OUR HOSTS: 

Corinne Foxx - @corinnefoxx

Natalie McMillan - @nataliemcm and @shopnataliemcmillan 

What we're drinking: Domaine de l'Amandine Côtes du Rhône Villages 2016 

TOPIC: 

What do Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California all have in common? They might seem like random places around the globe, but they’re actually the five locations where humans live the longest. Coined ‘Blue Zones,’ there are nine major through lines with the people who live in those places, and scientists believe those common denominators create an environment for humans to live long, healthy, and happy lives. On today’s episode, we unpack the diet and lifestyle of people who live in Blue Zones and how we can apply those principles to our daily life. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• The importance of getting in daily low impact movement, like walking and gardening 
• The role that community rituals, like drinking tea or wine, play in how we age 
• What it looks like to live your life's purpose as your profession
• Tips for how to lower your stress levels and decompress 
• Creative ways to have a more plant-based diet 
• The trend of reverence and appreciation of the elderly in Blue Zones 
• How getting ‘smart’ sun exposure can benefit your mental and physical health 
• Why having a strong social connection is crucial for longevity 

END OF THE SHOW: 

Corinne and Natalie introduce Hottie of the Week: Mandy Moore

WINE RATING:

Domaine de l'Amandine Côtes du Rhône Villages 2016  = 7 / Mandy 

WRAP UP:

To wrap up the episode, Corinne and Natalie play Unpopular Opinion. Corinne admits that she enjoys doing burpees, and Nat confesses that she’s not much of a foodie and doesn’t care about trying new restaurants. 

We have a newsletter for our Am I community. You can sign up for the newsletter on our website: amidoingthisrightpod.com

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Don't forget to rate and review the podcast! It really helps us grow!

[00:00:05] Natalie McMillan: And I'm Natalie McMillan.

[00:00:17] Natalie McMillan: And each week we cover a new topic and we drink a new bottle of wine.

Where are the blue zones and what we can learn from them. So if you don't know what we're talking about, stay tuned, stay tuned. It's very fascinating. It's very fascinating. And at the end of the episode, we're gonna be playing UN opinion.

[00:00:59] Corinne Foxx: one. If we, what if we recorded? I don't.

Okay. Here's the thing. It's not that I have a good one. It's that I actually have one, most of the time I go into this and I go, I don't know what my unpopular opinion is, but today I figured it out. I'm also like now I know all our little, our little games, so I'm like living my life and like, oh, see, that's where game.

We do. That's

[00:01:41] Natalie McMillan: is a again, I believe it's in French. Okay. It is D Laman. I need

[00:01:53] Natalie McMillan: Appalachian. I can't say this. I don't know what it is. It's 2016. It's a Sara Renana blend. Which is interesting, cuz we just did a, oh wait, I already poured this poured it. You're good. What am I doing? Cheers. Cheers to blue zones. Hmm. Okay. Hmm. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

His Denzel impression. He goes, okay. All

[00:02:25] Corinne Foxx: He's not wrong. He's not wrong. Okay. So now let's get into blue zones and who even came up with a concept and how, and, and, and what are they? What,

[00:02:40] Corinne Foxx: but Butner that's

Oh, I think you're right. Yeah, but we're gonna say it's Butner. So Dan Butner, he is the blue zones founder. He's a national geographic fellow and a multiple New York times bestselling author, public speaker and Explorer.

[00:03:00] Natalie McMillan: wish you guys, we don't, but he came up with the concept of blue zones by looking into the demographic work done by Gianni pest and MEK LAN, uh, which is outlined in the journal of.

Experimental

[00:03:22] Natalie McMillan: we should. Oh, I was gonna say we should do an episode on geriatrics and now I, we kind of are, this is kind of, yeah. very interesting. Mm-hmm so those two guys, they drew concentric blue circles on the map, highlighting villages, where they noticed people lived the longest.

So building off that, Dan pinpointed, other longevity hotspots around the world and dubbed them blue zones. And there are five. Okay. It is OK. Okinawa, Japan. SNIA Italy. Nacoya Costa Rica, aria, Greece, and Loma Linda, California, which seems

[00:03:58] Natalie McMillan: wrench in the whole thing. It's like what in the fucking world?

