501
"Suspected", 8 "Probables" and 1 "Confirmed"
Infected Of The Of H1N1 Virus in Costa Rica
Reforms To The
Newly Reformed Ley De Tránsito Being Discussed
US Bans Shrimp
From Costa Rica To Protect Sea Turtles
Frontier
Airlines Launches Two-Day Sale To Costa Rica
Blue Zones’ Could Be
The Secret To Guanacastecans’ Longevity
Reality Show Crew Down With Diarrhea After
Drinking River Water
Blue Zones’
Could Be The Secret To Guanacastecans’
Longevity
(InfoWebPress) – In the last issue of The
Guanacaste Journal, we reported about a
study stating that Nicoyans are among the
people who reach the highest lifespan in the
world. To follow up on this topic, several
theories have been proposed to try to
explain this phenomenon; one of them is the
so-called “Blue Zones.”
A Blue Zone is a particular place in the
world that has special conditions for people
to live many years, even beyond 100; that
is, good health conditions that are passed
from parents to their children. So far, four
hot spots of longevity have been identified:
the mountainous Barbagia region of Sardinia,
an island off the coast of Italy; the
Japanese island of Okinawa; a community of
Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda,
Calif., about 60 miles east of Los Angeles;
and the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica, in
Central America.
ttention, that last November Oprah Winfrey
and Dr. Oz spoke with Dan Buettner, a
National Geographic independent writer who
has been researching these special regions
of the world for seven years, and who wrote
about them in his book Blue Zones: Lessons
for Living Longer From the People Who've
Lived the Longest. He appeared on the Ophra
Winfrey show to talk about his research.
Buettner said one of the secrets of Nicoyans'
lifespan can be found in the water that
flows through the hills. Their water is
among the hardest in Costa Rica—which means
it's chock-full of minerals. "Hard water
means stronger bones. It also means your
muscles are probably working better,
especially when you get old," he said.
Dr. Oz said hard water has proven benefits.
"Calcium, magnesium and water—it relaxes
your arteries, it builds bone strength and
it has a huge benefit across the board in
how your body functions," he explained.
Having strong bones is actually one of the
most important ways to live a long life.
"One of the biggest killers of older people
in this country is simply falling down and
breaking a bone," Buettner said. "If you
take calcium and couple it with vitamin D,
your bones don't deteriorate as quickly."
Families stay together in Nicoya, which is
another important key to living a long life,
Buettner and Dr. Oz explained. During their
visit to Guanacaste, both corroborated first
hand the customs of Nicoyans, such as
preparing tortillas after having processed
corn on stone metates like their
Mesoamerican ancestors used to do.
Buettner and Dr. Oz featured the 65-year-old
daughter of a centenarian. For lunch, she
made them corn tortillas from scratch.
First, she soaked the corn in ash and lime
to break it down. Then, she smasheed it in
the metate. Then, she cooked the corn
patties without oil. "It's a lot of hard
work, and there's no electricity, so she
can't do it any other way," Dr. Oz said.
"And it's a good workout."
This daily process of cooking tortillas is
like an automatic workout. "You know, most
Americans don't really exercise. A very
small proportion," Buettner said. "But in
Nicoya, they'll be making lunch and it's
like doing 25 reps with the free weights."
Another crucial factor to Nicoyan longevity
is diet. On his land, another centenarian,
Jose, has 14 different kinds of trees that
produce ripe fruit all year long.
But the real secret may be in what Buettner
calls the "Mesoamerican trifecta" that is
the predominant diet in much of Central
America — and has been for 3,500 years. The
diet consists of lightly salted corn
tortillas, beans and squash. "It's arguably
the best longevity food ever invented,"
Buettner said.
Another important aspect of the Nicoyan diet
is that they tend to eat their larger meals
in the morning, with progressively smaller
meals throughout the day. This not only
leaves Nicoyans craving fewer calories
during the day, it also lets them transition
into sleep much more easily when darkness
falls.
"A hundred years ago, when the sun went
down, the brain would start making more
melatonin. And with more melatonin, you'd
get tired, you'd get drowsy," Dr. Oz said.
"Today, the reason half of us don't sleep
normally is because the last thing we see is
a computer screen or the tube. That actually
does the opposite to your brain—it
stimulates it. So of course you can't fall
asleep. You've got to glide to sleep."
During their visit to Guanacaste, both
Buettner and Dr. Oz had the chance to meet
several Nicoyans, such as Pachita (102 years
old), Felipa (86), Serillo (95), Patron
(107), and Jose (99), who exemplified the
lifestyle of the Blue Zones. |
|
|
|
|
