Blue Zones guru reveals the hobby you should take up if you want to live to 100 – and 9 other longevity tips

IF YOU’RE interested in staying active and healthy as you age, you may have heard of Blue Zones.

There are five locations around the world where people reportedly live longer, often living to 100 years old.

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Blue Zones include Okinawa in Japan, the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, Ikaria in Greece, Sardinia in Italy and Loma Linda in California.

Although they are spread across the world, the inhabitants of these regions share common characteristics when it comes to their diets and routines – even their hobbies.

While genetics may have something to do with long, healthy lives, longevity guru Dan Buettner reckons that certain daily habits may be key.

The author and National Geographic fellow — who actually coined the term Blue Zones after studying centenarians around the world — recently appeared on ZOE Podcast along with Prof Tim Spector and Zoe CEO Jonathan Wolf.

Dan advocated adopting an unlikely hobby to live longer: gardening.

“In all the Blue Zones, almost everyone who reaches the age of ninety or one hundred has not only farmed all their lives, but continues to do so,” he told his hosts.

“And it may be because it is low-intensity physical activity,” he explained.

Exercise can be important for staying active and healthy as we age, but Dan says Blue Zoners don’t get what they do by going to the gym.

Even though you’re not walking on the treadmill or lifting weights, strolling through the garden and tending to plants still provides “a range of motion,” says the longevity expert.

Whether you’re bending, crouching, digging, carrying things, there’s a surprising amount of work involved in this simple hobby.

“I argue that gardening is probably much better than going to a gym, the best longevity exercise you can do,” continued Dan.

What makes gardening so special?

Sometimes the idea of ​​going to the gym to meet your exercise quota for the week can seem like a real drag.

But Dan argues that you can be more motivated to keep your garden thriving while also getting the additional benefits of physical activity as well.

“It’s a nudge,” he explained.

“When you have a garden and you plant something, you can’t wait to eat it.

“It gives you an incentive to go out every day, weed, water and harvest,” Dan continued.

Having a green thumb can also do good things for your mental health.

“I’ve seen studies that show that when you garden, your levels of cortisol or stress hormones drop,” Dan said.

A King’s Fund report into the health benefits of gardening recently revealed a range of benefits associated with the activity, such as reduced depression and anxiety and improved social functioning.

The NHS even added gardening to its Social Prescribing list in 2019, so patients can benefit from being in their community, connecting with nature.

Burying knee-deep in soil may also not harm your immunity, Dan added.

“It could very well be [that] you get your hands dirty, you clean your mouth and you pick up the microbiomes,” he said.

There’s a bit of dirt, but I argue that gardening is probably a lot better than going to the gym, the best longevity exercise you could do.