Blue Zones: Where People "Forget to Die"

Extreme longevity has always been a quirky thing, happening in isolated mountain villages few people visit. Until recent years, no one asked this question: Could we create those same conditions in the United States so that most people would celebrate their 100^th birthday—healthy, happy, and without the aches and pains we usually associate with aging?

Absolutely, says Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones: 9 Power Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, the second edition to be released in November. Not only is extreme longevity possible here, it’s already being achieved in communities across the U.S.—and, in a few instances, Blue Zones principles have been adopted by individual companies, aiming to become Blue Zones Certified Workplaces. 

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What Are Blue Zones?

Blue Zones are places where people live longer and healthier than anywhere else on the planet, passing their centennial years at a rate 10 times greater than most Americans. For the first edition of his book, Buettner led a team of National Geographic researchers in studying a collection of “longevity hot spots” across the globe. Their work was prompted by a 1999 Danish study of nearly 4,000 twins older than age 75; scientists found that only 25 percent of their hospitalizations were caused by genetic factors and that most of their health profiles were “most likely due to nonfamilial environment.”

So Buettner’s team set out to study long-living peoples, including those in Nicoya, Costa Rica, where residents boast the lowest middle-age mortality on earth; Sardinia, Italy, where men generally outlive women; and Loma Linda, California, where a community of Seventh-Day Adventists enjoy a life expectancy nine to 11 years longer than the average American. Much of the book’s updating focuses on Ikaria, Greece, the most recently discovered and, Buettner says, the “most extraordinary” Blue Zone.

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The Island Where People Forget to Die

“In America, once we hit 85, there’s about a 50 percent chance you’ll suffer from dementia,” Buettner says. “In Ikaria, the rate is about one-fourth ours. They stay sharp to the end.” But it’s not only their mental health that remains intact; four times as many Ikarian men and two-and-a-half times as many women, reach the age of 90, compared to Americans. What’s more, they stay healthier along the way, living eight to 10 years longer before contracting cancers and heart disease.

And they do it with a smile, Buettner writes in a recent article in The New York Times Magazine. In a survey of Ikarian men aged 65 to 100, some 80 percent had sex regularly—and, they reported, they did the deed with “good duration” and “achievement.” The islanders’ secret, Buettner believes, is a “gold standard” variant of the Mediterranean diet, including diuretic teas—such as rosemary, sage, and dandelion—that help to lower blood pressure and inflammation, plenty of indigenous honey instead of refined sugar, bread made of stone-ground wheat, and two to four glasses of wine each day.

Blue Zones in the United States?

Since his longevity studies began, one of Buettner’s aims has been to adapt the same principles into “Blue Zones Projects” in the U.S. The first city to enact a Blue Zones plan for initiating healthy environmental, social, and policy changes wasAlbert Lea, Minnesota. They called their effort the “Vitality Project,” and the results were remarkable. Life expectancy of participants increased by 3.1 years, and their healthcare costs were slashed by nearly half.

Last May, Governor Terry Branstad announced that Iowa would launch the first Healthiest State Initiative, with the towns of Cedar Falls, Mason City, Spencer and Waterloo selected as the state’s first Blue Zones Project Demonstration Sites, with six additional communities to join in early 2013. 

9 Secrets of Longevity

As Buettner and his team studied the Blue Zones, they identified nine common traits shared by those communities where people live longer. He was surprised that it wasn’t only food and lifestyle, but also creating a most beneficial environment. Here’s a look at these longevity-boosting traits, known as the “Power of 9.:

• Move naturally.  “Do your own house and yard work, go up and down your stairs with your laundry, knead your own dough,” Buettner advises. “Incorporate more movement every hour.”
• Know your purpose. “Take time to recognize your values, strengths, talents, passions and gifts,” Buettner says. Reflect, and work on yourself.
• Down shift. Relieve chronic stress by finding time each day to nap, meditate or pray.
• The 80% rule. Cut 20 percent of your daily calories with proven healthy practices: eat a big breakfast, dine with your family, and begin each meal by expressing appreciation.
• Plant slant. Eat mostly plant-based foods, and small portions of meat no more than twice a week.
• Wine at 5. Drinkers live longer than non-drinkers. This longevity tip had one exception: those in the Loma Linda Blue Zone were Seventh Day Adventists, who abstain from alcohol.
• Family first. Living in a loving, thriving family can add up to six years to your life. Work on a positive, committed relationship and stay close to your aging parents and grandparents.
• Belong. “Those with the most social connectedness tend to live longer,” Buettner says. Be part of a group of healthy-minded, supportive people.
• Right tribe. Good friends have a positive effect on your longevity. Support them and adopt healthy behaviors together.

