WHY the Blue Zones Life?
Rooted in our groundbreaking research of the healthiest, longest-lived people on earth, the Blue Zones Plan is four weeks toward a better you. This is not an elimination diet. This is not a reset. This is a new way to look at your health that will change your life for the better in nearly every way.
Over four weeks and in small steps, you will introduce beneficial changes one at a time. You’ll build as the days and weeks progress. Each new habit and improvement to your environment supports the rest, each one easier to add than that last, all working for your health. Together they function as more than the sum of their parts, ultimately providing a lifestyle change that will be sustainable for the rest of your life.
You might come in with goals like weight loss, but your health is oh-so-much more than a number on the scale. You might lose weight, yes. Over time you will realize that weight loss is but one small benefit in a landslide of great outcomes. Consider the amazing long-term benefits that a Blue Zones life can help you achieve:
- To live a longer, better life
- To have more energy, feel stronger, and gain health
- To have better sleep and feel rested every day
- To meet new people and nurture supportive relationships
- To discover your purpose and put it to work
- To be a change agent to help better your community
WHAT makes the Blue Zones and the Power 9® work?
The blue zones areas of the world share and benefit from a set of habits that we call the Power 9: practices that—together—increase longevity, health, and happiness. Our research has shown that these sets of behaviors and outlooks benefit people in these ways:
- Longer, healthier life. Not just longevity for the sake of a number, but vitality. Engagement with family, friends, and daily routines into your 90s and beyond.
- Lower rates of chronic diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, cancer, depression, and dementia.
- Quality relationships: part of the key to a life in alignment with blue zone habits is active engagement with community, friends, and family. These relationships work in a virtuous cycle of happiness and health: spending quality time with others is not just enjoyable in the moment but it contributes to your overall health and that of your circle, too!
- Adding life to your years, while adding years to your life. All of the Power 9 components help you to build a longer AND better life.
- Life satisfaction increases when you have a purpose and are engaged in a spiritual practice. Both of these are important to your quality of life and how you demonstrate outwardly your health and well-being.
WHERE Can We Find Blue Zones in Action?
The original five blue zones can be found all over the planet, demonstrating how we can live healthy lives no matter what climate or country we are in. We started Blue Zones Project® to use the wisdom of the original blue zones to tackle our current health crisis. It’s now a solution in almost 50 communities around the country, and has been able to improve population health and reduce healthcare costs in a groundbreaking way.
Blue Zones Projects are places where whole communities come together with guidance to encourage all community members—as well as local policies and infrastructure—to grow into thriving places where the healthy choice is easy. Where are some of the current projects?
- Albert Lea, Minnesota (the first location, where lifespan and community physical activity rocketed up and has stayed for a full decade)
- Beach Cities, California (where childhood obesity declined by 50%, smoking declined by 17%, stress by 8%)
- Fort Worth, Texas transformed from one of the unhealthiest cities in the nation (the city’s well-being rank rocketed to 58th from 185 out of 190 in the nation)
These Blue Zones Project communities have shown that the benefits of blue zones can be built from the ground up.
WHO practices the Blue Zones Power 9 and HOW has it changed them?
The four week Blue Zones Program is based on our research: identification of the world’s most extraordinary cultures whose health and longevity and happiness are outsized. People in blue zones didn’t have to embark on a special program to transform their lives. Luckily for them, they live in places where moving naturally all day, eating healthy, and connecting with neighbors is the norm. In the spirit of those areas, we have brought environmental and cultural change to new places with the Blue Zone Project. We help to change health and well-being by showing communities how they can re-make their environments, social groups, and individual lifestyles.
When creating the Blue Zones Life Plan, we looked to the original blue zones as well as each Blue Zone Project community. We used research-backed and evidence-based interventions in all our work.
How the Power 9 principles enhance life, longevity, and happiness:
- A Greek Island’s Ancient Secret to Avoiding Alzheimer’s
- Moai—This Tradition is Why Okinawa is Home to the Longest-Lived People on Earth
- NPR: Longevity Diet Tips from the Blue Zones
- NBC Nightly News: Blue Zones Project in Texas Makes Fort Worth an Example for Cities
- John Falkowski transformed his life by implementing the Blue Zones Power 9 into his own life, shedding not just weight and stress but chronic pain as well.
Dig Deeper into the Blue Zones Life
- Subscribe to the free Blue Zones newsletter for recipes, groundbreaking research, and expert guidance.
- Watch this TED talk by Dan Buettner, Blue Zones founder.
