Dan Buettner, longevity expert: “People who live longer don’t exercise; they live in homes where they have to walk all day”

Over the years, health and wellness have become two of the biggest priorities for people around the world. Any tip that might help us live longer gets our attention. That is the context in which Dan Buettner, a well-known journalist, writer and longevity researcher from the United States, joined the ZOE podcast to discuss the regions he famously identified as Blue Zones.

What are Blue Zones?

Blue Zones refer to a handful of places around the world where life expectancy is significantly higher than average and where the percentage of people who reach 100 years old far exceeds global norms. Thanks to years of research in these areas, Buettner is considered one of the leading voices on longevity.

“A centenarian is simply someone who has reached the age of 100, and Blue Zones are not only about centenarians,” Buettner explained. “We measure how many centenarians there are, but that usually ends up being a byproduct of a population that produces long-lived people, often without chronic diseases. No diabetes, no heart disease, no cancer, no dementia.”

Buettner added that people in these regions do not have “better bodies,” superior genetics or outsized discipline. “They avoid the diseases that shorten their lives at much higher rates. That is why they live so long,” he said.

Movement built into daily life

“The people in Blue Zones do not work out. That surprises a lot of us,” he said. “You do not see anyone doing CrossFit or Pilates or using an elliptical in their basement. They live in places where every time they go to work, visit a friend or head out for a meal, they have to walk.”

To finish, the expert noted that these communities are made up of people who “always have gardens in their backyards and usually get two or three growing seasons a year.” Their homes also keep them active. “Their houses are not filled with mechanical or technological conveniences that do the work for them. They do their own chores,” he said.

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