Last week, we talked about how eating “healthy” isn’t just about living longer. Rather, it’s about how we feel as we age and how healthy we are.
Sounds good, but there is a problem.
Statistics show that while we may be living longer, we are also less healthy.
Enter the Blue Zones, the regions around the world with the highest life expectancy and some of the healthiest people on the planet.
Blue Zones are where you find centenarians, folks who’ve reached 100 years or more. In addition to embracing a healthy diet, they’ve mastered the art of stress reduction.
According to the Mayo Clinic, stress symptoms can affect your health, even though you might not know it. “You may blame sickness for that annoying headache, your sleeping troubles, feeling unwell or your lack of focus at work. But stress may really be the cause.”
Common stress symptoms, like an upset stomach, chest pain and constipation, can affect not only your body, but your thoughts, feelings and your behavior.
Being aware of common stress symptoms can help you manage them. On the other hand, stress that’s not dealt with can lead to more severe health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, obesity and diabetes. No wonder stress is often called the “silent killer.”
If you’re one of my loyal readers, you know that I enjoy the challenge of linking any given topic to gardening. This week is no exception …
Gardening is one of the best ways to “downshift” and reduce stress. And downshifting (chilling) is a fundamental principle of the Blue Zones lifestyle.
A powerful stress-reduction tool, Blue Zones in general and gardening in particular, helps individuals achieve a high-quality, well-balanced life while living in a high-stress world.
For residents of Blue Zone areas, downshifting is like downshifting a car: a kind of ratcheting down, taking life at a slower pace. Other downshifting activities that invite downshifting include walking, cooking meals from scratch, painting and drawing — all quiet practices that recharge and renew energy.
OKINAWA: SUNSHINE AND VITAMIN D
Okinawa is one of the original Blue Zone areas. It’s an island paradise located about a thousand miles from Tokyo, Japan. Its residents enjoy a warm climate year-round, which allows them to soak in ample sunlight. Sunlight is a natural source of vitamin D production. In a study of 16,000 adults, researchers found that increased sun exposure was associated with a decrease in stress.
While sunbathing might be practical this time of year (Brrr), spending time outside and taking vitamin D supplements are doable. Vitamin D is a nutrient we eat and a hormone our bodies produce.
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that has long been known to help the body absorb and retain calcium and phosphorus; both are critical for building bone.
Studies also show that vitamin D can reduce growth of cancer cells, help control infections, and reduce inflammation. As for food, only a few foods are rich in vitamin D. These include fatty fish, such as salmon, and egg yolks. Milk might come to mind, but that’s because it’s fortified with the vitamin.
Which means that the main natural source of vitamin D occurs when your skin is exposed to the sun. Hence its nickname, “the sunshine vitamin.”
But many people are vitamin D-deficient because they live in places (hello Kodiak!) where sunlight is limited during winter, because they spend most of their time indoors, or don’t “uncover” when outside.
For most of us though, the best way to get enough vitamin D is to take a supplement. Vitamin D supplements are available in two forms: vitamin D2 and vitamin D3. Indeed, a few years ago when I went to the doctor for my annual physical, one of her first interview questions was, “Are you taking vitamin D supplements?”
IKARIA, GREECE: GARDENING AND REGULAR NAPPING
Ikaria is an island in the Aegean Sea. Residents are famous for managing stress effectively. Here are a few “gentle rules” for mellowing out:
Get outside: Engage in activities like gardening, exercise, yardwork, and socializing with family, friends and neighbors.
Take a nap: Regular napping is linked to a lower risk of heart disease and balanced stress hormones.
SARDINIA: LAUGHTER IS GOOD MEDICINE
Sardinia is the second-largest Mediterranean island, and home to the village of Arzana, known for having the highest percentage of centenarians in Italy. Sardinians will tell you, “Don’t take life too seriously!”
STRESS RELIEF FROM LAUGHTER? IT’S NO JOKE
When you start to laugh, it doesn’t just lighten your load mentally, it actually induces healthy physical changes in your body.
A hearty laugh fires up and then cools down your stress response, and it can increase and then decrease your heart rate and blood pressure. The result? A good, relaxed feeling.
Laughter can also trigger the healing process. American author and editor Norman Cousins showed us how “laugher therapy” works.
In his 1979 book, “Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient,” Cousins described how he was diagnosed with a serious, supposedly incurable, connective tissue disease in 1964. He was given a very slim chance of survival.
He worked with his doctor to develop a self-designed recovery program that included high doses of Vitamin C and a regimen of positive emotions, primarily self-induced laughter. His favorite films? Marx Brothers films, Charlie Chaplin films and Candid Camera TV reruns.
Cousins and Blue Zone communities offer us priceless insights into lives that are free from stress and brimming with vitality. We, as in the community of Kodiak as well as residents, can learn from these insights by implementing some of these practices into future planning and our individual lives.
Just as I was finishing this article, I began to wonder, “Is it possible for Kodiak to become a Blue Zone?”
I went online to the Blue Zones website (bluezones.com) and discovered that Blue Zones has helped hundreds of American cities and organizations co-create and implement “evidence-informed well-being transformation programs to create sustainable, systems-level solutions that improve population health and economic vitality.
“We partner with public and private sector leaders to increase the well-being of communities leading to greater stability, reduced healthcare costs and disparities, and increased resilience. We partner with organizations and brands that want to make meaningful, sustainable impact for their employees, members, and customers.”
Can we do this? Of course. It just takes the will to do it.
If you have a gardening question, stop me in the grocery store, drop me a line: mygarden@alaska.net, or visit my YouTube channel, The UpBeet Gardener.
Enjoy these weekly columns? Support our amazing local newspaper, the Kodiak Daily Mirror — online or in print. To subscribe, call Janet at 907-486-3227 or email Info@KodiakDailyMirror.com
Comments are closed.