Dreamstime

By Lynn C. Allison From Newsmax

The Blue Zones are places in the world where residents live longer than average. New York Times bestselling author and National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner has spent 20 years studying the lifestyles of people in the Blue Zones, including Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, Ikaria in Greece, Nicoya in Cost Rica, and Loma Linda in California.

According to CNBC, the 63-year-old journalist has adopted some habits he learned from the people he observed in these areas that he now applies to his own life.

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“I know what they do as populations to live a long time, and I’ve certainly learned their lessons,” he says. “My doctor tells me I’m in the top 1% of healthy people my age.”

Here are Buettner’s everyday habits that keep him healthy:

• Walk. Buettner says he moved to Miami Beach because he can walk easily in his community and doesn’t have to plan his exercise activities.

• Eat a mostly plant-based diet. Buettner says his diet is about 90% plant-based and he doesn’t eat meat at all. He also eats within a 10-12-hour window. “I usually have two meals a day,” he explains. “One is late morning, and the other is at night.” His favorite go-to food is beans, since eating beans daily has been linked to adding four years to your life.

• Build social connections. Buettner says that research is solid on the effect social connectivity has on helping us live longer. He says he’s constantly bumping into people in his community, and some have become friends. Because he writes during the day, he gets together with people every night.

• Don’t work past 5 p.m. Buettner says that compromising this rule doesn’t contribute to his happiness even if he makes more money. “Come five o-clock, it’s always physical activity and social time,” he adds.

• Do something physical every day. Instead of a daily meditation practice, the expert prefers engaging in a physical activity that he enjoys such as stand-up paddle boarding, biking, pickleball or working out with a friend.

• Sleep. After an evening of activity and being social Buettner aims for eight hours of sleep. “You’re a lot less stressed if you’ve had a good night’s sleep,” he says.

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