So much for the Blue Zones

Anyone even semi-interested in health and wellness has probably heard of the Blue Zones. These are geographic areas around the world that purportedly have the longest-living (and, by extension, healthiest) populations. People in the Blue Zones, on average, live well past 100, or so the story goes. People aiming to live long and healthy lives have emulated the diets and lifestyles of these so-called Blue Zones, hoping to increase lifespan and health span. As it turns out, the story may have been a fairy tale. 

According to a recent article by Michael Easter, the Blue Zones are actually a fraud perpetrated with bad data. The main problem is that no one really verified the age of the people in these regions. In the US, we are used to people having birth certificates and being able to validate age. This consistency is not applied in many countries, and certainly not at the time many of these aged people were born. 

I was never fully on board with the Blue Zones. I considered the general principles of eating whole, unprocessed food, staying active in nature, and maintaining connections with people without putting full stock in the specifics. 

A friend of mine had this response: "Nothing is as it seems anymore." A wise observation.