Blue Zone v. Silicon Valley
Fighting to the death for longevity
Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California. What do these places have in common? Well, until a decade ago, they were home to more centenarians than almost anywhere else in the world, and combined are now the subject of a four-episode season on Netflix, Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones. These places and others, known as Blue Zones, are places where, statistically speaking, people live longer. The phrase Blue Zone originates from an early researcher putting blue dots on a map, marking pockets of high numbers of exceptionally older people.
Dan Buettner, bestselling author of the book The Blue Zones and host of the eponymous Netflix show, believes that the key to a long and healthy life can be attributed to a set of habits, ways of eating and developing positive social relationships.
Having binge-watched the series recently, I am now a convert to the Blue Zone way of living. But more on this later.
Meanwhile, over in Silicon Valley, California, tech billionaires and bros are seeking another key to living longer, perhaps up to 200 or 300 years. These are mighty goals, but not for me. This quest to cheat death is led by a group of super-rich, household names including Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Alphabet's Larry Page, Oracle's Larry Ellison and Palantir and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. These and other ultra-wealthy prospectors are using science to try to discover and recreate what comes naturally to those living in Blue Zones.
In his pursuit of anti-ageing, Bezos has invested in Altos Labs, a 'rejuvenation' start-up, according to MIT Technology Review. The anti-ageing start-up, which is said to be pursuing biological reprogramming technology, is reportedly also backed by Russian-Israeli venture capitalist Yuri Milner, who made a fortune as an early investor in Facebook.
According to the New Yorker, Oracle founder Ellison has donated more than $370 million to research about ageing and age-related diseases.
At the same, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page helped launch Calico, a secretive venture that's tracking mice from birth to death in the hope of finding markers for diseases like diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
Bryan Johnson, a 45-year-old billionaire software entrepreneur, spends around $2m working with 30 medical doctors and researchers with a strict diet, fitness and supplements. Apparently he now has the lung capacity of an 18-year-old, while his biological age has been lowered by five years. This is tracked by endless scans, MRIs, ultrasounds, blood tests and even colonoscopies.
Whether Johnson's diet pills, scans and probes and his tech-bro pals' high-tech solutions can be extended to the rest of us is open to question. They might be affordable to just the few.
So, back to the Blue Zones and how people can learn to live healthily past the hundred year mark. For the full story, you'll need to watch the Netflix series, but as a taster, I can suggest the following:
· Find a creative interest that brings you a sense of fulfilment. In Japan, this is known as ikigai and may involve cooking, woodworking or pottery.
· Move more, be it walking, gardening or taking up a sport. In Loma Linda, the centenarians mostly belong to the Seventh Day Adventist church and regularly play pickleball.
· Find supportive and dependable friendship groups. Blue Zone community members tend to live an active lifestyle, surrounded by friends and family. They are often religiously observant or follow a shared belief system.
Food and cooking play a vital role in all the major Blue Zones. On Ikaria, locals follow the mythologised Mediterranean Diet – olive oil, red wine, homegrown organic vegetables, local honey (rather than refined sugar) and goat's milk. In Loma Linda, the Seventh Day Adventists avoid alcohol, exercise regularly and have diets heavy with fresh vegetables and whole grains. Indeed, the town's farmers' market sells no meat, poultry or seafood.
Meanwhile, in Nicoya, squash, corn and beans known as las tres hermanas (the three sisters) grow harmoniously to balance carbs, protein and fibre and are significant in the diets. Also, the people here break up corn to make tortilla wraps by hand, eschewing mechanical grinders. This movement and exercise is good for the heart and develops strength and mobility in the joints of the hands. Moreover, they often do this in family or friendship groups, adding a layer of contentment.
So, while I live in a small town in southern England, I'm finding ways of living like a Blue Zoner. I drink a glass of water with a generous squeeze of lemon juice before my first cup of tea in the morning, and while I still enjoy being an omnivore, my shopping list now includes more beans and pulses than meat. My garden—a place where I most enjoy spending my time—is getting daily attention, and I've started attending yoga classes and stretching more at home.
Another addition to my reformed diet is a herbal tea called ironwort that I learnt about earlier this year while hosting the cooking demo stage at the Tonbridge Food Festival. I interviewed Laila and Gary, distributors of olive oil and mountain tea herbs sourced through Laila's father's olive grove in southern Albania. Shepherds there gather the mountain tea plant Sideritis (commonly known as ironwort) from the high mountains and trade it for olive oil. The tea is caffeine-free and has a floral, earthy, slightly sweet flavour reminiscent of mint, chamomile and citrus. It's readily available in many U.K. health food shops, and it offers a tick-box list of Blue Zone-friendly nutrients, including high levels of antioxidants, polyphenols and flavonoids.
And finally, perhaps one of the most telling details about Blue Zone living can be seen in the positive attitude towards ageing. As Dan Buettner has observed, "In America, we tend to celebrate youth—just open a magazine and look at the ads. In blue zones, they celebrate age. The older you are, the more revered you are. I remember going up in these villages in Sardinia, and instead of seeing the Swimsuit-Model-of-the-Month calendar, it was the Centenarian-of-the-Month calendar."
Interested in learning more about Blue Zones? Then try these …
Ikaria, Food and Life in the Blue Zone, by Meni Valle. (Cookbook)
The Blue Zones Kitchen: 100 Recipes To Live To 100, by Dan Buettner (Cookbook)
Netflix … commentary from Tudum (Article).
It’s Negroni Week!
Negroni Week was started in 2013 by the drinks magazine Imbibe, and is now a global event supported by dozens of bars and bartenders around the world. Its sponsored by the links of include Campari, Cinzano, Bulldog Gin, and Aviation American Gin.
A traditionally made Negroni is stirred, not shaken; it is built over ice in an old-fashioned or rocks glass and garnished with a slice of orange. Outside of Italy, orange peel is often used in place of an orange slice. I love one for Aperitivo time, that magical space when you meet friends and family in a bar before heading to dinner.
Check out the Negroni Week website for recipes and events.
Here is my to go to recipe for a classic Negroni.
1 oz or 25 ml Gin, of your choice
1 oz or 25 ml Campari
1 oz or 25 ml sweet Vermouth
Ice ( a large sphere works well)
Slice of orange, for the garnish
You’ll need:
Mixing glass, bar spoon, strainer / cocktail shaker
Glass: tumbler or rocks
Garnish: orange twist
Preparation
Stir ingredients in a mixing glass with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail shaker, glass (or ice-filled double rocks glass) and garnish.
BRUCE & THE LEMON GROVE’S EVENTS DIARY
Hosting & Cooking on the Demonstration Stage at:
Tonbridge Farmers Market (every second Sunday of the month, 9.30am - 1.30pm)
Next market in Tonbridge, Kent is on Sunday, October 8.
Aylesford Farmers Market (every third Sunday of the month, 9.30am - 1.30pm)
Next market in Aylesford, Kent is on Sunday, October 15.
I'll be sharing recipe ideas using food from the farmers market and interviewing many great local growers and producers making wine, bread, jams, marmalade, and much more. Follow Tonbridge Farmers Market for updates.
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Read about: The Lemon Grove and catch up on previous posts and stories here.
Bruce McMichael
Writer, Podcaster, Educator
Website: www.thelemongrove.net
Twitter/X: @lemonbites
Facebook: @lemongrovesocial
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Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org