In 2008 Dan Buettner published his first book on the Blue Zones, based on his research for National Geographic. He produced a second book, Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way, in 2010. The Blue Zones Solution: Eating an Living Like the World’s Healthiest People, is the third in this series. The edition reviewed is the National Geographic hardback (2015, Washington DC, 319 pages).
The Blue Zones Solution is divided in to four parts. In Part I, Buettner reviews the research, original and recent, concerning the blue zones, comunities in the world where more people live happy and healthy lives of one hundred years or more. In Part II, he tells the story of his team’s attempts to create a blue zone in the United States. The third part summarizes what it takes to manufacture a blue zone. The final part is a collection of longevity-promoting recipes.
This chapter in the Blue Zones series focuses on changing the world. It is a chronicle of efforts and a manual of methods Buettner is using and promoting to spread the concepts and practices he has distilled from his personal and collaborative research, and that of others. He wants to make blue zones in a strong belief that by mimicking the lifestyles of people in these societies, people all over the world can live better longer.
The areas the author calls blue zones were first noticed in demographic studies decades before he became involved. The original maps had these areas circled in blue, hence the name. Buettner started his research in 2005, and has since devoted his life to transforming communities into blue-zone-like longevity centers.
After writing his first book, Buettner found a story in Finland about an area whose inhabitants changed their lives by changing their environment. The area had been home to the highest rate of cardiovascular disease in the world. After some changes by an ambitious government healthcare official, they reduced the mail heart-related mortality rate by twenty-five percent, and the nationwide life expectancy over that time went up nearly ten years. This was proof to Buettner that a change in environment can actually add years to lives.
He took this idea to organizations in the United States and obtained over a million dollars in funding to try it. He first attempt was in Albert Lea, Minnesota in 2008. Much of the community, including grocery stores, food distributors, churches, the government, schools and individuals participated, and the result of ten-months work was a three-point-one increase in life expectancy. The changes put in place continued for years afterward.
A bigger effort was to transform a community in the sprawling megapolis of Los Angeles called the Beach Cities. Here positive changes resulted from a longer-term, better-funded project, three years. An endowment in the area will allow funded efforts to continue indefinitely. A drop in the smoking rate, an increase in the percentage of people exercising, the stated quality of life — all improved faster than the national average.
Buettner went on to try his methods and apply lessons learned in other communities. The stories are an inspiration to anyone who wants himself and others to enjoy life as long as possible.
Get the book: http://RunningAFEVER.com/BlueZonesSolution
See the review on my BookTube channel http://SouthernBookTube.com
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