Blue zone

Blue zones are regions in the world where people are claimed to live, or to have recently lived, longer than average.[1] The notion is not based on scientific evidence.

For the band, see Blue Zone (band). For the parking zone regulations, see Disc parking. For parts of the United States which vote majority Democrat, see Red states and blue states.
Loma Linda, Sardinia, and Okinawa Venn diagram

Five blue zones suggested are: Okinawa Prefecture, Japan; Nuoro Province, Sardinia, Italy; the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; Icaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California, United States.[2]

History
An elderly Sardinian man

The concept of blue zones resulted from demographic work done by Gianni Pes and Michel Poulain, published in 2004.[3] They identified Sardinia's Nuoro Province as the region with the highest concentration of male centenarians, referring to the area as the "blue zone".[1][3]

Building on this demographic work, Dan Buettner proposed four additional locations: Okinawa, Nicoya, Icaria, and Loma Linda.[2]

Zones
Blue zone is located in Earth
Sardinia
Sardinia
Nicoya
Nicoya
Icaria
Icaria
Loma Linda
Loma Linda
Okinawa
Okinawa
Notable blue zones

Some areas having been identified as blue zones:[1][2]

Scientific reception

A study of claimed longevity in Okinawa was unable to verify whether or not residents were as old as they claimed because many records did not survive World War II.[4] When analyzed in the 21st century, life expectancy in Okinawa was deemed to no longer be exceptional when compared to the rest of Japan, as "male longevity is now ranked 26th among the 47 prefectures of Japan."[5]

Harriet Hall, writing for Science-Based Medicine, stated that there are no controlled studies of elderly people in the blue zones, and the blue zone diets are based on speculation, not solid science.[6]

See also

References
  1. Poulain, Michel; Herm, Anne; Pes, Gianni. The Blue Zones: areas of exceptional longevity around the world in: Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, vol. 11, 2013, p. 87–108.
  2. Jamie Ducharme (15 February 2018). "5 Places Where People Live the Longest and Healthiest Lives". Time. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  3. Poulain, Michel; Pes, Giovanni Mario; Grasland, Claude; et al. (2004-09-01). "Identification of a geographic area characterized by extreme longevity in the Sardinia island: the AKEA study" (PDF). Experimental Gerontology. 39 (9): 1423–1429. doi:10.1016/j.exger.2004.06.016. PMID 15489066. S2CID 21362479. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-01-07. Retrieved 2019-09-17.
  4. Poulain, Michel (2011-07-21). "Exceptional Longevity in Okinawa:: A Plea for In-depth Validation". Demographic Research. 25 (7): 245–284. doi:10.4054/DemRes.2011.25.7.
  5. Hokama, Tomiko; Binns, Colin (October 2008). "Declining longevity advantage and low birthweight in Okinawa". Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health. 20 Suppl: 95–101. PMID 19533867.
  6. Hall, Harriet. (2021). "Blue Zones Diet: Speculation Based on Misinformation". Science-Based Medicine. Retrieved 15 October 2021.

Further reading
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