Blue Zones Project Blog

Understanding poverty, unemployment, homelessness, drug-addiction, or any other socio-economic stress and unfortunate situation is a challenge for those of us who are so fortunate not have such an affliction. This essay is the first of two raising awareness to those living nearby folks with these overwhelming conditions.

"Up and Down with ecology—the issue-attention cycle” by Anthony Downs is celebrating a golden anniversary this year. The example fifty years ago relates to ecology, but the principles are the same for current and re-emergent issues such as Civil Rights, HIV/AIDS, obesity, immigration, natural disasters, homeland security, global warming, and oil spills, as well as COVID.    

Sustainability is a timely, important, and complex subject. Thoughts, shared last week in the first of three BZP Bulletins on the topic, are summarized as follows: Sustaining well-being and good health for people, organizations, and communities is mission critical for equity, diversity, social cohesion, and quality of life.

Dan Buettner did all of us a great favor when he set out to answer the perennial question: what keeps some people healthier, longer?  By finding the longest-lived people on earth, and spending time with them, observing their habits and lifestyles, he isolated specific commonalities among these groups.  His books grace us with the wisdom he and his team gleaned from this research.¹

Well-being and good health are mission critical for individuals, organizations, and communities. Equally important is sustainability once the quintessential qualities that add healthy life expectancy have been accomplished. The quote, “The ability of a community to develop processes and structures which not only meet the needs of its current members but also support the ability of future generations to maintain a healthy community,” captures the need for a long view according to the Business Dictionary.

There's no doubt about it: We are smack-dab in the middle of winter. As beautiful and fun as these colder months can be, they can also bring challenges to our physical and mental health. Some can be mild, like dry skin or holding a few extra pounds, and others can be more serious, like seasonal depression.

What is brain health?” is the first question asked in a National Institute on Aging article addressing cognitive health in older adults. Defining brain health includes the following:

“Good genes are nice, but joy is better” is a summary thought of an ongoing 75-year-old Harvard longitudinal study that followed the lives of 268 Harvard educated men, the majority of whom were members of the undergraduate classes of 1942, 1943, and 1944. This informative survey has run in tandem with The Glueck Study," which included a second cohort of 456 disadvantaged, non-delinquent inner-city youths who grew up in Boston neighborhoods between 1940 and 1945. 

Defining the Need for New Forms of Therapy, an Ode to Dr. Beck

Leading a happy, healthy retired life is a goal regardless of one’s current stage during a journey to retirement. Most of us want to have had successful careers followed by a long, enjoyable, and satisfying dividend at the end of our formal working years.