one cup of beans daily can add up to 5 years to your life.
IMPORTANT: The most important thing about the diets of blue zones is that they cause low inflammation and blood sugar.
In fact, most health problems are related to high blood sugar and inflammation.
If you have a hard time following such diets for whatever reason, at least add in supplements, vitamins and herbs that’ll help lower blood sugar and inflammation.
Move More
People who live the longest, move the most.
They walk and ride their bikes. They garden, do a lot of housework. These are done daily and it’s very natural.
However, I also suggest you do resistance exercises 2-3x weekly to build muscle and strengthen your joints and tendons.
This can be with weights, machines, cables, or even bodyweight exercises.
Unfortunately, as we age, we lose muscle mass and strength. This is called Sarcopenia.
This actually accelerates aging because your muscles are an organ and also help with blood sugar levels, mental clarity, reducing inflammation, and optimizing youthful hormones.
Grip strength is another indicator of aging. The stronger your grip, the more youthful your body.
Again, this requires stronger muscles.
ACTION PLAN: All you need to start is 2-3x weekly, 30-60 minutes. That’s it.
And move as much as possible daily. Just walking alone, especially first thing in the morning and after meals will make a HUGE improvement in your health, by lowering inflammation, blood sugar, and stress hormones.
Have A Sense Of Purpose
In Blue Zones, people have a clear sense of purpose, which can contribute to living longer.
Statistics show that once a man retires from his job, they typically die within 5 years. Sadly, this happened to my dad.
He had no real reason to get up in the morning. He was bored. The day moved slowly because he had nothing to do, no purpose.
That can cause depression. That can cause someone to ruminate and have negative thoughts in their head.
Staying busy and having a purpose is so important for your mental health.
Warren Buffet, one of the richest people in the world and also one of the oldest at age 95, says he loves his job. He stated that he is “tapdancing to work every day”.
Charlie Munger, his business partner felt the same way and died at age 99.
And both of them lived a simple life, in the same house for decades. It wasn’t the money, it was the purpose.
However, it can be hard to find your purpose or passion or what gives you joy. I can’t give that answer to you.
I suggest you take some quiet time to think about this and reflect. Write down your thoughts in a journal or something similar.
Your purpose may not come to you right away. But if you keep thinking about it daily and ask yourself the right questions, your brain will give you the answer eventually.
Strong Social Connections
Longevity in Blue Zones is also linked to close-knit communities. People regularly interact with family, friends, and neighbors.
Unfortunately, in modern society, especially in the West, people are interacting LESS with each other because they are on the internet way too much. They communicate by texting, rather than having a conversation on the phone.
They don’t make time to see each other, even if it’s for a quick meal.
Making and keeping friends takes effort. This is especially hard for men because we aren’t as social as women.
Most of our friends are either from high school or the university. Or, co-workers, who may not be TRUE friends. They are work buddies.
I personally have a hard time with this, especially since I’m very introverted.
Keep in mind that you don’t need a ton of friends. Just 2-3 good friends are great.
Let’s not forget about family too. I know they can be a pain sometimes, but they are still family.
Put in a little effort to interact with good people around you.
Again, even if it’s a phone call or Facetime – that’s a great start and better than texting.
Manage Stress
I think one of the most important factors in living a longer, healthier, and happier life is to manage your stress.
I’m not saying to NOT have any stress in your life, because that’s impossible. The only time you don’t stress is if you’re dead.
I want you to manage your stress with your mindset and actions.
For example, I don’t want the news anymore. It’s always negative, which is the job of the news. Because negativity gets eyeballs.
Besides, there’s nothing I can do with all of that negativity, and bad things happening around the world.
I don’t want to feed my brain and emotions, negative thoughts.
Negativity grows like weeds in a garden. It requires no water or sunlight. It just grows like cancer.
I also limit my interaction with negative, critical people. This one is hard, but over the years I’ve gotten rid of a lot of negative people and I have NO regrets. I miss nothing.
Remember, people are either going to reduce your stress or add to it.
So, choose wisely.
The other thing with stress is your perception and the meaning you give to a stressful situation.
If you get in a car accident, that sucks. You can bitch and complain about it. Worry about your insurance rates going up. Not having a car for weeks and so forth.
And that’s totally normal and maybe you think those negative thoughts for a few minutes.
But, it’s much better to focus on the positive.
You at least have car insurance. You didn’t hurt anyone, nor did you get hurt.
This really comes down to an attitude of gratitude… Which itself is a muscle we need to flex more, to strengthen it.
Most of us have strong negative muscles. Going to a bad place in our heads.
But we can change this by flexing the positive, grateful attitude.
I just ask myself, “What could be GOOD about this situation?”
At first, my brain says, “There’s nothing good”.
But, I keep asking it, and eventually more positive thoughts and hope come out and then that takes over the negativity.
Over the years I’ve done this so much that now my brain is trained to go to a positive question, “What else could this mean?”
So, I immediately go into solutions mode. I don’t waste time on the problem.
Summary
Now, let me quickly summarize everything for you.
What you’ve learned today and how people live to 100+ healthy years has to do with:
This can be accomplished by the 5 following steps:
- Eat mostly a plant-based diet.
- Move & exercise more.
- Have a sense of purpose.
- Improve your social connections.
- Manage stress.