18 AMERICAN LIFE | THE BEST YEARS SPRING 2012 AMERICAN LIFE | THE BEST YEARS 19

lifestyles, he suggests a strategy called deconveniencing. “Part of the secret is looking at how we can make our lives less convenient,” he says. “How can we take the electronic conveniences out of our houses? How can we make our neighbor-hoods places where it’s just as easy to walk to the store as it is to drive?”

Another common feature of blue-zone communities is their diet, which tends to involve small meals based around plants. “We’re constantly marketed the idea that we can eat our way to health,” Buettner says. “Big mistake. We’ve eaten ourselves way past the point of health in this country.” What people should be thinking about instead is “what we can take out of our diet.”

For many Americans, this would mean cutting back on meat. Buettner

suggests having meat once a week rather than several times a day.

!e long-life recipeLondon nutritionist

Sally Beare agrees that smaller meals with less meat make up part of the recipe for a longer, healthier life. Like Buettner, Beare centers her book, 50 Secrets of the World’s Longest Living People, on the practices of the world’s healthiest communities.

It turns out that the secret to longev-ity is anything but new. “The only things that really make a difference, as far as I know, are the age-old things—namely keeping to the traditional diet and lifestyle we evolved with,” says Beare. “We have

Stone Age bodies but a modern lifestyle, and the two don’t go

together well.”Beare has grown

especially concerned about the rise of heavily pro-

cessed junk food. “I think it’s really, really worrying (if you

want to worry about anything, which of course shortens lifespan

through stress) what people in developed countries are eating,” she says. “Half of it isn’t even food. It’s pseudo-food.”

But nutrition and exercise are not the only things that keep people healthy into and beyond their 80s. Having strong social connections and a sense of purpose may prove to be the most important aides to longevity.

0TH PLACE. Americans aren’t used to

ranking so low. But in the race to live longest, that’s exactly where the country stands. While Americans born in 2011 can expect to live 78.3 years, residents of Bermuda (ranked 20th) can look forward to

80.2 years. And on the Asian peninsula of Macau (ranked second), the life expec-tancy reaches 84.41 years.

While countless variables influence these numbers, we can learn valuable lessons in longevity from other cultures.

Lessons in inconvenienceNational Geographic writer and Emmy

award–winning documentary filmmaker Dan Buettner is a longevity expert. In his

book The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, he examines the world’s longest-living communities in order to find out the secrets to their longevity. Included are communities in Okinawa, Japan; on the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea; and in Loma Linda, Calif.

Though Monaco ranks first in the world in life expectancy, Buettner says the ultra-wealthy microstate in the French Riviera sets a poor example for Americans who want to live longer. “It essentially says, ‘To live longer, be rich,’” he says.

If you’re worried that you have to be rich to live a long and healthy life, don’t be. The places Buettner has found where people live the longest (what he calls blue zones) tend to be poor. “The real value comes from looking at subregions

that have exceptional longevity,” he says, “but have been doing the same things for centuries.”

These communities tend to have several features in common. People keep active, which is not the same as having an exercise regimen. “People tend to get from place to place on foot. People who live a long time burn about five times more calories every day in non-exercise activities than we do,” says Buettner.

For Americans to adopt more active

LIVE TO

100100By Lucas Bernhardt for USA TODAY

Communities around the world know the secret.

Will they share?

5 “!e most dangerous year of your life is the year you’re born, but the second

most is the year you retire. !ere’s a threefold spike in mortality that year,”

says Dan Buettner.

Retirees, be aware78.3!e age a U.S.

citizen born in 2011 can expect to live to

SOURCE: CIA’S WORLD FACTBOOK

THINKSTOCK CO N T I N U E D

20 AMERICAN LIFE | THE BEST YEARS SPRING 2012 AMERICAN LIFE | THE BEST YEARS 21

Building strong relationships is key according to The Longevity Project, written by health researchers Howard S. Friedman and Leslie R. Martin at University of California, Riverside.

“It is a society with more conscien-tious and goal-oriented citizens, well integrated into their communities, that is likely to be one of health and long life,” Friedman says.

“We saw repeatedly,” says Martin, “that being actively involved with other people really made a difference, not only in longevity, but also in terms of improving quality of life.”

Since many people’s social lives and sense of purpose center around their work, Martin cautions that retirement can pose new challenges. She suggests that retirees actively seek out volunteering opportunities and reach out to friends and relatives. “If some of these connections involve helping other people,” she says, “you have an added health bonus.”

Finding faith, and other factors

Involvement in a religious community also appears to have health benefits. “It

doesn’t matter if you’re Muslim, Buddhist, Jew-ish, or Christian,” Buettner says. “People who show up to a faith-based community four times a month are living four to 14 years longer than people who don’t.”

