Choices · the Blue Zones
On our quest, my son Alek and I spent time in two Blue Zones: Ogimi in Okinawa and a village of centenarians in Sardinia. We came for the food and stayed for the people. This page is what we learned there — the whole way of life, not just what’s on the plate — and what scientists say about it, doubts included.
By Marek Piotrowski · Updated 2026-10-30
In short
Yes — and the biggest lesson isn’t on the plate. In the places where people live longest and stay well, the food is simple and natural and people move all day. But what struck us most in Okinawa and Sardinia was something else: nobody is left alone. Family, friends for life, a reason to get up, elders who are part of every decision. Scientists still argue about the records and the numbers — and almost everyone agrees about the connections. [1][2]
Longevity, as we mean it: more healthy, joyful years. What we mean →
In the early 2000s, researchers mapped places where unusually many people reach 100, and drew circles around them in blue ink. The name stuck. The first was a mountain area of Sardinia; later came Okinawa, Nicoya, Ikaria and Loma Linda. Each is different — different food, different faith, different landscape — but they share a way of life.
Sir Christopher Ball, who wants to bring that way of life to Oxford, summed it up for us:
“We want to make Oxford a little new Blue Zone. And Blue Zones are those parts of the world where there is a culture of simple living, modest eating, growing your own vegetables, family values, and the old-fashioned world, where astonishingly, they live longer and healthier than anywhere else in the world. I want this little bit of Oxford to be one of those.”
In Ogimi, the village of long life, we sat with the elders at the community centre. Kikue was 97. When I asked her why she was so healthy, she didn’t talk about food first:
“The reason I am this healthy, that I've made it all the way to 97, is that everyone in the hamlet really supports me, always calls out to me — that's one of the reasons, I suppose.”
Eiko, our guide and interpreter, explained what she meant:
“The reason for the healthy living is everybody contact her. If she's okay or not, they drop by, see how she's doing, okay, and they contact all the time. And in the end, they are building concern, the people, these connections.”
And Taira, 78, described the place:
“We live in a magical, very natural town and facing the ocean, facing the mountain and the people are nice and life is that's easy. And they also eat natural food.”
In plain words: Neighbours who check on you every day. That’s not a program — it’s just how the village lives. Read more on our Ogimi page.
In Sardinia, Paola Demurtas walked us through her village of centenarians and told us why the old people there are happy:
“They are happy because they don't have something to worry about. I mean, everybody has something to worry about. We are not perfect, but we have a strong family behind us. Everybody has a family, have someone that really care about you. So when you have problem and you know that you are surrounded by people that really care about you, it's something different.”
“We support each other in every way possible. So sometimes we go out all together, and we are friends for life. Like, the friends you had when you were a child usually are the same that you have now.”
When I told her about centenarians a friend had interviewed in Costa Rica — lonely, most of their friends gone — she answered:
“Here, it's all about sense of community, especially if you are old, and we care about them. We involve them in every decision. If there is an important decision for the family, they are one of the first to know, and we care about what they think about it. So they are really involved in every aspect of the community.”
In plain words: In Sardinia, getting old doesn’t mean being put aside. It means being asked. Meet Paola Demurtas.
| People | Family, friends for life, neighbours who drop by. In both villages this came first. | From Ogimi and Sardinia [2] |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Something to get up for — a garden, a job, grandchildren, the community. The Okinawans call it ikigai. | From Okinawa |
| Moving all day | Not the gym: walking up hills, working in the garden, carrying things, herding goats. | From both villages [1] |
| Simple, natural food | Mostly plants, fresh and local; meat now and then. In Okinawa, eating until you’re about 80% full. | From both villages [3] |
| Calm | Less worry. As Paola said, the old people tell the young ones they’re worried for nothing. | From Sardinia |
| Faith and celebration | Festivals, feast days and shared rituals that bring the whole village together. | From Sardinia |
Andrea Maier lives it in her own home:
“Our home, doesn't matter where it is, we always have the strategy leave the door open, literally, that others can enter, and I think this openness is very important. Meet other people. We were talking about the blue zone earlier. I think having a network, having people who are bringing joy into your life is most important.”
