FEATURE: Best Friends Forever Stay Healthy Together

Written by Kathryn Savage

Scientists have shown that social connections are vital to a healthy life. Recent studies suggest that belonging to a group of people who have similar beliefs, lifestyle choices, economic status, or religious practices may lead to deeper understanding, longer-lasting friendships, and a longer, healthier life. At Blue Zones, we call this being surrounded by “the right inner circle.

But I don't plan out my friendships!
In real life, you meet friends at work, a bbq, the neighborhood sandbox, etc. Sure, once you’ve met, you should having a thing or two in common, but do most people make a calculation of their friends' lifestyle choices before beginning the friendship?

Actually, yes.
If you think about your friends, you will find you tend to support each others beliefs and lifestyles. In many cases you may have similar economic status. There's a reason why you gravitate to certain kinds of people! This idea of “the right inner circle” has little to do with how friendships form, it merely points out that people who share these traits tend to form friendships that last, while also pointing out the ugly fact that bad habits do tend to rub off.

Bad habits like what?
Studies reported in a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine suggest that, between close mutual friends, when one becomes obese the odds of the other becoming obese triple. The same statistic applies to weight loss - when one close friend decides to lose weight, the other friend has tripled their chance of being successful with weight loss, merely by association.

For residents of the Blue Zones, being surrounded by the right inner circle comes naturally.
Seventh Day Adventists, encouraged by their religious practice and observation of the Sabbath, have big, bustling social networks. The Nuoro highland Sardinians we studied are geographically – but not culturally – isolated. Many share the same professional, personal and religious practices. Most evenings, they share a few glasses of wine at the local bar, and once a year the town contributes to the annual grape harvest. Centenarian Okinawans have regular moais; it’s sort of like the bar in Cheers, where everybody knows your name. Groups of Okinawans, who rarely move from their community, have lifelong, regular moais in the evenings to share sake and conversation.

The lesson? Keep your wonderful friends close.
The lesson I’ll take away from all this talk about “the right inner circle” is this: if you’ve got a group of people who support and nurture you, nurture them in return. And if you'd like to do a little self-improvement, get your friends on board!

Too scared to shoot the breeze

Written by Kathryn Savage

Does making small talk send you into a state of panic? You’re not alone. Public speaking is among the most loathed aspects of professional life, and in a way, making small talk with a complete stranger is sort of like being on your own mini-stage.

The thing about small talk is, it’s a necessary evil. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to make new friends, start relationships, or attend family reunions. Friendship is a great and important part of a healthy, long life. So what to do if the thought of going to your coworker's birthday bash this weekend sends you into a fit of hot flashes?

If you're like me, one of the millions of people who sweats bullets over the thought of finding engaging things to talk about with complete strangers, fear not! Help is on the way! Here are some tried and true tips for feeling confident when making smart, witty small talk with just about anyone!

Senior Smarts: How Education Helps You Live Longer

Written by Kathryn Savage

When James Smith, a health economist at the RAND Corporation, decided to research the prevailing factors that determine longevity, he had the notion of cause and effect at the front of his mind. A skeptic of the age old wisdom of good diet and exercise, Dr. Smith may have uncovered a new truth to aging well, something that transcends class and diet.

What James Smith discovered is that education is a vital factor in the longevity equation. A New York Times report describing Dr. Smith’s findings explains: "A few extra years of school are associated with extra years of life and vastly improved health decades later, in old age."

Numerous studies support the notion that education, both in adolescence and continuing into old age, is a vital part of living a long, happy and healthy life.

One of the possible benefits of staying in school is that social networks are created. In addition, a sense of purpose can come from throwing yourself at an area that interests you, in which you have no formal knowledge or training.

How to Stay Smart?

Daisey’s Wisdom: To Forgive is to Live!

Written by Kathryn Savage

Last week a Michigan woman, Daisey Bailey, celebrated her 113th birthday. Securing her rank as the oldest person in Michigan is a major milestone. Celebrating her 113th birthday surrounded by family and friends is an even greater achievement.

It is believed Daisey was born on March 30th, 1895. In her lifetime, she has witnessed the women’s suffrage victory, the civil rights movement, the 20th Century World Wars, the invention of Spam lunch meat, the moon launch, and the internet. She has outlived 4 of her children as well as a couple of husbands.

So what are Daisey’s longevity secrets?
Does she drink a glass of red wine with every day? Does she eat well? Exercise?

