Loma Linda, Sardinia, and Okinawa Venn diagram

Blue zones are regions in the world where people are claimed to live, or to have recently lived, longer than average.[1]

Five blue zones suggested are: Okinawa Prefecture, Japan; Nuoro Province, Sardinia, Italy; the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; Icaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California, United States.[2]

History

An elderly Sardinian man

The concept of blue zones resulted from demographic work done by Gianni Pes and Michel Poulain, published in 2004.[3] They identified Sardinia's Nuoro Province as the region with the highest concentration of male centenarians, referring to the area as the "blue zone".[1][3]

Building on this demographic work, Dan Buettner proposed four additional locations: Okinawa, Nicoya, Icaria, and Loma Linda.[2]

Zones

Blue zone is located in Earth
Sardinia
Sardinia
Nicoya
Nicoya
Icaria
Icaria
Loma Linda
Loma Linda
Okinawa
Okinawa
Notable blue zones

The areas having been identified as blue zones:[1][2]

Scientific reception

A study of claimed longevity in Okinawa was unable to verify whether or not residents were as old as they claimed because many records did not survive World War II.[4] When analyzed in the 21st century, life expectancy in Okinawa was deemed to no longer be exceptional when compared to the rest of Japan, as "male longevity is now ranked 26th among the 47 prefectures of Japan."[5]

Harriet Hall, writing for Science-Based Medicine, stated that there are no controlled studies of elderly people in the blue zones, and the blue zone diets are based on speculation, not solid science.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Poulain, Michel; Herm, Anne; Pes, Gianni. The Blue Zones: areas of exceptional longevity around the world in: Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, vol. 11, 2013, p. 87–108. backup Quote: "...These populations succeeded in maintaining a traditional lifestyle implying an intense physical activity that extends beyond the age of 80, a reduced level of stress and intensive family and community support for their oldest olds as well as the consumption of locally produced food...Based on a strict validation method, the ages of Sardinian centenarians were thoroughly proven to be correct (Poulain et al. 2006)...[definition:] In practice, a blue zone (BZ) is defined as a rather limited and homogenous geographical area where the population shares the same lifestyle and environment and its longevity has been proved to be exceptionally high. [] Other validated BZs have been found so far in Okinawa (Japan), on the Nicoya peninsula (Costa Rica) and on the island of Ikaria (Greece)...The extreme longevity area identified in Sardinia and named as Blue Zone (BZ) includes a group of 14 villages in Barbagia and Ogliastra, covering the highest mountain area of Sardinia.4...Starting from 2005, in cooperation with D. Buettner, a journalist writing for National Geographic, the BZ concept was extended to other relevant regions of the earth (Buettner 2012). Exceptional longevity at population level has been identified and validated so far in three other settings: the island of Okinawa in Japan, the peninsula of Nicoya in Costa Rica and the island of Ikaria in Greece (Figures 3)..."
  2. 1 2 3 Jamie Ducharme (15 February 2018). "5 Places Where People Live the Longest and Healthiest Lives". Time. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  3. 1 2 Poulain, Michel; Pes, Giovanni Mario; Grasland, Claude; et al. (2004-09-01). "Identification of a geographic area characterized by extreme longevity in the Sardinia island: the AKEA study" (PDF). Experimental Gerontology. 39 (9): 1423–1429. doi:10.1016/j.exger.2004.06.016. PMID 15489066. S2CID 21362479. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-01-07. Retrieved 2019-09-17.
  4. ↑ Poulain, Michel (2011-07-21). "Exceptional Longevity in Okinawa:: A Plea for In-depth Validation". Demographic Research. 25 (7): 245–284. doi:10.4054/DemRes.2011.25.7.
  5. ↑ Hokama, Tomiko; Binns, Colin (October 2008). "Declining longevity advantage and low birthweight in Okinawa". Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health. 20 Suppl: 95–101. PMID 19533867.
  6. ↑ Hall, Harriet. (2021). "Blue Zones Diet: Speculation Based on Misinformation". Science-Based Medicine. Retrieved 15 October 2021.

Further reading

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