1. Blue Zones Life: Why,
What, Where, Who, How?

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:

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:

Dig Deeper into the Blue Zones Life

Main Page

Blue Zones Life

STEP TWO

Blue Zones Life Rules

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