Words worth knowing
From our glossary. Tap a card to turn it over: the science on the back, and the people we met who explained it to us.
The places where people live the longest, and stay well while they do.
The Blue Zones
Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, Nicoya in Costa Rica, Ikaria in Greece and Loma Linda in California. What they share is not a pill but a way of life: moving all day, eating mostly plants, a reason to get up, and people close by. On the quest we sat with the elders of Ogimi, in Okinawa. Read more →
A reason to get up in the morning that is bigger than yourself.
Purpose
In Okinawa they call it ikigai; in Nicoya, Costa Rica, plan de vida; in Bali, Ketut Arsana calls it the goal you play for. People with a strong sense of purpose live longer and stay healthier, and doctors see what happens when it disappears at retirement. It does not have to be grand: grandchildren, a garden, a craft, a cause. Read more →
Level 01 · Longevity Basics“Life is altogether too short … if your blood is not singing at the thought of being who you are and doing what you do, then your life is wasted.”
Srikumar Rao · New York, June 2024
Taking a hit and coming back. Your cells can do it and so can you, and both get better with training.
Resilience
Young cells shrug off heat, a hard workout, a day without food; with age they recover more slowly, and so do we. Read more →
“There are 100 stressors, and young cells can resist those stressors. But as we get older, we just become less resilient.”
Steve Horvath · Dublin, August 2023
“Resilience is not just about physical inactivity, it’s about social and intellectual activity.”
Sir Muir Gray · Oxford, July 2024
Not everyone is convinced, and it’s fair to say so. Some researchers argue that many of the oldest people in the world come from places with poor birth records, so some ages may be wrong. Others point out that the Blue Zones are changing fast.
A 2019 study argued that extreme old age is reported most often where birth certificates are rare and lives are otherwise short, and that some record ages may be errors. Supporters answer that ages in Sardinia were checked one by one against church and civil records.
Based on: Debate between researchers [4][5]“There's something to be said about the Blue Zones research. Now, I know there's controversy around it, but at the end of the day, they talk a lot about sense of purpose and community and family and all that sort of more soft science. Maybe that's actually where we need to be focusing on because […] I suspect a lot of isolation with the younger generations coming through. More screen time, less socializing in real life.”
Craig Venter, who led the first sequencing of the human genome, reminded us that every Blue Zone is different:
“They all have a different formula, you know. Nothing works universally.”
“Social engagements apparently an essential part of that. You know, that's one of the key things in all the blue zones.”
And Paola herself sees her village changing:
“I was talking with a psychologist, like, months ago, and she was studying our depression. It's a thing now. We didn't have when I was a child. […] Even here, especially the youngers. If you talk to an old man or an old lady, they're gonna tell you, 'Oh, you're worried for nothing.' They have a different attitude.”
In plain words: The numbers can be argued about. What the scientists and the villagers agree on is the part you can copy: people, purpose and a calmer mind.
Paola said it best:
“It would be impossible today to replicate that life because you need to be isolated in the top of the mountain. So it's not possible. But of course, we can take the best thing, learn something, and apply it to our modern life.”
You don’t need to move to a mountain village. Invite a neighbour for dinner. Call a friend from school. Ask the oldest person in your family what they think. Walk instead of driving. That’s the joy for me: the Blue Zones aren’t a diet, they’re a way of being together — and you can start tonight.
Before you change anything
This page shares what research and the experts we met say. It is not medical advice, and it does not recommend any medicine, supplement or treatment. It knows nothing about you. Before you start, stop or change anything — especially if you are pregnant, live with a health condition or take any medication — please talk to your doctor. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.
Every number on this page, by the number in square brackets. Quotations come from Live Beyond’s own recorded interviews, cleaned only of “um” and “uh”. Not medical advice. Talk to your doctor before you change anything.