{"id":363113,"date":"2025-01-23T14:59:40","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T13:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=363113"},"modified":"2025-01-23T14:59:42","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T13:59:42","slug":"about-those-blue-zones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=363113","title":{"rendered":"About Those Blue Zones"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

News Brief by Kip Hansen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the pop science lede:  \u201cImagine living to be over 100 with literally no health problems. You\u2019re still able to walk around your neighborhood or work in your garden, your memory is in-tact enough to recall your favorite childhood memories, and you\u2019re not taking any medications whatsoever.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s new? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new study into the concept of Blue Zones, or regions in which there seems to be a higher percentage of people living to advanced ages, was first posted to the preprint archive in March 2024 by Saul Justin Newman, a senior research fellow at the University College London Center for Longitudinal Studies.\u00a0 A full-text copy is available on\u00a0bioRxiv, The preprint server for biology.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>The title of the new paper gives away its content:\u00a0\u00a0Supercentenarian and remarkable age records exhibit patterns indicative of clerical errors and pension fraud<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Newman received the 2024 Ig Nobel Prize in Demography<\/a> for his work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The subject of Blue Zones became a hit \u2018field\u2019 of popular science when a book titled \u201cThe Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who\u2019ve Lived the Longest<\/a>\u201d was published  in 2012 by  Dan Buettner<\/a>.  As recently as 2023, Buettner was still working the idea and  co-produced a TV mini-series documentary: Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones<\/a>.   <\/em>And, of course, Buettner has made the idea into a business<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what are those lesson for living longer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to our friend Perplexity<\/a> (moderately useful when she is in her right mind):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople in Blue Zones live long lives by following habits that promote physical health, mental health, and social connections. These habits include:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plant-based diet: Eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes provides essential nutrients and fiber.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Physical activity: People in Blue Zones incorporate exercise into their daily lives through walking, gardening, and other chores. They also try to stand more and limit time spent in front of screens.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stress management: People in Blue Zones have developed practices and rituals to reduce the effects of stress.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moderate alcohol consumption: Drinking alcohol in moderation, especially red wine, can have health benefits.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sense of purpose: Having a strong sense of purpose can improve quality of life and motivate healthy behavior.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 80% rule: Eating fewer calories may help with longevity.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting enough sleep: Getting good sleep can protect against a variety of health issues.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building strong connections: People in Blue Zones value building strong connections with others.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And all of those traits [except \u201cplant-based diets\u201d if it is taken to mean eating no meat] are fine ideas and maybe many of us would benefit from incorporating more of them more often in our lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But do the people living in regions classified as so-called Blue Zones actually live exceptionally long lives by keeping those habits?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not according to Newman:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following quote is from Newman\u2019s preprint paper<\/a>.  It is a very thorough deep dive into the demographics of the \u201cBlue Zones\u201d and the claims made for longevity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe observation of individuals attaining remarkable ages, and their concentration into geographic sub-regions or \u2018blue zones\u2019, has generated considerable scientific interest. Proposed drivers of remarkable longevity include high vegetable intake, strong social connections, and genetic markers.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere, we reveal new predictors of remarkable longevity and \u2018supercentenarian\u2019 status. In the United States supercentenarian status is predicted by the absence of vital registration. In the UK, Italy, Japan, and France remarkable longevity is instead predicted by regional poverty, old-age poverty, material deprivation, low incomes, high crime rates, a remote region of birth, worse health, and fewer 90+ year old people.\u201d<\/em>   <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, but, but\u2026.?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saul Newman bares all in a 20 January 2025  OpEd in the New York Times<\/em> titled  \u201cSorry, No Secret to Life Is Going to Make You Live to 110<\/a><\/em>\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The OpEd is well worth your time if you are interested in how decades of seemingly careful science on Blue Zones have led to results which are imaginary or just \u201cwished to be true\u201d.