Video Dispatch
Watch the Expedition Unfold.
Travel with us to an isolated Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea to determine exactly why this place became home to some of the longest living people in the world.
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The Legend of Yanis Karimalis
Did Ikaria cure Yanis Karimalis of cancer? You be the judge.
The burly 73-year-old tells a pretty incredible story of healing. And if his tale doesn't convince you of Ikaria's magic, nothing will.
The son of poor Ikarian farmers, Yanis learned the importance of hard work early on. By age 15, he was unloading ships in Athens. At 23, he struck out for the United States, taking odd jobs in Pennsylvania—the U.S. state where many Ikarian immigrants settled—and began painting bridges for a living.
All was going well in his new home until, at age 34, Yanis developed severe stomach symptoms. "I started feeling sick, and getting pains, so I went to the doctor," he recalls. The prognosis was not good: his doctors said he had less than a year to live.
Yanis decided to return to Ikaria to die. "I didn't have family in the United States, so there was no one to bury me," he explains. "I didn't want to die around strangers." Doctors in Greece confirmed his prognosis and asked Yanis to return for monthly testing, but he refused. Instead, he did something rather unusual: he moved into a cave.
Yes, you read that right, a cave. But he didn't go there to suffer; he went as a last-ditch effort to heal. It was a family tradition. "I remember my grandfather getting sick a long time ago, and he went into a cave and got better. So that's what I did," he recalls. That grandfather, says the voluble Yanis, lived to be 105 years old.
During the following year, Yanis says, he only ate three things: boiled goat meat; honey from a honeycomb; and a type of small snake-like fish. After that year, he felt well enough to leave the cave for good. "The stomach pains had gone away, and I was happy," he says, "so I went to the summer festival."
And he has returned to that same summer festival every year since then. In fact, Yanis has outlived every doctor who predicted his early demise.
Cave-dwelling is not a common feature of life in Blue Zones, but there are a few aspects of Yanis's story that do fit the profile.
For one thing, he ate lean meat and fish—two components of the healthy Mediterranean diet that he now eats regularly. (Ikarian honey, the third part of his odd diet, is thought to have unique health-boosting properties.)
For another, in his darkest hour, Yanis brought himself closer to his family. Having a strong sense of community is a strong predictor of longevity.
So, will living in a cave lift a medical death sentence? Probably not. But something helped Yanis outlive his doctors. Perhaps our Quest will identify an Ikarian secret that will help non-cave-dwellers live longer too.
Image Gallery
Our professional photographer, Gianluca Colla, was able to experience the Greek Orthodox Easter on Ikaria last weekend. To many in this culture, this is the most important holiday of the year. To see the photos larger or read the captions, click on the image.
Vote To Direct The Team
You help decide what the team does.
We have three leads today and we're trying to decide which one to tell you more about first. We've heard that there is a 95 year old ATV-riding priest that we should meet. The scientific team has some interesting findings we'd like to share. Also, we'd like to learn more about Ikaria's medicinal herbs. What would you like to learn more about?
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Daily Data
Print Daily DataWhat's new with the team today?
Expedition Team Daily Data
Writer and Doctor Archelle Georgiou
Name: Archelle Georgiou
Title: Blue Zones Writer and Doctor
Age: 46
Pedometer Reading: 5219
Favorite Exercise: Walking
Hours of Sleep Last Night: 6.5 hours
What I Had to Eat Yesterday
Breakfast - Yogurt with Honey and piece of toast with butter and mamalade
Lunch - Bread, two roasted peppers, favabean spread, tomato salad, sautéed onions, glass of wine and a piece of sweet bread
Dinner - Bread, spinach with rice, tomato salad and wine
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Dan’s Dilemma
Cultural Sensitivities -- Again
Gianni and Michel use the city records to locate people over 90 to participate in their scientific surveys. Once they find the elders, they prefer to make a phone call to arrange the appointment. However, they have found that a large percentage of the elders refuses to be studied when approached over the phone.
Since Michel and Gianni need to interview a lot of people in a short amount of time, they would like to change their approach to showing up unannounced. They believe the elders would be more willing to participate because it's harder to say "no" face to face especially because Ikarians care so much about hospitality.
Poll
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Mystery Photo
What is this?
- Orthodox Hat
- Goat Skin Backpack
- Seat Covering for a Saddle
It is a goat skin backpack
We found this goat skin backpack (called a “filaki”) hanging on the back of a truck. These backpacks are frequently used by many of the farmers in Ikaria to carry water, wine, snacks and the various tools they need to spend the day in the fields. Kids use them to carry their schoolbooks and they are also used to carry groceries. And moms use them as a baby carriers too.
Making a goat skin backpack is a complicated process. After the goat is killed, the animal is carefully skinned to make sure that the pelt does not rip or tear. With the skin turned inside out, it is filled with hay so that the leather takes on the shape of a backpack. Ashes are added to the hay to keep insects from being attracted to the fur. About ten days later, after the skin is completely dried out, the skin is washed in sea water and kneaded until it is soft. The final step in the process is tying the legs together to create the straps.
I would not suggest making your own goat skin backpack. If you would really like to have one, take a trip to Ikaria and buy one from a local farmer.
Ask A Question
Have a question for our team?
Use the comment feature at the bottom of this page to ask a question. Please know we receive many questions each day and will only be able to answer a few. We'll post as many questions as we can in the Comments section. When we get a response back from the team, we will post the question and the answer here.
And please be patient. Ikaria time is eight hours ahead of Blue Zones headquarters in Minneapolis and we email with one team member, Nick the producer, around midnight our time and 8:00 am their time each day. Once he receives the questions from us, he will go to the team and get answers. Then we have to wait until midnight the next day to get the answers from Nick and then add them to the Web site.
Your Questions Answered
Question: I found out that the oldest centenarian in the world was 115 year -old Maria de Jesus in Portugal. She died so now the oldest centenarian in the world is 114 year -old Gertrude Baines. I found out she lives in L.A. Has Dan Buettner ever met either Maria or Gertrude Baines?
Question from Nidhi in Ms. Petricca's 5th grade class
Answer: Great research here! We love it when kids get inspired to do extra research. Do you know what is really exciting about Ikaria, Greece? The WHOLE population lives longer, healthier lives. It's not just one or two people, it's their entire community. We think that's amazing and we want to know how they do it. We are glad you and your classmates will be with us online to help figure out why.
Answer provided by Amy at Blue Zones headquarters in Minneapolis
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Educator Favorites
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Quest Materials
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Daily Discussion
Provides ideas and talking point for the day.
Blue Zones Challenge
4-week health and fitness program for students.
Legacy Project
Multi-disciplinary research project for students.