As numerous reporters questioned Daisey about her long life and her recipe for longevity, she answered simply. Daisey says prayer, love, forgiveness and eating your vegetables are her secret to a long life.

FEATURE: You don’t have to be a nun to get into the habit!

Written by Kathryn Savage

George Michael said it best: “You've got to have, faith, faith, faith.” Now, according to statistical data and years of field research, centenarians living across the globe have got to have faith, too.

Sardinians and Nicoyans tend to be Catholic. Okinawans believe in ancestral worship. Centenarians in Loma Linda, California are Seventh Day Adventists and attend regular religious ceremonies. The simple act of regularly attending a religious service or ceremony seems to be a common thread among cultures with the longest life spans. It doesn’t matter what your faith practice is - attending a religious service - even once a month, seems to have positive effects on overall health and happiness.

Making Time For Long Distance Friends

Written by Kathryn Savage

It’s a nice idea - enjoying time with friends and family, enjoying a happy hour and sharing a great meal with loved ones at the end of each day. But I’ll admit, it’s a whole lot easier said than done. And it’s virtually impossible when you friends and family are spread all across the globe.

So What to Do?

The reality is, I like many people out there, don’t have a core base of friends and family in just one area. Even if everyone you love is right around the corner and down the block people can move, have babies, take on highly demanding careers. There are a number of ways friendships get harder and harder with age. So what can you do when it is impossible to actually see you friends?

Friendship Linked to Longer Life

Written by Kathryn Savage

	Two Costa Rican elders we met on our BlueZones expedition to the Nicoya peninsula.

Friendship is a wonderful part of life at any age, and having friends by your side, especially in old age, may help you live longer!

Ok, a nursing home or retirement community is not the golden age answer to the college dorm experience. There are no keggers and hot hookups. I mean, retirement is not a time we generally associate with loads of fun, with social bonding.

But there is something about the nature of community living that we can all get behind. Studies suggest that community building and bonding with friends, especially in old age, may lead to a longer life.

Good Time Management = More Happy Time!

Written by Kathryn Savage

Quality time with friends, happy hour, playing with your kids, cooking dinner at home and enjoying a great, well prepared meal with family. These are great ways to increase longevity and live a fun life, but how can you savor the moment if you are always running out if time?

If you are finding a shortage of hours for pleasure and relaxation in your day here are a few time management tips I find to be successful.

Nature, Nurture, or Neither?

Written by Dan Buettner

	Photo from my visit to Okinawa (2005). Life expectancy in Okinawa is the highest in Japan, and since the Japanese life span is the longest in the world, it follows that Okinawans are the world's longest living people.

In an effort to locate the genes that may explain longevity, an international collaborative of longevity experts called "Genetics of Healthy Aging"  identified pairs of siblings older than 90, and took blood samples, checked for mental fitness and asked several questions about diet and lifestyle.   

In a typical Western population, only one in 100 people reach the age of 90. The incidence of siblings in the same family reaching age 90 is perhaps 10 times rarer and may be explained by genes that favor longevity. 

While the study is not complete, so far no special genes have been identified. According to one researcher, who interviewed over 100 pairs of 90+ brothers and sisters in Greece, a few factors seem to be associated with hitting the 90 year old mark. 

• They have low stress
• They grow and eat their own food
• They drink wine
• They don’t smoke
• Live away from the city
• The live away from noise.
• Most live in the mountains—many of them live in the last house on the hill.

FEATURE: Can Meaningful Relationships Fight Obesity?

Written by Kathryn Savage

"What drives people to overeat?". That's the question Dr. Barry E. Levin asks in an article on the psychology of eating, overeating and appetite published in The New York Times. (For the full article follow this link: http://www.nytimes.com ).

I am reminded of a time in my life when food satisfied more than my appetite. After quitting smoking, I started eating more carelessly. I lived in New York City, a big pedestrian city full of small markets, convenient stores, coffee shops and restaurants. But I was lonely. A a new New Yorker, I didn't yet have any meaningful friendships, and I turned to food without realizing it. Anytime I felt a strong emotion I didn't like, I associated it with hunger. "I should eat," I'd think, and I would. And in a sense it was hunger I was feeling, hunger for love, attention, laughs, good times.

Of course, I gained weight. But beyond that, gained a sense of fear; fear of food. Fear of myself around food. I can't really explain why food went from, well, food, into something more, but it did.