\u00a0 At 1600 words, it is seven minutes read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, Newman handily sums it up for us with this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter years of open criticism, basic problems [of longevity research] remain unexplained. Instead, the science of extreme longevity continues as an immense joke<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # # # #<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author\u2019s Comment:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people seems to want to live to advanced ages, and in the news there is one guy who wants to live forever<\/a> (or at least \u201cnot die\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been writing about Nutritional Epidemiology and its efforts to find diets that will make people live longer (or something\u2026).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mini-science-field of extreme longevity and Blue Zones operates on those same erroneous methods which attempt to find \u201cthe secret to long life\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m with Newman, as science<\/em>, it is \u201can immense joke<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may know of other fields  whose Popular Science manifestations are also immense jokes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # # # #<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s the pop science lede:\u00a0 \u201cImagine living to be over 100 with literally no health problems. You\u2019re still able to walk around your neighborhood or work in your garden, your memory is in-tact enough to recall your favorite childhood memories, and you\u2019re not taking any medications whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":363114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691832807,691827168,691832809,691832808,691832810],"class_list":{"0":"post-363113","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-blue-zones","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-physical-health","11":"tag-saul-justin-newman","12":"tag-social-connections","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0blue-zones-1.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1wsF","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":372682,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=372682","url_meta":{"origin":363113,"position":0},"title":"Wrong, Daily Mail, Global Warming is Not Spiraling Out of Control","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"29\/03\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent article by the\u00a0Daily Mail, titled \u201cGlobal warming is spiralling out of control: Earth could warm by a whopping 7\u00b0C by 2200, scientists predict \u2013 leading to flooding, famine, and catastrophic heatwaves,\u201d presents this alarming claim based on a computer model. 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Sterling Burnett Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) ran a segment during its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"allergies\"","block_context":{"text":"allergies","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=allergies"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/0427289-bee-insect-bees-flower-flowers.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/0427289-bee-insect-bees-flower-flowers.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/0427289-bee-insect-bees-flower-flowers.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/0427289-bee-insect-bees-flower-flowers.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/0427289-bee-insect-bees-flower-flowers.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":387094,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=387094","url_meta":{"origin":363113,"position":4},"title":"Institute for Policy Integrity: Power Plant Pollution is Clearly Significant","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/07\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law\u00a0recently published\u00a0The Scale of Significance: Power Plants: The U.S. Power Sector\u2019s Annual Climate Pollution Causes Thousands of Deaths and Massive Economic Damage\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0The lede provoked an immediate negative reaction from this retired utility meteorologist.","rel":"","context":"In \"Air Pollution\"","block_context":{"text":"Air Pollution","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=air-pollution"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0AQNryYEaPScDmLbxt9Pv1lW0P9OzWfbqzYFpgikZmyLrKiQNRgtFvSiXnQAkxdXq1MUEFotQnPZpbVaD-g_0R2uHU_mSO9dBn3c3Jxhk9EnlKjbMXzOr17GHfRdiVIkDaJg7umrJeyEQwz03XLuj3x4ICuiHRg-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0AQNryYEaPScDmLbxt9Pv1lW0P9OzWfbqzYFpgikZmyLrKiQNRgtFvSiXnQAkxdXq1MUEFotQnPZpbVaD-g_0R2uHU_mSO9dBn3c3Jxhk9EnlKjbMXzOr17GHfRdiVIkDaJg7umrJeyEQwz03XLuj3x4ICuiHRg-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0AQNryYEaPScDmLbxt9Pv1lW0P9OzWfbqzYFpgikZmyLrKiQNRgtFvSiXnQAkxdXq1MUEFotQnPZpbVaD-g_0R2uHU_mSO9dBn3c3Jxhk9EnlKjbMXzOr17GHfRdiVIkDaJg7umrJeyEQwz03XLuj3x4ICuiHRg-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0AQNryYEaPScDmLbxt9Pv1lW0P9OzWfbqzYFpgikZmyLrKiQNRgtFvSiXnQAkxdXq1MUEFotQnPZpbVaD-g_0R2uHU_mSO9dBn3c3Jxhk9EnlKjbMXzOr17GHfRdiVIkDaJg7umrJeyEQwz03XLuj3x4ICuiHRg-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0AQNryYEaPScDmLbxt9Pv1lW0P9OzWfbqzYFpgikZmyLrKiQNRgtFvSiXnQAkxdXq1MUEFotQnPZpbVaD-g_0R2uHU_mSO9dBn3c3Jxhk9EnlKjbMXzOr17GHfRdiVIkDaJg7umrJeyEQwz03XLuj3x4ICuiHRg-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":305645,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=305645","url_meta":{"origin":363113,"position":5},"title":"Cannibalism to save the world? New Scientist opens that door\u2026","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/03\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Tut. Tut. Tut. New Scientist gently chides us for being the sort of modern prejudiced people who think cannibalism is taboo. 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