Dan Buettner has spent 20 years studying the world’s longest-lived people during which he created the term “blue zones,” to describe places around the world where residents live longer than the average person. Okinawa, Japan, Sardinia, Italy and Nicoya, Costa Rica are all blue zones, according to Buettner’s research.
The 63-year-old also picked up some habits from the people he studied in these areas that have become key to his own health. “I know what they do as populations to live a long time, and I’ve certainly learned their lessons,” he tells CNBC Make It.
“My doctor tells me I’m in the top 1% of healthy people my age.”
Here are the habits Buettner practices every day to stay happy, healthy and contribute to his own longevity.
1. Take advantage of living in a walkable city
“People are living a long time, not because they have a daily practice, but because they’ve set up their surroundings, or they were born into surroundings, that nudge them into moving more,” Buettner says.
This awareness inspired Buettner to move to the southern tip of Miami Beach “which is a very walkable community,” he says. He lives next to the ocean which he visits and swims in often, and can easily bike around the area.
“I can live an active life without really having to plan for it,” Buettner says.
2. Eat a mostly plant-based diet
Buettner’s diet plays a huge role in his healthy lifestyle: He doesn’t eat meat at all, eats “about 98% plant based,” and typically eats within a 10 to 12-hour window.
“I usually have just two meals a day. One is late morning, and the other one is at night,” he says — around 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
One of Buettner’s go-to foods for breakfast and dinner is beans. He learned that those who eat a cup of beans a day live around four years longer than people who don’t. Buettner also enjoys spinach, roasted potatoes, tofu and chickpeas.
There is one thing Buettner hasn’t given up, and doesn’t plan to: going out to eat, which he does nearly every night. “Miami nightlife kind of forces me out. It’s not exactly [the] blue zone way.”
3. Engage in lots of social connection
“There’s better research about the certainty of good social connectivity helping us live longer than there is for any pill we could pop,” Buettner says.
Thankfully, he lives in a community where he’s “constantly bumping into people.” During our call, Buettner was in a coffee shop he frequents: “There’s three people I bump into every day, two of whom have become friends.”
He spends most of the daytime alone as he writes, but “I have every night planned with people, and that’s when I get a lot of my social interactivity.”
Buettner also loves hosting friends at home: “I’ve intentionally kind of overspent to buy a place where I can invite people. Right now, in fact, I have three guests in my house.”
4. Never work past 5 p.m.
One of Buettner’s non-negotiables is that he never wants to work past 5 p.m.
“It takes an act of God to get me to work past 5 p.m.” he says. “I know from my happiness studies, that even if I can make more money by working past 5 p.m., it’s not going to make me happier.”
Clocking out of all things work around that time is a major way that Buettner manages stress. “Come five o’clock, it’s always physical activity and social time.”
5. Do something physical every day
“I wish I could tell you I had a daily meditation, but I don’t,” Buettner says. Instead he prefers to “do something physical every single day.”
Buettner gets his exercise from activities like:
- Stand-up paddle surfing
- Biking
- Pickleball
- “Social yoga”
- Working out with a friend
“I do not do anything I don’t enjoy. I don’t enjoy cardio, and I don’t enjoy overly intense workouts.”
And after a night of socializing and physical activity, Buettner sleeps for eight hours. “You’re a lot less stressed if you’ve had a [good] night of sleep,” he says.
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