Blue Zones: Live Longer, Better

FEATURE: Lessons from Ikaria, Greece Quest

Why are the lessons from the Ikaria, Greece Blue Zone so important? Our team has discovered that over one-third of everyone in the northeastern end of Ikaria reaches age 90. They suffer 20% less cancer and half the rate of heart disease. And there’s virtually no dementia. In other words, they’re living the good years many of us are missing. Years we could possibly have by just adjusting a few simple habits, including:

1. Wild Greens - Greens are abundant in fields and roadsides, Ikarians frequently eat wild green salads and pies. Some contain more antioxidants than green tea or wine.
2. Herbal Teas - The common herbal teas consumed here contain compounds that lower blood pressure and decrease the risk of heart disease and dementia.
3. Low sense of time urgency - Feeling less obligation to one’s schedule and day is shown to lower heart-harming stress hormones.
4. Daily naps - Taking a 30-minute nap at least five times a week can decrease the risk of heart attack by 35 percent.
5. Mountain living - Here, every trip out of the house occasions a mini workout. People get their daily exercise without thinking about it. Studies show the mountain people have lower cardio vascular disease.
6. Strong sense of community - Family and village support create strong social connections, which are proven to promote longevity.
7. Goat's milk - 80 percent of all people over 90 have consumed goat’s milk many times per week throughout their life. It is rich in blood-pressure lowering tryptophan and antibacterial compounds.
8. Ikarian diet - The Ikarian variation of Mediterranean Diet is high in vegetables, beans, and low in meat and sugar. Uniquely, though, it’s lower in grains and fish, but high in potatoes.

But then there’s a big picture: Cancer costs our country almost $250 billion per year, heart disease another approximately $500 billion and dementia yet another $175 billion. If we could live Ikaria’s lifestyle, we could, at least in theory, cut our rates in half and save ourselves and our country nearly a half a trillion dollars.

To experience the Ikaria Quest go to http://www.bluezones.com/ikaria/

The Benefits of Gardening

• Stress reduction.
• Gardening is a great way to get physical exercise without really trying.
• It increases balance and flexibility.
• Gardening is good for spacial awareness, and it cultivates a nurturing attitude towards nature and the environment.
• Gardening gets you outside where you get the added benefit of sunshine and vitamin D.
• Free food! Yummy tomatoes, squash, basil, peas, oh my!

• Tomatoes - Plant them about one foot apart so you can use a string of 7-watt outdoor Christmas tree lights to keep them warm at night. Huh...

• Limited space for your garden? Too much shade? - For people with “limited space and too much shade,” make raised garden boxes, two feet high, four feet long, and two feet wide. “Around the outer edge of the planter plant corn and beans. In the box plant tomatoes. The corn shades the tomatoes and the beans grow up the corn plants but don’t affect the corn's growth.”

• Organic fertilizer anyone? - After cooking vegetables in water, especially beets, let the water cool and add it to your lawn and garden. The nutrients in the water make a great fertilizer.

Smoking Leads to Memory Loss

Add this to the list of reasons not to smoke: memory loss.
A new study finds that mid-life smokers are more prone to memory loss than mid-life non-smokers. The study was conducted by Severine Sabia and colleagues of France's Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale and it is based on years of research involving 10,308 participants.

What did researchers discover?
Smoking in middle age is associated with a “decline in reasoning abilities.” Arguably, this decline could increase risk for age related diseases like Alzheimer's disease and Dementia down the road.

Feeling forgetful already?
We all have trouble with the occasional name and birthday, at the very least remember this, if you’re thinking about quitting, there's always a good reason! If you're going to live to be 100 years old, you might also want to be able to remember it!

For more on this study read about it here.

Is green tea really good for me?

There is a lot of hype about the benefits of drinking green tea, is any of it true? I’m a coffee devotee but if there are great reasons to trade in French Roast for fresh brewed, I want in. Here's what I've uncovered about the health benefits (and risks) inside that cup of yummy green tea...

Cancer
Research suggests that polyphenol content in green tea is rich in antioxidant properties that prevent cancer. But in 2005, the FDA concluded that green tea drinkers were not reducing their risk for gastric, lung, colon/rectal, esophageal, pancreatic, ovarian, and combined cancers, despite what some previous studies had suggested. The good news is, the FDA also found that green tea drinkers may be reducing their risk for breast and prostate cancer.

Hearts and Warts
In 2006, the FDA claimed that there is no “credible evidence” that supports green tea’s supposed ability to reduce instances of Cardiovascular Disease. Later that year, the FDA approved a topical ointment based on green tea used to treat warts.

Antioxidants
Also in 2006, researchers at Yale University School of Medicine reviewed over 100 studies on the health benefits of drinking green tea. They examined why in Asia rates of heart disease and cancer are low, despite high rates of cigarette smokers. Researchers hypothesized that 1.2 liters of green tea, consumed daily, might provide very high levels of polyphenols and other antioxidants that improve cardiovascular health and essentially counteract the negative affects associated with smoking.

Pregnancy
Drinking green tea in excess can cause oxidative stress and liver toxicity. Some suggest exercising caution when you brew, and pregnant women are advised by some doctors to avoid green tea all together.

So can it make me skinny?
Some green tea fans think drinking tea increases endurance while exercising and improves fat metabolism. But research that backs up this claim is spotty.

Smoother skin?
Studies also suggest that tea extracts might be effective for treating patients who “suffer from damaged skin following radiation treatment for cancer.” This might be because tea is high in anti-inflammatory properties.

Are you a green tea believer? Tell us why you love green tea!