Lessons learned from the worldâs blue zones (and how they can help you live a longer life)
Jul 9, 2025 ⢠5 min read
Published on July 9, 2025 | Update on July 9, 2025
July 9, 2025
Welltech Editorial Team
Table of Contents
Imagine celebrating your one-hundredth birthday in good health. For most people, itâs too far-fetched an ideaâbut for those living in a blue zone, itâs an achievable reality.
Whatâs the secret to living long past your peers? The answer might just lie within the blue zones, five regions around the globe with the highest concentration of centenarians, or people living past 100 years old.
In this blog post, we delve into the blue zone areas of the world to uncover secrets for a long life, because while you may not be able to pick up and move halfway around the world, you can adapt your lifestyle to include its proven practices!
National Geographic Explorer and journalist Dan Buettner coined the now-famous term âblue zonesâ during his exploratory travels, which included extensive interviews with centenarians to learn about their day-to-day life. His team pinpointed five specific regions around the world with high concentrations of centenarians and identified similar lifestyle qualities believed to lead to a long (and well!) lived life.
Despite these five locations being thousands of miles apart from one another, they all share similar lifestyle habits that have yielded its residents longer-than-average lifespans.
This small island in the Aegean Sea may only be 10 miles long, but its people boast exceptionally low rates of dementia, and on average, live eight years longer and have half the rate of heart disease than the average American.
This religious-based community of Seventh-Day Adventists lives east of Los Angeles and relies heavily on faith, friends, and a plant-based diet to live ten years longer than the average American.
The first blue zone identified by Buettner and his team, Sardinia lays claim as the largest population of centenarian males, thanks to its belief in putting family first and filling their days with laughter.
Boasting the largest population of female centenarians, Okinawa was once revered as the âland of immortals.â Today, the island relies on community, gardening, and a strong sense of purpose to forge through the years.
This family-focused society encourages a positive outlook on life while working hard and soaking up the sun.
While each blue zone has characteristics unique to itself, there are marked similarities across all areas that Buettner’s team discovered through its hundreds of interviews with centenarians. These qualities, known as the âPower 9â, outline characteristics across 4 lifestyle categories: Move, Right Outlook, Eat Wisely, and Connect.
While many believe it’s activity and diet that drives oneâs health, the Power 9 proves that our holistic wellness, including societal and mental health, is key to enjoying life well into our golden years.
For our blue zone residents, movement isnât something they try to avoidâitâs a natural part of life! Exercise isnât something they set out to specifically do, but a natural integration throughout their days, whether itâs by gardening or walking as a main mode of transportation.
Itâs called many different things across cultures, but throughout Buetterâs research, he found centenarians felt a strong sense of purpose that helped to motivate and inspire them to live their best lives. While it may be hard to articulate for some, finding that sense of self can lead to up to 7 extra years of life!
No matter your lifestyle or location, stress is inevitably going to find its way into your lifeâthis is even true for our blue zone residents who live in some of the most breathtaking regions of the world! Identifying a routine or hobby to alleviate that stress is key since stress is a major contributor to many age-related diseases. That practice doesnât have to be something specificâwhatâs important is having one. Residents in blue zones find comfort in activities like prayer, gardening, and even napping!
Overconsumption is a favorite American pastime, but blue zone residents eat until they are just 80% full. Consuming your largest meal early in the day and not eating after dinner are also common practices.
Like any health journey, the food we put into our bodies ends up being one of the biggest contributors to our overall wellness, so what is the blue zone diet? Beans, fruits, and vegetables make up the majority of blue zone nutrition, with meat only being consumed occasionallyâa marked change from the average American who eats over 200 pounds of meat a year!
Except for the Adventists who abstain from alcohol, all blue zone residents indulge in modest drinking, regularly enjoying a glass of wine or two in the evening.
Buettner and team identified that blue zone residents choose social circles that support healthy habits. Given that both bad and good behaviors can be contagious, surrounding yourself with positive influences can impact your health.
From maintaining close relationships with older generations to investing in marriages and children, blue zoners put their families first. Those committed to a life partner on average can add up to three years to their lives.
For all but a few centenarians interviewed, faith played a major role in their lives. Denomination does not appear to matter, though research has shown that those who frequent faith-based services four times a month can add 4-14 years to their lives.
Like many lifestyle philosophies and diets, blue zones is not without its controversy, with researchers stating that cases of pension fraud and faulty paperwork have likely clouded the original teamâs findings. However, while the blue zone theory may have its faults, experts do agree that most of its core principles are well provenâand luckily, those principles are easy to incorporate into your own life.
In order to live to 100 years old, a lot of things need to go right in your life (genetics being a big one), but adopting even a few practices from blue zones might just help you extend your life a few yearsâand do it in better health. So, start making a habit of moving more (we have an app to help with thatâcheck out WalkFit) and be intentional with your friends, family, and food.
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!
