Blue Zone Retirement

While you consider retiring overseas, you may want to think about the blue zones and their lifestyles. Blue Zones are areas with unusually large populations of centenarians (People over the age of 100). Not only do we want you to retire early, we want you to retire for a long time. Dr. Mehmet Oz showcased these five blue zones emphasizing not only their location, but also their every day diet. During his show, Dr. Oz, he demonstrated several foods that he and author Buettner believe contribute to the centenarians longevity.

"Blue Zones" author Buettner has identified nine common denominators of blue zone residents, what he calls the Power 9. Blue zone residents move naturally, in other words, they're not hopping in their cars to get everywhere. Blue zoners tend to walk a lot. They have a positive outlook, and a purpose. People in blue zones work less and know how to relax. They don't eat an over abundance at each meal, and they tend to eat a Mediterranean diet low in saturated fats. Blue zone residents also belong to a social network and make their families a priority too.

Another striking feature of blue zone centenarians is that they tend to stay healthy up until the end of life. Many people are afraid to live to be 100 years of age because they worry about being sick for a long time or being a burden to their family and loved ones. But in the blue zones, people lead a long and healthy life and many of the elderly continue to garden, exercise and live independently. The end stage of life is very short, and there's little or no debilitation.”

Five Blue Zones have been identified by Buettner:

1. Sardinia Italy: One team of demographers found a hot spot of longevity in mountain villages where men reach the age of 100 years at an amazing rate.

They live off the land on this beautiful island off the coast to the west of Italy and they tend to drink a great deal of goat's milk that they often obtain themselves. Many of the men walk an average of six miles a day and they enjoy a great deal of time socializing with their family and friends. Centenarians and younger folk there enjoy wine derived from the special grape that grows in this region of the world. That special grape is the cannonau. I have had an opportunity to enjoy some of the wine derived from these grapes and it is spectacular.

2. The islands of Okinawa Japan: Another team examined a group that is among the longest lived on Earth.

I have recently begun reading the book, "The Okinawa Program". Okinawa, Japan is a shangri-la of sorts. The people of this island have an 80 percent lower chance of developing breast or prostate cancer. It is believed that their lifestyle and their diet along with the "secrets" of this beautiful little utopia contribute to the lower risks of cancer and the continued vitality of the long lived elders. It is not unusual in this little place to encounter numerous 90 year olds with the energy of people decades younger.

3. Loma Linda, California: Researchers studied a group of Seventh Day Adventists who rank among America's longevity all-stars.

These Seventh Day Adventists share one thing in common. They are all vegetarians and all practice a plant-based diet.

4. The Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica, was the subject of research on a Quest Network expedition which began on January 29, 2007.

5. Icaria Greece The April '09 expedition to the island of Ikaria uncovered the location with the highest percentage of 90 year-olds on the planet - nearly 1 out of 3 people make it to their 90s. Furthermore, Ikarians "have about 20 percent lower rates of cancer, 50 percent lower rates of heart disease and almost no dementia.

Residents of the first three places produce a high rate of centenarians, suffer a fraction of the diseases that commonly kill people in other parts of the developed world, and enjoy more healthy years of life.

Read more about the Blue Zones in the books linked here.