In 1875, a girl was born in the small town Arles of France. Jeanne Louise Calment. The time then saw the nonexistence of cars and aeroplanes. People travelled in horse-driven carriages. They lit their houses using candles. This time around, no human soul in the world would have dreamed that this girl would make history. She will live such a long life that she will break all the world records.
Louise was only 14 years old in 1889, when the Eiffel Tower came up in Paris. In 1896, at which time when Louise at the age of 21 was married, Mahatma Gandhi had hardly moved to South Africa.
Louise was only 6 years younger than Mahatma Gandhi. However, by the year 1914, when Louise had crossed an age of 39 years, she was already considered to be one such happily married woman along with a daughter. The biggest explosion took place in Europe. World War I began.
By the year 1934, when Hitler’s emergence was being witnessed in Germany, there came a tragic incident for Louise in the form of the death of her daughter due to lung infection. At that time, she was 59 years old. 59 is the age by which most women have already become grandmothers. But Louise would never have even imagined that her life was not even half complete. In 1942 when World War II was raging in Europe. Millions of people lost their lives on the war front. Millions of people were separated from their families. And something similar happened at Louise’s home too. When she was 64, she lost her husband.
In 1947, Nehru hoisted the free flag of India. India was released from British rule. Louise was 72 years old at that time. And she was watching those pages of history to turn out, unaware. Horses had been in her life; then they came to be replaced by cars instead, and candles by electricity. In 1969 She was 94, and man landed on the moon. “One small step for man, a giant leap for mankind”
Rajiv Gandhi was elected as a winner in Indian elections in 1985. There the IT revolution was yet to begin in India. Meanwhile, Louise was 110 years of age. She happily lived in her house till then, but from then she moved to a nursing home. In the year 1988, the world finally came to pay notice over Louise. She was everywhere. She became a sensation in the news for being the oldest human ever to live. In 1997, when computers and the internet had already begun to show signs of existence, at the age of 122, Louise passed away. Jeanne Louise Calment broke all the limits that one could ever think of breaking. She created a record that no one has been able to break yet.
What was the reason behind it?
What is the secret to this long life?
The first thing that comes to your mind is of course luck was involved. And I have to tell you it’s true because if one wants to live for 122 years, one needs a lot of luck. But how much of it is luck, and how much does it owe to lifestyle choices; that is the question here when living such a long life.
Between 1870 and 1900, scientific research was performed in Denmark on twins. More than 2,800 twins were analysed to see just how much longevity is based on genetics and how big a role lifestyle and environment can play. That is how this research was made famous through the famous Danish twin study, and the conclusion of that research was that an average human‘s life is 20% dictated by genes and 80% by lifestyle and environment. Therefore, a healthy lifestyle, proper diet, and exercise-the right ways through which you exercise-all these play a huge role in it.
What healthy lifestyle choices make you live long?
Maybe the best way to figure it out is to do some reverse research. To see the lifestyle of people who already live for so long. In the early 2000s, Dan Buettner an explorer and an author who was working on National Geographic. He decided to study such places in the world where people live longer.
In the year 2003, he collaborated with anthropologists, historians, dietitians, and geneticists to accomplish this project. They identified such regions in the world based on population reports wherein maximum population is over an age of hundred years. These individuals are called centenarians for the reason that they have lived a hundred years. About the same time, other people also began to work on the same thing. For instance, as it took place in the case study at Journal of Experimental Gerontology. Its authors found that the highest percentage of male centenarians is represented by the population of the northern part of Italy, Sardinia region. In fact, 100-year-olds and more.
Villages that had a high concentration of such people were marked with blue circles on the map. Such places were termed the Blue Zone. But Dan Buettner found another such place: the Japanese Okinawa Island, which held a world record for the longest-ever life expectancy without disability found there. They embarked on an expedition to these places to know why the people of such places lived so long.
The team of scientists and demographers looks all around the world and finds five such Blue Zones.
First, Sardinia in Italy.
Second, Okinawa in Japan.
Third, in the American state of California, Loma Linda’s Seventh-day Adventist community.
Fourth, the island of Icaria in Greece.
Fifth, the region of the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica.
These five blue zones contain people who are reported to live longer than people in other parts of the globe.
Is there something special about these places? Can it be the clean water and air here or maybe it is the choice of lifestyle of these people that makes it all possible? For twelve years, Dan and his team kept on working to understand why this was. And finally, when they issued their report, they say that the actual cause was the lifestyle habits of the residents. That is, 9 lifestyle habits prevailed in those areas.
They term these 9 habits as Power 9.
What are these 9 habits?
Let’s learn one by one so that you may learn from them, implement them in your life, and live a long life.
- The first lifestyle habit is known as ‘Move Naturally.’ That is to say, the elderly people living in blue zones do not go to the gym and regularly lift heavy weights or run a marathon. In fact, it is their environment that favours slight, natural movements all through the day. They live in villages where cars are not much used. In fact, if they want to go and meet their friends or go to work, they must walk. Apart from that, these people cultivate their gardens next to their houses, where they go and work alone.