Um,

[00:04:11] Natalie McMillan: Wow. I wonder if just by proxy you'll live longer. I hope so.

So just to clarify, blue zones are where people are living the longest. Yeah. Where there's a lot of cents, which are yeah. People over the age of one, honey,

[00:04:35] Corinne Foxx: So we're gonna fly across the fly across, across the world, world

OK. Okinawa, Japan. We're going to OK.

Wow. I know. So according to national geographic in the village of. OMI OGE Okie, Okie. Yeah. Located in the world. North of Okinawa's main island. There's a small stone marker with a few sentences written in Japanese, roughly translated. They read at 80. You are merely a youth at 90. If your ancestors invite you into heaven, ask them to wait until you are 100, then you might consider it.

So they're like we're out here living long. And we know it. They're like we're we, we stay 100. Yes. So if. wondering why do Okinawans live so long? Well, that comes down to three factors, their diet, their way of life and their genes.

Many of them also eat moderate portions at meal times and treat food as a source of medicine. Mm-hmm I think that's very common in Asian cultures. Yeah. To use it as medicine, the term OK. Okinawans use for this is, and I'm sorry if I'm butchering this. Nuki NHI, NHI, goosey, goosey, goy goosey. Yeah. I guess if any of you speak Japanese or from Japan, please let us know how to properly pronounce that.

Which roughly translates to food. Is medicine deeply rooted in tradition? Nuki goosey. I'm so sorry if I'm butchering that it's the practice of having reverence for food. So simply put it's about paying attention to what you eat and how you feel. OK. Okinawan cuisine consists of smaller meal portions of green and yellow vegetables, fish, relatively smaller amounts of rice compared to mainland Japan, as well as pork soy and other legumes.

That was the interesting one for me is the pork pork, cuz

[00:07:04] Natalie McMillan: don't eat it. But these people are like, Hey, we're 107 and we're eating pork. So pork and fish are often served in broth with a variety of ingredients and herbs. But the center of their diet is this, that Suma sweet potato.

[00:07:20] Natalie McMillan: I know I would not have expected that. So sweet potatoes provide a healthy dose of fiber and have a low glycemic index, meaning that they don't contribute to sharp rises in blood sugar. They also offer essential nutrients like calcium potassium, magnesium vitamins, a and C their diet also supplies, a relatively high level of

Yeah. Cause it's gonna give you. Cancer, whatever, like soy

What's more, Jasmine tea is consumed deliberately on this diet and antioxidant rich spices. Turmeric

So researchers say that the Okinawan secrets include two components. So Iki guy and Moi. So Iki guy is a Japanese concept that. Your reason for being so chy and Japanese means life and guy describes value or worth. So your chy guy is your life purpose or your bliss. So it's what brings you joy and inspires you to get out of bed every day.

So Japanese psychologists. Michiko Kuo has said that EK guy is a state of wellbeing that arises from devotion to activities, one enjoys, which also brings a sense of fulfillment. So your EK guy, there was actually this like chart online. I was looking, looking at looking at mm-hmm my God. I just

said

[00:09:19] Corinne Foxx: oh my gosh. Okay. So your chy guy is the place where, what you love. What the world needs, what you're great at and what you're paid for meet.

[00:09:32] Corinne Foxx: diagram for a thing. Yeah. So there's like, there's like a little, you know, all these different bubbles and it's where those things meet. Oh. And it's essentially like living your life.

Purpose as your profession Uhhuh, which is the key, I think like you could be doing a lot of things, but if you're also not getting compensated for your life's passion. Yeah. I think that's a big key in it. Yeah. You know, because it's like,

I can't this that's,

[00:10:06] Natalie McMillan: Moi. Yes. So elders in OK. Okinawa. Japan, which is one of the original blue zone, longevity, hotspots. They live extraordinarily better and longer lives than almost anyone else in the world.

Moai. One of their longevity traditions are social support groups that start in childhood and extend into their 100. This

[00:10:30] Natalie McMillan: crazy Z. So traditionally groups of about five young children were paired together and then they make a commitment to each other for life.

They kind of like marry each other, essentially at five years old but it's their second family. So they meet regularly with their Moi for both work, play and pull resources. Some Moise have lasted for over 90 years. They've literally hung out every day for 90 years.