Respectfully to this website: http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/can-we-get-old-and-still-be-healthy

By Lisa Collier Cool
Oct 25, 2012

Mental Abuse - The 7 Most Important Things To Know By Annie Kaszina

1. Sticks and stones won't break my bones" - and words won't leave any measurable physical damage, but they will cause progressive, long-term harm. Never underestimate the power of words: words are used to brainwash.

Being told you are "stupid", "ugly", "lazy" or "worthless" is never acceptable. The first times you hear it, it will hurt, naturally. In time you "may get used to" hearing it from a partner. That's when you start to internalise and believe it. When that happens you are doing the other person's work of putting you down for them. This is why your feelings of self-worth suffer increasingly over time.

The good news is that just as words have been used to bring you down, you can learn to harness the power of words to build you up and restore your confidence and belief in yourself.

2. You are always told that it's your fault. Somehow, whatever happens, however it starts, the ultimate blame is always yours. Notice that we are talking ultimate blame here. The blaming partner will always tell you that their behaviour was caused by what you said or did. In fact, their argument runs along the lines that you can't possibly blame them for anything, because if you hadn't said what you said, or done what you did it would never have happened.

3. You're more inclined to believe your partner than you are to believe yourself. Have you ever reeled with a sense of hurt and injustice, or seethed with anger at the way you've been treated? Have you found yourself asking: "Is it reasonable to feel like this?" "Am I misinterpreting things?" "Have I got it wrong?"

If this is you, what it means is that you have become so brainwashed you've stopped trusting in your own judgement. Your mind keeps throwing up the observations and questions because, deep down, you know that what is happening is utterly wrong. But right now you can't feel the strength of your own convictions.

4. You need your partner to acknowledge your feelings. Have you ever felt desperate to make your partner hear what you are saying and apologise for the hurtful things they've said? Have you ever felt that only they can heal the pain they've caused?

Does your need for them to validate your feelings keep you hooked into the relationship?

When a partner constantly denies or refuses to listen to your feelings, that is, unquestionably, mental abuse.

5. Your partner blows hot and cold. He can be very loving but is often highly critical of you. He may tell you how much he loves you, yet he is short on care or consideration towards you. In fact, some of the time, maybe even a lot of the time, he treats you as if you were someone he truly dislikes.

You do everything you can to make him happy, but it's never good enough. You're more like the pet dog in the relationship than you are the equal partner. Your constant efforts to get his attention and please him meet with limited success. Sometimes he'll be charmed, often he's dismissive.

If you find yourself puzzling about how your partner can treat you that way, it is because you are trying to live in a love-based relationship, when in reality you are living in a control-based relationship. The mental abuser struggles with his own feelings of worthlessness and uses his relationship to create a feeling of personal power, at his partner's expense.

6. You feel as if you are constantly walking on eggshells. There is a real degree of fear in the relationship. You have come to dread his outbursts, the hurtful things that he will find to say to you. (Maybe the same anxiety and need to please spill over into your other relationships also.)

Fear is not part of a loving relationship, but it is a vital part of a mentally abusive relationship. It enables the abuser to maintain control over you.

7. You can heal. Mentally abusive relationships cause enormous emotional damage to the loving partner who tries, against all odds, to hold the relationship together and, ultimately, can't do it, because her partner is working against her.

Whether you are currently in a mentally abusive relationship, have left one recently, or years later are still struggling with the anxieties and low self-worth and lack of confidence caused by mental abuse, it is never too late to heal.

But you do need to work with a person or a programme specifically geared to mental abuse recovery.

Women who have suffered mental abuse expect radical change of themselves, and they expect it right away. This is why they often struggle and, not uncommonly, take up with another abusive partner.

