Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Blue Zones - Hannah Breese

Hannah Breese
AP Econ
Mrs. Straub
19 April 2016
Blue Zones
A blue zone in it’s simplest form is where “people live the longest and more specifically, areas where we have a demographically confirmed, geographically defined, area where people are either reaching age 100 at extraordinary rates, have the highest life expectancy, or the lowest rate of middle age mortality” (Worrall). According to a Danish Twin Study, only about “10% of how long the average person lives is dictated by genes, and the other 90% is dictated by our lifestyle” (TEDEducation). The premise of blue zones is to find the optimal lifestyle of longevity and then come up with a formula for longevity.
In 2012, Dan Buettner a National Geographic Fellow and New York Times bestselling author, producer, public speaker, educator, and explorer set off on a journey to answer a question that has had the world wondering for years (Worrall). That question is why do some people live longer than others? In order to answer this question, Dan was lead to places all around the world. As seen on the map below, places Dan visited included Nicoya-Costa Rica, Sardinia- Italy, Kara- Greece, Okinawa-Japan and Loma Linda-California. His goal was to bring back this new information to the United States in order to promote a healthier lifestyle and ultimately give people the resources to increase their life expectancy. If people in the United States were to adhere to these standards, there would be an economic revolution altering the agriculture industry with an increase in aggregate supply, decreasing aggregate demand in the automobile industry, and medical field as well ultimately resulting in a decrease in per capita income because people would be living longer.

Ultimately, Dan researched, interviewed and condensed all of this information into 9 life lessons. Something he likes to call the “power 9”. Each of these factors was present or being practiced in the countries he studied with a high centenarian population. Below is a listing and description of the common-denominators among centenarians (“Power 9”).

If people were to move naturally, that means more walking less driving. Increased use of public transportation and more biking. People wouldn’t need to invest money into a car when it is way cheaper to buy a bike or use public transportation. Similarly, again hypothetically speaking, if people were to adapt to a primarily plant based diet, and also grow their own food in gardens, the agriculture industry would have an increase in supply and demand.

Moving forward, implementing these strategies, lifestyle changes, whatever they are considered to each one of us, would cause an increase in productivity because a world with less cancer, less heart disease, and less obesity would keep everyone functioning easier and longer. Doctors offices wouldn’t be booked full with unhealthy people and instead people would be succeeding in the world, not immersed and consumed with technology but rather embracing and making the most out their life. The time is now, and the resources are available, make the changes and live a longer life. It will pay off later.

13 comments:

  1. I had never heard about Blue Zones before I read your article and I found it very interesting! After reading your article I concluded that you don’t have to live in a Blue Zone to live longer. The people living in the Blue Zones have limited access to cars which makes them more fit, and they also enjoy life and eat healthy. People living in the United States could make an effort to not use cars but it would be hard to do since almost everyone owns them. They could also eat more organic foods and reduce stress by spending more time with family. People living in Blue Zones will save on the price of cars which is a huge expense, as you mentioned. I believe that Dan Buettner, whom you mentioned in your article, should try and increase the awareness of Blue Zones so that these ideas can be brought into the United States. Great article!

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  2. This is an interesting topic to talk about in which I have never heard of Blue Zones before. In which it is interesting in which a blue zone is where people live the longest and more specifically and an area where people are either reaching age 100 at extraordinary rates. When thinking about one's life style I thought it all correlates with their genetics but it's actually no in which is 90% based on their lifestyles. And which you talk in which if more people drove and did more walking they wouldn't have to invest their money into a car. But then you have to take a look at if people buy less cars how will that affect the car industry. And also since are a generation that is filled with technology and looking at what my typical day is like in which we are all drowned in technology. I'm going to try to make a change to live a longer life in which if there is a store nearby to walk rather than drive and on weekends instead of being drowned by technology to go out and enjoy our planet and go for a run. Overall you did a really good job talking about blue zone and really shows how economics plays a role in blue zones.