Yeah.

[00:11:17] Corinne Foxx: Yeah. Yeah. We like, we want that social support. We want that community. So it makes sense.

So that was Okinawa, Japan. So let's fly across the globe to our next blue zone,

Oh, okay. That's them. Okay. Mm-hmm data shows that this community of people live as much as a decade, longer than the rest of us, and much of their longevity can be attributed to vegetarianism and regular exercise. Plus Adventists don't smoke or drink alcohol. Hmm. And how do they do all. Let's jump into it.

Let's jump into this. So first and foremost, their diet and exercise habits. So like we just said many Adventists follow a vegetarian diet. The Adventist health system shows that consuming fruits and vegetables and whole grains seems to be protective against a wide variety of cancers. For those who prefer to eat some meat.

To recommend small portions served as a side dish rather than the main meal. However, in my experience, I rarely have met an Adventist that eats meat at all. And I do have a very brief story here. Okay. Because I did, I went to school at an Adventist school and this is my little culty school. Okay. And, uh, I did not know that meat was not a thing.

And so it was my first day of school there and I was excited for the hot lunch. And it was hot dog day and I love my hot dogs. I love a hot dog. I love a hot dog. And so I went up to the cafeteria thing and I got my hot dog and I came down and I took a bite out of it and I was shook. Because this shit was a pink eraser.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It

[00:13:23] Natalie McMillan: horrible. Shocking for a five year old. Yeah. But also the hot dogs are the Loma Linda. They have their own brand of hotdogs.

Oh, wow. Yes, yes, yes. Oh, wow. So that's where that hot dog, uh, came from. another habit amongst people in Loma Linda is that they eat large breakfasts, medium sized lunch, and then light dinners.

Mm-hmm

Okay. Mm-hmm mm-hmm and they interpret a well balanced diet as being low in sugar, salt, and refined grains, heavy on fruits, veggies, nuts and legumes. So like beans and lentils studies have shown that Venice who ate two or more servings of fruit per day had about 70%, fewer lung cancers wow. Than ones who ate fruit once or twice a week.

And at Venice two eight legumes, such as peas and beans three times a week had a 30 to 40% reduction in colon cancer. Wow. And surprisingly 10% of their diet consists of dairy. Interesting. I remember they put so much cheese on everything. Really, and I was never mad about

Hmm. So at Venice women who consume tomatoes at least three to four times a week, reduce their chance of getting ovarian cancer by 70% over those who ate tomatoes less. Off damn, that's a big jet. That's a 70, 70 big basically 100%. yeah. So eating a lot of tomatoes also seem to have an effect on reducing prostate cancer for men.

So a new study has found that adherence to this way of life, which is the tomato life, the tomato, that tomato life, um, have the. Nation's lowest rate of heart disease and diabetes, and have very low rates of obesity mm-hmm . And in terms of exercise, the Venice health survey shows that you don't need to be a marathoner to maximize your life expectancy, getting regular low intensity exercise like daily walks appear to help reduce your chance of having heart disease and certain cancer.

That's

They stick to activities like outdoor sports, hiking exercise. I'm gonna be doing this well. So they also, they do it as a group. So you're only allowed to hang out with fellow Adventists, but they believe that that strong sense of community is linked to their overall health and like many religions. They also do a considerable amount of charity work.

You do

Yeah.

[00:16:45] Corinne Foxx: So the island of SNIA actually was the first blue zone to have been declared.

Sarnia is striking not so much because of their general longevity numbers, but specifically around the longevity of men who generally have a shorter lifespan than women, women than a woman than a woman. . So Dan Butner, the researcher behind blue zones says quote, for every one, male centar in the us. There are five women cents in Sarnia.

It's one to. Oh, so that just shows you how much longer men are living in Sarnia than in the us interest. Yeah. So let's get into why Sarnia is a blue zone. So number

They're the ones who teach the younger generations, how to live. Follow their steps and are involved in the education of the children. Yeah, that's very interesting. Mm-hmm I like that grandparents play a huge role in the family and often provide childcare for their grandchildren. This may all add, adapt to healthier, better adjusted and longer lived children.