Compare this with the present times wherein most of the people are found sitting at home, getting into the car, then going off to the office and then sitting to work. And if they want to see something that will entertain them, then they get themselves inside a car and reach the cinema hall to watch a movie while they sit and rest. Natural walking is so rare in our lifestyle in modern times. The American Cancer Society has surveyed over 125,000 adults and has found that those spending more than 6 hours per day sitting in their seat have a 19% chance of dying within the next 21 years. The number of causes of death-much of it includes cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease, liver disease, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, nervous disorders, and 14 more in total-becomes increasingly possible in relation to time spent seated.
There’s a big correlation here in most studies. You could see this latest study saying that if you walk for at least 11 minutes every day, the risk of early death is reduced by 25%. Just by walking for 11 minutes. But obviously, in the case of blue zones, natural walking is much more common. The more you include natural walking in your daily life, the better it is.
Now, walking activates certain muscles of the legs, but it is extremely essential to naturally exercise all the muscles in one’s body. What we witness in Okinawa is that people do not have much furniture in their houses. People do not use dining tables; instead they sit on the floor and have food. What is the benefit of this? They have to sit and stand at least 3-4 times daily. Natural movement. Common sense is to try bringing in as much natural movement into your lifestyle as possible. Just get a standing desk instead of one regular desk. Eat on the floor instead of the dining table. In many places in India, this has been the usual way. And use a cycle or walk as often as you can instead of a car.
- Purpose: Dan’s researchers found out that in Okinawa, there is no such thing as retirement. In fact, there is a Japanese concept called Ikigai. It means ‘a reason for being.’ What is the purpose of my life? In order to have a purpose. People in Japan who are now 90-100 years of age don’t retire from life and end their lives. They find the Ikigai of their life. It has also been seen in Costa Rica’s Blue Zone as Plan de Vida, meaning a Life Plan. In his research, he found out that life’s purpose adds seven years to your life expectancy.
The interesting thing now is that having a life purpose does not necessarily mean that one aims to transform the world. Those things that will give you long-term satisfaction in your day-to-day life, which give you internal happiness, those things can be considered as purpose. For example, volunteering with an NGO or becoming advanced in an art or craft, or taking up any hobby that you enjoy doing.
For example, Downshift. We know that we do not want to experience stress.
- Downshift: We all realise that stress is bad for our health. What we miss, however, is the fact that chronic stress severely damages our health and reduces our lifespan. Blue zone residents have some mechanisms for avoiding stress. In Sardinia, for instance, contact with the local culture in order to take pauses, spend some time with family, and drink wine often is common. Okinawa people practise mindfulness meditation. These activities relax them and lead to a healthier mindset.
- 80% Rule: People living in these areas have the habit of stopping eating when they are 80% full. This practice is known as Hara Hachi Bu in Okinawa. The underlying idea is that by eating in moderation, you let your body stay within a healthy weight range and not over consume anything, which can lead to a laundry list of health problems such as obesity and heart disease. Learning to be in tune with your body and noticing when you are indeed full can really change your long-term health.
- Plant-Based Diet: People in blue zones primarily consume a plant-based diet. Their diets mainly include lots of vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, and nuts, but little meat is used. Studies have suggested that a well-balanced plant-based diet comes with various health benefits like reduced chronic diseases and a long-lived life. While it is desirable to consume all sorts of food, sometimes you will need to make the vegetable and fruit the heroes of your meal for a healthier life.
- Wine: Moderation rules. Blue zoners like their wine daily. Specifically red, which is full of antioxidants. Does not mean drinking all night long, though. Rather the occasional glass in a social setting that makes life just enjoyable. Lower incidence of heart disease and certain cancers have been linked to moderate drinkers.
- Belong: This point reveals the fact that people need good social connections and community bonds. The blue zone inhabitants tend to have strong social bonds and emotional support from such bonds. These community bonds make a person believe he or she belongs to something. A community can indeed serve to enhance mental health, reduce stress, and increase happiness.
- Loved Ones First: This means that above everything else, family and relationships come first for people in the blue zones. There is a strong stress in the blue zones on cultivating family ties, ensuring that elderly members of the family are cared for, and shown respect. Putting the family first not only helps keep the psychology in check but also provides a support group to help one navigate one’s ways out of problems during life’s struggles.
- Right Tribe: The people you surround yourself with can affect your health. People who live in the blue zones generally live with others that have healthy living as a big deal. Friends and family that make you want to be healthy will keep you active and wanting to eat healthy.
Concluding, the life of Jeanne Louise Calment was over a century marked with historic happening and huge social change. Even though such extraordinary lengthiness can partly be attributed to luck and genetics, lifestyle habits observed in the blue zones are valuable lessons, with incorporation of nine principles into lives, which can improve health and well-being and thus continue living longer, more fulfilling lives.
