Is it possible for a person to live healthily past 100? Does it require inheriting a special longevity gene? No.
It is possible to live a healthy life past 100 years old, even without longevity genes.
The Blue Zone is where this is proven.
Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones, explored longevity regions and secrets to finding that special something about longevity.
However, no special genes or secrets were found in the Blue Zones.
There is only a healthy lifestyle.


Blue zones are areas where the largest number of healthy people over 100 years old live.
The author, who was assigned to a research project by National Geographic and the National Institute on Aging (NIA), established the concept of blue zones, which is now widely known.
The author, who is also a National Geographic and wilderness explorer, has selected five Blue Zones around the world.
These are Ikaria in Greece, Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa in Japan, and Loma Linda in California in the United States.


Four of these areas are islands or border the sea, so it's easy to think that outstanding natural environments and foods like seafood are essential for being a Blue Zone.
However, Loma Linda is an inland area about 100 kilometers east of Los Angeles and has no connection to the ocean.
Additionally, this area has an urban environment with many medical facilities and educational institutions.


The authors introduced the concept of Blue Zone 2.0, extending the original Blue Zone concept to fit urban and modern environments.
Singapore has often been cited as a model for trying to apply the longevity and health principles found in Blue Zones to densely populated urban areas.
Singapore's average life expectancy has increased by more than 20 years over the past 60 years, thanks to advanced healthcare, rising living standards, and proactive public health policies, making it one of the places with the highest levels of healthy life expectancy globally.
Following his previous book, the author added Singapore as the 'sixth Blue Zone' in this book.
The Blue Zone list has changed for the first time in 15 years.

Could this unique environment interact with the Sardinians' unique genes to produce long-lived individuals? Perhaps.
But Pes had doubts about this.
Because there were too many other research results that could not be explained by genetic factors.
“Let’s think about inflammatory genes, for example,” Pes said.
“We expected to find something interesting in Sardinian DNA.
We've studied dozens of genetic variants linked to inflammation, but haven't found any evidence that explains the health and longevity of Sardinians.
The same was true for genes associated with cancer and cardiovascular disease.”

Moreover, Pes found that the spouses of the Sardinian centenarians also lived longer than their siblings.
This suggests that a couple's shared diet and lifestyle may have a greater impact on health and longevity than genetic factors.


Pes examined a number of nutritional surveys conducted in the early 20th century, focusing on the diets of centenarians.
The survey, conducted by public health officials, showed that Sardinians in the past ate a very simple diet.
According to a survey conducted in 1941, the staple food of Sardinians at the time was bread.
“The peasants put 1kg of bread in their bags early in the morning and headed to the fields.
At noon, they ate bread, some of the wealthier ones had cheese with it, but most workers were content with onions, fennel, and ravanelli (radish).
In the evening, the family had a meal of vegetable soup.
“The wealthy even added pasta.”

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