It may give the overall population a life expectancy

Yeah,

Yeah,

Okay. But all of it is seasoned with olive oil rich in antioxidants. Sirians. Also traditionally eat

[00:19:21] Corinne Foxx: I've so good. I don't think I've ever

[00:19:26] Corinne Foxx: Well, that's made from grass fed cheap whose cheese is high in omega three fatty acids and meat is largely reserved for Sundays and special occasions.

And then you. There's wine there's wine, which is incredibly healthy when consumed moderately with meals, especially red wine, like their typical can, and now can now can, and now I wanted to get it for this episode. I forgot you guys. Okay. We've been busy. Yeah. So can now seems to have the highest levels of.

Polyphenols of any wine, which is antioxidants linked to heart health, protecting us from cardiovascular disease. It is also rich in Antho sinin Hm. Commonly found in berries naturally occurring compounds responsible for that red purple color of red wine grapes with an antioxidant effect as well. So this is, this is not mean they need to get drunk on, uh, Kenan now, right.

But locals. An average of two glasses a day, which actually is me getting drunk every day. That would be me getting drunk every single day if I had

Here we go. Again, they walk the unique Rocky sun beaten terrain of central Sarnia has always made this area unsuitable for large scale farming, but perfect for shepherding. And walking five miles a day or more is quite common for this community of shepherds. Walking provides excellent cardiovascular benefits and is easy on the joints.

And I think that's, you know, cuz once you get older, well, what is the key

[00:21:20] Natalie McMillan: Let's get into it.

So eCards, this is fascinating to me are almost entirely free of dementia and some of the chronic diseases that plague Americans one in three, make it to their nineties. Jesus Christ. The eyes are in favor. A combination of factors. Explain it, including geography, culture, diet, lifestyle. Outlook. They enjoy strong red wine, late night domino games and a relaxed pace of life that ignores clocks.

Hmm. Plus clean air warm breezes and rugged terrain. Draw them outdoors into an active lifestyle. Oh, this is where I wanna live. You know, I love nobody

[00:22:01] Natalie McMillan: nobody plays dominoes with me. Does anybody else play dominoes coming? Did you join my black family?

They all play dominoes. God, I love dominoes.

Wow. They eat meat and fish, but their meals are generally made around vegetables. They also use grassed goats milk instead of cows milk. This is really giving me. SNIA vibes. Mm-hmm it provides potassium and the stress relieving hormone trip. Dhan oh, I love trip. Dhan I love a goat milk. That makes sense.

My gosh, it's also hypoallergenic and can usually be tolerated by people who are lactose and intolerant. Something that is both a part of their diet as well as part of their overall lifestyle is drinking herbal teas with family and friends. So wild Rosemary, Sage, and AEG, OT also act as a diuretic, which can keep blood pressure and check by rid the body of excess sodium and water.

In fact, John Hopkins research published in the journal. Neurology confirmed that the use of diuretics reduced the risk of Alzheimer's by nearly 75%. Jesus Christ. Jesus. You know, who I know is not getting Alzheimer's Joe, this man beats every five fucking seconds. Oh my gosh. Other research confirms that diuretics have a neuroprotective benefit.

Damn. Maybe

The lesson to us here is to incorporate more mindless movement into our. They also don't drive very much and prefer to walk everywhere instead of driving because their island is so small. Mm. Also they love a midafternoon nappy. Oh my gosh. They live for a midafternoon nappy people who nap regularly have up to 35% lower chances of dying from heart disease, which maybe because napping lower stress hormones, and it rests your.

Wow. I know like all blue zones, there's a big social aspect of their lifestyle. Like we said before, nightly domino games. That's apparently the scene. That's

[00:24:38] Natalie McMillan: 95, we'll play it. And we'll have two strong glasses of wine and we'll be, oh my God, absolutely trashed.

Oh yes. How do they live that? Why do they live that long? Well, they like to get some vitamin. Oh, Socos enjoy healthy doses of daily sun, which helps their bodies produce vitamin D for strong bones and healthy body function. They work, eat, and relax outside. And this is in stark contrast to north American lifestyles where people spent the vast majority of their time in homes in schools and offices.

