By Alexa Mikhail – Fortune
Many of us have heard of blue zones, or the communities across the globe including Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; and Ikaria, Greece, where people seem to be doing it right—living longer, healthier, happier lives. Researchers introduced the blue zones in 2000, and a 2004 academic paper used it to describe an “an area of extraordinary longevity in Sardinia.” Striving for longevity is something Dan Buettner, a National Geographic fellow, became fascinated with when studying what makes a community thrive over two decades ago. That led him to form Blue Zones, a registered trademark owned by Blue Zones LLC, a company using longevity research to apply social and environmental changes to American cities.
Buettner found that on average, people residing in blue zones live up to a decade longer than Americans, have fewer chronic health conditions, and spend less on health-related costs.