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  3. I found this to be very interesting because I have never heard of the "Blue Zones". In classes like health and gym, we always learn about how eating a healthy diet and excising regularly can lead to a longer, healthier life, however, I never really thought about it that hard. These zones are like a giant science experiment, proving this theory. I wonder how the raising awareness of these areas will impact a nation's demand for things like fruits and vegetables; and how that my shift financial power from big technological companies, to agricultural companies.

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  4. This was a really interesting article! I never knew there was a placed called Blue Zones where people there end up living the longest. After looking at the 9 life lessons Dan has constructed, I think it would really help the life spam of Americans. Especially moving naturally because the more people we have using bikes and walking to places, that would decrease the amount of people driving and making the planet more green. And with people growing foods in their own backyard will save them trips to the store and making their life easier which will increase the supply and demand for agriculture. However, I don't know how people would feel about the use of technology. Our generation toady are always on their phones and companies are working on coming out with improved technology. With all of the people that purchases them, it helps them out greatly by increasing the demand and supply for technology.

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  5. I knew that plant-based diets were considerably healthier than other diets, but I was surprised to see the point about transportation. Since we have become so dependent on our types of transportation there really isn't a way to completely stop the use. If we did, the global economy would be shaped in a completely different way since the demand for oil would decrease substantially. Also, if this were to occur, countries could start putting more of a focus on their agricultural trade rather than material goods. This would lead the production of naturally grow food to increase all around the world. With this increase, countries would become healthier and the average life expectancy would increase. As said in the post, productivity would surely increase which could allow for a better economy and life status.

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  6. I thought this article brought blue zones to attention, which I personally haven't heard the term for before. Part of the reason people are able to walk, rather than drive, is because everything is within decent walking distance, which is different than many suburbs in America. The 9 common-denominators could be focused on, but with our current society and culture, some of them would be hard to achieve. I liked the images you included with the article and think that they helped, rather than hindered, the purpose of the article. It would be interesting to see how far America is from these blue zones, particularly how long it would take us to achieve that state.

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  7. I thought it was really interesting how there were actual studies to help prove some of the generalizations that people always tell us. I think that this will definitely become something that will come up more in the future as it becomes a bigger focus of newer generations. I think that you could've related it to economics a little more than you did towards the end, but you still did a good job mentioning some of it.

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  8. This brings a huge question as to whether or not it's worth the sacrifices to live longer. We can't forget that without all of the innovations in our technological world, we would be missing out on a lot of stuff. While moving naturally with the earth is the healthier way, it obviously isn't the most efficient for the majority of situations. Depending on the person, there may be a trade off between economic achievement and lifespan. In the end, it's a personal preference.

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  9. While I found your topic interesting, the relation to economics was a bit unclear. You did drop a few economic terms here and there but didn't quite make the full connection. Overall, a longer-living population means more people which leads to an increased demand for goods. This indirectly impacts supply because 1.) Price levels increase and 2.) More people means more workers available. However, it is important to remember that resources are scarce and it is increasingly more difficult to sustain a large population. Because of this, supply can only increase by so much. You also mentioned an overall decline in per capita income which is a bit of a broad generalization. Since we aren't talking about a dramatic growth in population (only a few more years for certain people) any increase in production will make up for the growing population. I think the biggest impact a longer life-span has on our economy has to do with a person's ability to contribute to knowledge and technology as they make discoveries.

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  10. This topic was very interesting read about. I never thought to analyze blue areas to find out what lifestyle choices lead to a longer life. I wonder if there are different food or goods people buy to extend their life. If this life secret were to get out there would be high demand and the price of the good would increase. Everybody wants to live a long and happy life and so this good would become more elastic in consumers eyes.

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  11. I had never heard of the blue zone before and I find it incredible that lifestyle can have such an effect on how long people live. I also find it incredible that the power 9 are almost a list of ways to live longer. I wonder if there are any other things that contribute to the longevity of the lives of these people. Overall, great post!

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  12. I found it very interesting that there are places in the world that help you to live longer. I knew that your life choices will help decide how long you will live but was amazed how far some people will go to live a much longer life. Also living this way will save money because there is no need for a car or other technology that many use in their everyday life. Overall I thought that this was a very interesting article and learned about blue zones.

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