Mm-hmm so getting quote unquote smart sun exposure. So that's about 15 minutes on your legs and arms every day. Can decrease the risk of osteoporosis and heart disease. But again, we're not, we're not roasting. We're not tanning. You guys, we're just living our life. Like it's golden. We're going, we're going on

Yeah. With some sunshine. Yeah. Yeah. You're like a plant. You just need to get the

[00:26:02] Natalie McMillan: Exactly. Their diet. Obviously the, a big factor here and the food regimen gets its name from the region of nacoya Costa Rica. They have a mortality. 20% lower than the rest of the nation. Why? Well, scientists believe that it's because their diet is high in fiber and centered on low glycemic indexed foods.

It's effective for maintaining a healthy gut managing weight, regulating blood sugar levels and decreasing the risk. Of health problems that become more prevalent with age like diabetes and heart disease. The Costa Rica blue zone diet is mainly natural unprocessed, wholesome foods like squash, rice, beans, and corn.

Oh my God. Sign me up. Much of the food is. Still homegrown and homemade, like tortillas GAO, Pinto plantains, and tropical fruits with meat thrown in just a couple times a week. Families tend to eat larger meals, uh, at lunchtime and lighter meals earlier in the evening. Their food's also low and added sugar and very few processed snacks.

Yeah.

[00:27:36] Corinne Foxx: all have in common? Yes we can. And the researchers did, and it's actually called the power nine. So Hey, blue zone researchers, team of medical researchers, anthropologists demo, demographers and epi epidemiologists gathered to search for evidence based common denominators among all places.

And they found nine. Aha. The first one we're summoning it up. You. Take notes move naturally. Go on a walkie period. Do your little garden,

[00:28:14] Corinne Foxx: on a walk, go on a walkie two purpose feeling that sense of purpose feeling needed, especially as you get older.

Yes. Three is downshift. So what the world's longest lived, people have that we don't are routines to shed that stress. So Okinawans take a few moments each day to remember their ancestors, add Venice prey Arians. They take a nap and Sardinians they do a happy hour. Oh, fun. Another one of the nine is the 80% rule.

So Hara hachi boo, the Okinawan 2,500 year. Confucian mantra. Okay. Said before meals reminds them to stop eating when their stomachs are 80% full. And I do think that goes with the lighter dinners at, in the evening. Yes. It seems like they, they like to have a breakfast and a lunch moment and they're, they're a little lighter on dinner.

So you're telling

[00:29:11] Corinne Foxx: to that in another one of the nine. Common denominators is plant slant. So beans, including fava black, soy and lentils are the cornerstone of most centr diets meat. Mostly pork is eaten on an average only five times.

Per month, you guys. So it's a once a week. Wow. If you know, a little bit more than once a week and serving sizes are three to four ounces about the size of a deck of card. So a very small portion of meat, and they're really focusing on like legumes and plants. Yeah. And I'm still

Me too. And all the beans, you know, in America, we're always told like, oh, beans have so many carbs. Don't eat beans. Well, apparently that's not the key, but you know what. Wine at

[00:30:00] Natalie McMillan: Yes, they do. So except the, with the exception of Loma Linda, all of these different blue zones have an element of a wine or

And it feels like it's more of like a traditional thing. It's not like to get drunk. It's to be a part of the community. It's like a community aspect

So research shows that attending a faith-based service four times a month, that's only once a it's only once a week. It's only like a Sunday thing a Sunday that will add four to 14 years of life expectancy. Wow. That is a lot. So you don't have to be like, you know, super

It doesn't matter. It's not one is better than the

[00:31:07] Corinne Foxx: wow. Very interesting.

That's really interesting that it also benefits the children. Yeah.

I know. So I guess treat them well and then finally, our ninth guy here is the right tribe. The world's longest lived people. Or we're born into social circles that supported healthy behaviors. Okie no ones created Moi, which was that group of five friends that are committed to each other for life. Wow.

Are we our own Moi?

[00:31:50] Natalie McMillan: We're committed here. Research from the Framingham studies shows that smoking obesity, happiness, and even loneliness are contagious. So the social networks of long lived people have favorably. They're health behaviors.

Have a ki you wanna walk, eat some beans. Yes. And you're goo you're Gucci. Keep that stress down. Wow. Take a nap.

[00:32:19] Corinne Foxx: I mean, we could really, we went through this really in depth, but it really was pretty sample. It's pretty.

