Have you ever heard that you are the perfect combination of your five closest friends? While there is little research on this topic, the people around you do play a key role in your actions and choices.
Dan Buettner, founder of Blue Zones LLC, explains in his Netflix documentary that we are greatly affected by the habits of others, even if we don’t notice it. Live to be 100 years old. This is one reason why blue zones around the world produce the longest, healthiest people. After all, they are a group of people living, studying and working together.
“Health and longevity are more the result of the right environment than the right behavior,” Buettner said in a recent article. interview on the podcast Pure Life. “Because behavior doesn’t last. Circumstances do.”
community well-being
In Buettner’s examination of blue zone residents, it was clear that their communities were centered around habits that promote longevity, such as physical activity, heart-healthy meals and social interaction. Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda, California—the only blue zone in the United States—share the same values, including spending time outdoors, attending Shabbat, and being away from work and technology 24 hours a day. In Sardinia, Italy, residents walk together, often climbing the steep hills in their villages to get to church. In Singapore’s sixth and newest blue zone, seniors gather at community recreation centers to exercise. These rituals are passed down from generation to generation and become ingrained in the culture.
“Healthy behaviors are contagious,” Buettner says in the documentary, and there’s some research to back that up.
A 2023 study from the University of Zurich found that couples who maintain the same habits tend to feel closer to each other and maintain a positive relationship.
Similarly, published in 2007 in New England Journal of Medicine The study found that a person’s risk of obesity increased by 57% if they had a friend who became obese within a specific time frame; by 40% if it was an adult sibling; and by 37% if it was a spouse. .
While obesity is caused by a variety of factors, such as genetics, medications and social determinants of health, lifestyle also plays a role. Physical exercise and a nutritious diet help avoid obesity, so communities that prioritize these habits have lower rates of obesity and related health conditions.
The Blue Zones offer many lessons about healthy aging. Maintaining strong social connections is part of the equation, as it helps strengthen the aging brain.Feeling part of a community also helps combat loneliness and isolation, which can help prevent many serious health problems, including heart disease, the leading killer of adults in the United States
“The most actionable of these lessons is to get yourself into the right tribe,” Buettner said in the documentary. “Being around people who consider gardening or walking as leisure ideas can have a big impact on your habits.”
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