Science has unlocked innumerable possibilities for people to live better lives. From the rapid development of a highly effective COVID-19 vaccine to constant advances in medical treatments, living without suffering has become an attainable goal for groups who never would have dreamed it possible even a few years ago.
Blue Zones Project
Recent posts by Blue Zones Project
3 min read
Blue Zones Project SWFL’s Food Policy Council Finds Solutions to Child Food Insecurity During COVID-19
For all the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic presented, it paved the way for new solutions to answer some of society’s most persistent challenges.
As one example, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) response to child food insecurity during COVID-19 has enabled schools across the country to institute free universal feeding programs for all children 18 and under, regardless of enrollment status, and opened a leadership
opportunity for schools to
play a more expansive role in closing the nutrition gap for students and their families.
Topics: Food Access Featured
1 min read
Wellness on purpose
Imagine if you lived a healthy lifestyle by accident, making healthy choices without superhuman willpower. Starting in 2015, Blue Zones Project by Sharecare partnered with Cambia Health Foundation and local sponsors to set Oregon communities on a path to longer, better lives through shifts in people, policy, and places.
Topics: Blue Zones Project - Oregon Featured
3 min read
What the residents of the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica can teach us about living longer
Grab a bike and pedal along a path on the Nicoya Peninsula, situated on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast. You’ll find colorful houses, exotic fruits, and residents twice as likely as American’s to reach a healthy age 90. Though the Central American country isn’t that far from the U.S. geographically, it is way ahead of us in longevity.
4 min read
Resilient Southwest Florida
On March 3,
leadership from Southwest Florida joined us to discuss how Blue Zones Project helped build a more resilient community. Paul Hiltz (president and CEO of NCH Healthcare System) and Bill Barker (founder and CEO of Barker Strategic Solutions) spoke about the partnerships and implementation of initiatives across the community that foster well-being, especially in challenging times.
We caught up with Deb Logan, executive director of Blue Zones Project – Southwest Florida, to find out more about the initiative’s work to maintain resilience amid the COVID-19 pandemic and tips for other communities looking to do the same.
Topics: BZP Communities
1 min read
Senior Citizens in Brevard, North Carolina Stay Connected, Keep Moving Amid Pandemic
Like many assisted and independent living communities around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic posed unique challenges for College Walk in Brevard, North Carolina. How could the organization keep its residents—an aging population that is susceptible to loneliness and isolation during a “normal” year—safely connected to others while physically distancing?
One answer came in the form of Blue Zones Project Walking Moais
®.
Topics: Moais Move Naturally connect
4 min read
Three New Communities Achieve Certified Blue Zones Community® Status
Partnering with Blue Zones Project represents a multi-year commitment by communities to transform well-being. Local teams are hired, steering and leadership committees are formed, and volunteers are engaged to develop custom local blueprints that inform action plans during the initial phase of the project. This collective group of stakeholders work together with the aim of creating measurable well-being change, ultimately qualifying the community to become a certified Blue Zones Community
®.
Topics: Certified Blue Zones Community
3 min read
Four Simple Ways to Prioritize Family
Blue Zones researchers discovered the happiest, healthiest people in the world tend to build their lives around family. Centenarians in the original blue zones areas put their loved ones first. Keeping aging parents and grandparents nearby or in the home is common, and can lower disease and mortality rates for everyone in the home. Blue zones area residents commit to a life partner, which may add up to three years of life expectancy, and they invest in their children with time and love. This lifelong devotion to family pays off, and there are small steps you can take today to make sure your putting loved ones first.
Topics: Loved Ones First
2 min read
Belong to live long
“People who pay attention to their spiritual side have lower rates of cardiovascular disease, depression, stress, and suicide, and their immune systems seem to work better … To a certain extent, adherence to a religion allows them to relinquish the stresses of everyday life to a higher power.”—Dan Buettner, Blue Zones
In the world’s original blue zones areas, all but five of the 263 centenarians studied belonged to a faith-based community. The act of regularly attending a religious service is a common thread among extraordinary cultures across the globe. Denomination doesn’t seem to matter—gathering with others to worship, even just once a month, seems to have a positive effect on an individual’s overall health and happiness.
Topics: Belong
2 min read
Practice the Okinawan Art of Eating and Mind Your Hara Hachi Bu
People living in the original blue zones region of Okinawa, Japan have a strategy for maintaining a healthy weight. Before each meal, they say “Hara Hachi Bu,” a Confucian teaching that instructs people to eat until they are 80 percent full. This mealtime mantra can help you cut calories and lead to better health and longevity.