Even if you’re not religious, having an optimistic outlook can give you positive long-term health effects. “Life satisfaction and a sense of well-being even in the face of decline is what is believed to be key,” says Len Kaye of the University of Maine’s

Center on Aging. Cheerfulness and optimism

produce a surprising effect. “When you’re facing a crisis, it is very good to stay engaged in the process of overcoming

the crisis,” he says, “but if you have too much of an optimistic

bent it can be a detriment.” Highly optimistic people are more likely to take

risks and be reckless, he says.Injury prevention is often overlooked

in discussions about longevity. Russ Fine of the Injury Control Research Center at the University of Alabama, Birmingham points out that unintentional injuries are the fifth leading cause of death for all age groups.

43

Looking for a new gig to keep

you busy?See page

for ideas.

Wan! t" liv# longer?Her#’$ how.

Get a full night’s sleepThe longest-living people get between 7" and 9 hours of sleep per night.

Have at least two healthy, happy friends Both good and bad habits, and both happiness and unhappiness, are contagious. Surround yourself with people who will keep you on the sunny side.

Everything in moderationThis applies to more than just

eating and drinking. Too much optimism can lead to reckless-ness and injury.

Plant a gardenThe natural, daily activity involved in keeping up a garden can add years to your life.

Buy a bicycleThose who own a bike are much more likely to exercise daily.

Get out and socializeIsolation takes as much of a toll on longevity as smoking. So work a lot of face-to-face interactions into your daily routine. And while you’re at it, don’t smoke.

Be glad you’re alive today Life expectancy is now more than double what it was in the Middle Ages.

Know why you get out of bed in the morning If you’re not sure, give it some thought, then write it down.

80.

It’s never too late to tap into your

spiritual side.See how on page

RESEARCHER Dan Buettner, a longevity expert, travels the world to uncover the secrets to a long life.

COURTESY OF GIANLUCA COLLACO N T I N U E D

22 AMERICAN LIFE | THE BEST YEARS SPRING 2012 AMERICAN LIFE | THE BEST YEARS 23

Though careful, attentive driving is one of the main ways to prevent accidents, AAA reports that 28.3 percent of drivers regularly talk on their cellphone while driving. A country’s driving policies can have an effect, too. “Other countries have much harsher penalties for drunk driving,” says Fine. “These folks are often removed from the roadways permanently.”

Simple measures like using handrails and putting safety strips on rugs can extend the lives of seniors. “Falls are the leading cause of injury death for adults over 65,” Fine says.

Can the U.S. catch up? Fine and his colleagues see reason

for optimism about America’s ability to increase life expectancy. “The best place to be in the whole world if you are elderly or sick is the U.S.” he says. “Not too many years ago, if a person suffered a hip fracture it was essentially a death sentence. Today, however, people seldom die from a hip fracture because within 24 hours of surgery they are out of bed and walking around. This reduces the risk of developing life-threatening complications.”

Though advances in technology are good news, “success has led to a new set of problems,” says Robert Kane of

the University of Minnesota’s Center on Aging. He says America’s social and medical systems were never built to

accommodate the number of patients they’re seeing.

Kane spends much of his time “at the intersection

of chronic illness and long-term care,” trying to find new ways to meet the needs of older people.

“You can’t think of a more bizarre contradiction of

terms than the phrase ‘nursing home’ because it provides neither

nursing nor a home,” he says. He’d like to see the U.S. move toward a community-care model.

But when it comes to understanding and promoting longevity, unanswered questions remain. For Martin and Friedman, using research that began in the 1920s has meant making do with a lack of good physiological measures, such as cholesterol levels and blood pressure. In the future, there should be long-term studies that include this information and give a more detailed picture of health and longevity.

Buttner views the mystery of longevity in microscopic terms. “The technical definition of aging is the buildup of cellular and molecular damage over time,” he says. “We don’t have a clue how to avoid the buildup of damage at the cellular level. That is the Rosetta Stone of longevity.”

Japan’s successJapan is the 10th most populous nation in the world and possesses the fifth highest life expectancy, at 82.25. But in the 1950s, Japan’s life expectancy was a mere 60 years. Yoko Shido of Japan’s International Longevity Center believes these fac-tors have contributed to the nation’s dramatic increase in life expectancy:

ProsperityEconomic development since World War II has led to a higher standard of living and improved public health.

Universal health careEveryone in Japan has health insurance.

Safety and securityLow crime rates and little fear of war or terrorism sets people’s minds at ease.

EducationHigh literacy rates and the desire to learn have led to a greater awareness of health, nutrition, and hygiene.But Shido is concerned about the younger generation. “Many Japanese young people are growing up on junk food,” she says. And since the tsunami last March, people have felt less secure and optimistic.

67.

Geriatric hospitals are performing

cutting-edge research on aging

and longevity.See more on page

THE TOP 10 COUNTRIES IN LONGEVITY(Life expectancy at birth in 2011)

SOURCE: THE CIA WORLD FACTBOOK

MONACO89.73

1SAN

MARINO83.01

3SINGAPORE

82.14

7JAPAN82.25

5AUSTRALIA

81.81

9MACAU84.41

2GUERNSEY

82.16

6ITALY81.77

10ANDORRA

82.43

4 HONG KONG82.04

8

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