Engy › Who's who in longevity › Dan Buettner
At a glance
- Dan Buettner is an American writer, journalist and speaker, and a National Geographic Fellow. He has also held three Guinness records for distance cycling.
- He became known for the ‘Blue Zones’: regions where, he argues, remarkably many people live to a great age, such as Okinawa (Japan), Sardinia (Italy), Ikaria (Greece), Nicoya (Costa Rica) and Loma Linda (California).
- After a National Geographic cover story (2005) he wrote The Blue Zones (2008), followed by cookbooks and practical guides.
- He summarised shared habits in the ‘Power 9’, such as moving naturally, having a purpose, eating mostly plants with plenty of beans, and strong social ties.
- Through Blue Zones Projects he works to make US cities healthier places to live. His Netflix series Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones (2023) won several Emmys. Demographers do dispute some of the age data.
- For longevity, he matters because he shifts attention to environment and community rather than individual willpower.
- Takeaway: set up your life so that moving, eating plants and spending time with others happen naturally.
Criticism and nuance
Blue Zones data disputed
Recent
- Interview Dan Buettner, experto en longevidad: "Las personas que viven más años no hacen ejercicio, pero residen en zonas en las que cada desplazamiento es un paseo"
- Interview Dan Buettner, experto en longevidad: “Un simple paseo diario te aporta aproximadamente el 90 % de los beneficios de entrenar para una maratón”
- Article A la hora de vivir más años, las calles de los barrios pueden pesar más que la genética, según Dan Buettner