What the Blue Zones Teach Us About Longevity and Health

Deep health is vast, encompassing, and boils down to a few dimensions

Hi all!

Today we’re talking about Deep Health and The Blue Zones. If you haven’t yet read the book “The Blue Zones” by Dan Buettner, totally fine! (also, there’s a docuseries still on Netflix about it if you want to check it out, I highly recommend it!).

The tl;dr is that Dan noticed that some populations were living longer than others, with some locales boasting a disproportionate amount of centenarians (people who are 100+).

Dan set out to figure out why.

Dan’s findings were that these locations (places he marked with blue ink on his map) shared a few commonalities that are repeatable, simple, and nearly all quantifiable.

It turns out the commonalities among the “Blue Zones” are very similar to the dimensions described as “Deep Health.” Together they encompass health and wellness broadly and are interactive with one another. Definitions range slightly, but commonalities between one source and the next remain.

Here’s a list:

• Physical - feeling vigor and able to perform and function well

• Mental - positive relationship with your thoughts

• Emotional - positive relationship with your feelings

• Relational - strong social bonds

• Existential/Spiritual - a sense of purpose (or a connection to a higher purpose)

• Financial - stability and financial independence

• Environmental - the environment that surrounds you and the space you inhabit day-to-day

Of particular importance, says Dan Buettner, are moving well and often, eating well, and having a sense of purpose and community.

Physical, Relational, and Existential.

The last five Sunday’s posts, I’ve been working to communicate the most important Deep Health antecedents (the necessary pre-requisites). I believe these five below most closely precede the “Blue Zones” success stories:

• 10/13 -💧Hydration (Physical + others)

• 10/20 - 🏋️ Movement (Physical + others)

• 10/27 - 🔋 Recovery (Mental / Emotional / Physical)

• 11/03 - 🍎 Nutrition (Physical + others)

• 11/10 - 🧘‍♂️ Mindfulness (Mental / Emotional / Existential + others)

And those five dimensions in a nutshell define how the Wellth System works. We optimize on all of those dimensions for sustained outcomes throughout life.

Until next time -

Yours in Health,

Nolan