[00:32:28] Corinne Foxx: much.

We're doing too. Besides your Melinda, we're just doing the most. We're doing the absolute, the most. It's literally

I could never, never happen here. What?

[00:32:59] Natalie McMillan: feels very important. It feels like a Sendar. Yes. Which is my sign.

You guys are the half man. Half my dad always says half man, half amazing.

[00:33:15] Corinne Foxx: back on this wine that we're drinking. Not, can you remind us? It is

[00:33:28] Corinne Foxx: Let's introduce our, what tea of the week.

And honestly, I'm

[00:33:50] Natalie McMillan: watch the show. You have to really watch.

You have to be dedicated at this point. Um, we're

[00:33:57] Natalie McMillan: You wanna go well, just cuz you know, Mandy Moore, if, if you're familiar or not familiar with the show they age, they like age them forward and backward. And so, um, we wanted to do

We already

[00:34:13] Corinne Foxx: We love Mandy more. Okay. When to Mandy Moore, what do you think for this? Whatever the

[00:34:26] Corinne Foxx: I like it. It's I. I'm gonna give it a seven, seven, yep. Seven outta Mandy, more

mm-hmm all right. You guys, this is the part of the show. We play a little wrap up game and this week we're doing UN popular up and I'm excited

[00:34:49] Corinne Foxx: Oh, I have one it's there's literally, if I is not that interesting, you guys I'll go first. I was at the gym and I was like, they were telling us, you know, do this exercises.

And I said, oh my God, there's an exercise here that I can see everyone else hates. And I love it. I love a burpee. Oh, I fucking hate burpees. I

[00:35:08] Corinne Foxx: bad. No, they're like the they're like the ones, everyone they're like, if you don't do this, we're gonna have to do five burpees.

And everyone's like, oh shit. Okay. Like what's, I'm like, I would love to do five more burpees. Oh no, no, no. So I wish anyway, so that's my unpopular opinion. I think that is unpopular. It, I know people really don't like him, but I do. I feel like it's the pinnacle of health because you have to stand up and get down and sometimes you get a little dizzy in the middle and yeah, my low blood

It could never, whenever I do them, I like, first of all my knees break and then I like black out on the way up. I love it.

[00:35:45] Natalie McMillan: Well, I'm, I'm waffling between two, because one is like, so it's not so controversial that like, I just feel like it could be

I think you gotta do it because now you've already said it. Okay.

[00:36:11] Corinne Foxx: no, I don't think this is true.

[00:36:23] Corinne Foxx: Mexican food, but you have. You get like little obsessions with things just cuz it's easy, you know like you like, you love chips and salsa. Mm-hmm but I get, I get what you're saying. You're not like a foodie.

You're not like a fine dining gal. No like you don't wanna go to the hottest restaurant that's just opened. No, I don't care.

[00:36:42] Corinne Foxx: I was gonna say, yeah, you go to one restaurant, you eat the same things over and over and over again. Yeah. I don't care about.

And I will say sometimes I, I do try to eat like you, cause I'm like, Natalie, it's very healthy, but she'll bring every, every recording she brings bland carrots. I

[00:36:58] Corinne Foxx: They're good. And, and, and sometimes I, I bring them cuz I'm like trying to be like you and I go to the grocery store. I'm like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get carrots like Natalie.

And she just eats just plain

[00:37:19] Corinne Foxx: people said, like a reverence for food, like right, right. Or like people that

I eat to live. Yeah. Cause the other thing is like with diabetes, it's just so complicated. I have to do all this math just to like eat something. Yeah. I can see that. So unpopular. Yeah. I just don't really care about it. I really don't care

I've never even heard of it. I, I know you probably haven't

[00:37:49] Corinne Foxx: What is it? I don't know. Just it's the talk of the town. Oh, I haven't even

[00:38:02] Corinne Foxx: but you do have your one

I've got my one place and I'm gonna eat there for the rest of my life. Tell I'm a centar all right.

And lastly, and most importantly, if you love the podcast, Feel free to rate and review our podcast. It really helps us grow. And we love hearing from you guys and I'm give a shoutout and we'll give guys a shoutout. We love to read your reviews on air and like always we'll be back next week with another episode.

Bye.