I am happily turning 85 next week because ,in part, I do not have to run 85 miles for that week as a result of Tony's absence. In the past, I ran the number of miles of my upcoming birthday and if I forgo , Tony would delightfully remind me. This is an illustration of his sadism. Instead, Linda and I are breaking bread with Mike and Pat, Dave and Joyce, Pat and Diane. This essay pertains to two articles and a full-page advertisement in the New York Times. The October 27, 2024 article" The World's Fountain of Youth Spouted Some Questionable Data “ and the October 20, 2024 article "Health Halo" and the full page "Lifelong Smoking Extreme Obesity Shortens Life Expectancy up to 14 Years with his & hers ‘ at the bottom of the page. This essay pertains to the above.
Dan Buettner, a National Geographic reporter, 20 years ago. marketed Blue Zones. Blue Zones is trademarked and has spawned eight books ,a Netflix series, product partnerships-iced teas, canned bean soups and has become a multimillion dollar program for other cities to become like Blue Zones . It's pitched to assist people in attaining their longevity goals by mimicking lifestyle habits of individuals living in each region.
Blue Zones are locations on our planet. Initially, centenarians in Sardinia, Italy, attributed nutrition , and lifestyle alignment in their becoming centenarians or supercentenarians. Other regions were included -Okinawa, Japan,Loma Linda, California etc.. It was reported that longevity and vitality related to healthy behaviors and they were more likely to consume a nutritionist diet, lots of fruit and vegetables , plenty of physical activity while prioritizing family ,and community , not smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol in moderation , not eating too much, managing stress,and having purpose in life. Dedication to religion and good genes were other factors mentioned.
It was mentioned that people in Blue Zones were not on diets, CrossFit's, on Instagram , getting supplements or running to Tulum for stem cells. Yet , they lived about 10 years longer. Dan suggested that health comes from being in the right environment.. Dan also sold Blue Zones in 2022 to Adventist Health, a healthcare provider system founded on the Seventh-day Adventist heritage and values. Loma Linda has one of the highest concentrations of Seventh-day Adventist in the country. Dan has done well financially .
Now, a senior research fellow , Saul Justin Newman ,at the Center for Longitudinal Studies at the University of College London , analyzed the databases. He concluded that all these areas were in poor areas that generally had terrible outcomes for old age and had some of the worst life expectancies of the countries. He also thought that the high density of supercentenarians were fraud . He attributed much of the misinformation to low literacy rates and poor record-keeping .There was an absence of birth certificates and people really didn't know how old they were.
Incidentally, Dan said that the original Blue Zones in Okinawa and Nicoya no longer qualify because the traditional ways have been replaced by modern diets such as convenience stores,and fast food restaurants. Dan also said that he expects all these BlueZones are going to be extinct within a generation or half a generation. Civilization brings what ?
The second article pertains to the perception that a food product is generally healthy based on a single claim subliminally influencing our diets in dollars. Single claims, like low-calorie,organic or nutritious sounding ingredients in large font works wonders marketing but that doesn't necessarily mean the product is healthy. There are a variety of North American protein bars, which, according to one estimate, could grow to over 11,000,000,000 by 2030. A study in 2016 found that people were more likely to think that a bag of chips were healthier and buy them when they were vitamin fortified. if it's got vitamins, no GMO's ,organic , artificial sweeteners,and no sugar added, that’s the cat's meow. Last year PepsiCo argued that it had created a protein bar - with tools to help muscles rebuild. Time will tell as a federal lawsuit still to come.
Linda's ankle wound required protein to assist in mending. I purchased the 240 cal Balanced Nutritional Drink Boost to help her heal. It has 10 g of protein, 27 minerals, vitamins, key ingredients for immune support, and helps you get more out of life today and tomorrow . Oh yes, it has 30% of the daily allowance of sugar as well. They also say their balanced nutritional drink to help you be your best in capital letters , gluten free with natural flavors. How about those claims ?
Briefly, this is my take. Blue Zones are potentially within each of us and the Halo Effect is just one more of the challenges and barriers to health created by our capitalistic economic system. Successful aging , becoming a centenarian, longevity , Fountain of Youth , staying young forever, Blue Zones etc. can be reframed and called lifestyle choices. Life pertains to growth and functional activity .
The lifestyle choices in the 65 years of age plus athletes that I interviewed in “It Has Nothing To Do With Age “ had significant and necessary elements in common: 1 Their physical activities were competitive, inspiring, gave meaning and purpose to their life, enriched their emotional well being life, participated in outdoor activities and resulted in happy experiences and motivation. As a result, they had a full and growth directed life and fulfilled the prescriptions in my book. 2. They succeeded in dealing successfully with prior and current barriers and accomplished their goals. 3. All of them had terrific interpersonal skills and were a pleasure and delight 4. They were terrific people ..
Lifestyle includes incorporating nutritious foods , nutrients, supplements for medicinal purposes thanks to functional medicine doctors Klatz, Goldman ,Hyman and Ashley. In fact, I saw Dr. Ashley because I wanted to improve my running speed. After testing, she referred me to a nutritional supplement designed specifically for me. I didn't change my training but took the necessary supplements. My running speed. Did not improve Perhaps, if I wanted to minimize or slow the decrease in speed , I might've continued the designed supplement. She did suggest soy protein and I have continued that in my morning's smoothies. I continue to run, although not 50 mile weeks . My current weight is very close to when I ran Western States.
My mom ,Tony and Dave's moms all in their 90’s were cognitively intact although their physical health declined. I grow cognitively based on reading, writing, critiquing and applying my training and experience as an educational and clinical psychologist. Since 2016, I have been the caretaker to Linda based on her physical and cognitive conditions. For the past nine weeks ,she has been wheelchair-bound and I lift her in the wheelchair navigating the various steps in and out of our home. Since the past election results , I have worked harder in order to reduce the additional stress.
PS
Hooray for Linda’s, out of the wheelchair and walking ;Dave purchases vitamins and supplements from regulated companies outside the US and I’m thinking about seeing Dr. Ashley ,
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