Dear LPG,  

Today the internet taught me what a blue zone is.  You may well ask why that is important, or at least why it should be vaguely important to LPG readers.  The answer is that our world’s blue zones are the places where the indigenous homo sapiens are likely to live the longest.  Apparently there are 5 recognised places that fit the bill so far: Sardinia (Italy), Okinawa (Japan), Loma Linda (California, Seventh-day Adventists), Nicoya (Costa Rica) and Ikaria (Greece).

When the Good Lord is ready for me I think I am ready too but, in my opinion, there is no harm in doing what you can while you can to make sure you are around a bit longer so, having learned that such places exist, I got Google to show me a thing or two on the subject.

It appears that the world’s Blue Zones are nearly all found in parts of the planet where the sun shines most of the year, family members still don’t move too far away from their childhood homes and their fewer supermarkets selling processed food.  One report I read suggests that you must live in a relatively remote part of the world that has been bypassed by most of the aspects of the modern lifestyle that our western society offers, but another offers evidence of a mini blue zone which can be found in the borough of Chelsea just eight miles away from Lewisham.  

In one way the evidence shows that all the usual advice that a specialist would give on the subject if asked is being observed in these 5 blue zones, but the difference seems to be that these places are somehow separated from the world beyond them while all the members of their communities really depend on each other.  The one thing that runs through all that I have read is the importance of community and, significant by its absence, is any information on loneliness.

What I have read gives a very loose interpretation of the secrets of longevity and having found this information, I thought it a good idea to share it.

OC, New Cross

OC shares her findings… 

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