Mental abuse recovery is a gradual process. Low self-worth and limiting beliefs about what kind of future the abuse sufferer can ever hope for are the blocks that can stop women from moving on. But they are blocks that you can clear very effectively. Just as language was once used to harm you, you can now learn how language can heal you. You can overcome past mental abuse and keep yourself safe from it in the future. You can also learn to feel strong, believe in yourself and create the life and the relationships you truly want.

"The Woman You Want To Be" is a unique workbook designed to accompany you on a year long journey into emotional health and happiness.

(C) 2005 Annie Kaszina

If you've been stuck in an unhappy, unhealthy relationship, leading Emotional Abuse Recovery Expert, Dr Annie Kaszina, can help. Dr Annie Kaszina Ph.D. is an Abuse Recovery Expert, writer, and Seminar Leader whose mission is to help as many women as possible find peace, happiness and fulfilment.

Annie has given many hundreds of women, worldwide, the courage to make changes in their life, believe in their own value, trust their own judgements, and create healthy relationships for themselves. Find out more and sign up for your free 7 day e-course: "7 Things You Need To Know To Truly Heal" at: http://www.RecoverFromEmotionalAbuse.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/60849

5 Secret Habits of Wealthy Americans

5 Secret Habits of Wealthy Americans
By Farnoosh Torabi | Yahoo! Finance – Mon, May 14, 2012 11:01 AM EDT

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When you’re rich, you can cruise through life at a luxurious speed filled with fancy cars, designer clothes and caviar. But beneath the surface, becoming wealthy and staying wealthy involves hard work, an appetite for risk and a certain mindset that’s not always obvious. Here are some of the secret habits of wealthy people.

1. Bank on Your Street Smarts
“Making money has little to do with logic,” says real estate mogul, author and television star Barbara Corcoran. “It has more to do with trusting your gut.”

In an interview at her Upper East Side Manhattan office, Corcoran reflected on her struggling days in the classroom. “Often I think a prerequisite of making a ton of money is not being smart in school. The cutup in the classroom is often the guy with the big idea who makes a truckload of money.” Despite scoring Ds in high school and college, Corcoran utilized her street smarts and ability to connect with and judge those around her to ultimately grow and sell her Manhattan firm for $66 million in 2001. Today, she is the resident real estate contributor to NBC’s Today show and the sole female investor on ABC’s reality hit Shark Tank, now in its third season.

“You know what’s great about being a dunce in school? You have six-hour days to sit around and think of all kinds of things,” she says. “You get practice at imagination.”

In fact, according to Thomas Stanley’s book The Millionaire Mind, when asked how their high school teachers would have evaluated them, only 11 percent of millionaires said “most intellectually gifted” and just 10 percent  said “highest grade point average.”

2. Identify and Act on Opportunities
When author Ryan D’Agostino was researching his book Rich Like Them, he knocked on nearly 500 doors to the biggest houses in America’s richest neighborhoods, asking the owners inside: what’s your secret? For one, he discovered, the millionaire mind never stops stirring.

“I spoke with a lot of rich people and one habit that I heard more than once was always keep your eye open for that million dollar idea,” says D’Agostino. “I met a travel agent who was once helicopter skiing in western Canada. He wondered what happens to all the helicopters and lodges in the off-season, and it turned out no one was using them. So he set up this whole luxury travel side business where he would take people out in the summer, fly them up to look at glaciers and mountaintops. He made a ton of money doing it.”

Of course, it’s enough to simply have an idea, D’Agostino continues. “The difference was, he acted on it.”

3. Enjoy Your Money
While saving is a key characteristic of some wealthy Americans as they build and grow their riches, D’Agostino says many millionaires he interviewed had a sort of 50/50 rule when it came to managing windfalls of money. “I met this really interesting guy in Scottsdale, Arizona who ran a successful construction company and he told me that whenever he came into any money he didn’t know he was going to have, even if it was just a few hundred dollars, he would put half away and spend the rest on something fun like a vacation for his kids or something nice for his wife,” he says. “He’d say, ‘what’s the point of obsessing over money all the time and saving and scrimping if you don't get to enjoy it and spend it?’ That was maybe my favorite tip of all.”

4. Prioritize Retirement Savings
While paying for their kids to college is considered important for many wealthy Americans, it’s not their top financial priority, noticed D’Agostino. Instead, it’s having enough for retirement. “Person after person told me, ‘retirement first, education second,’” he said. “There’s no such thing as a loan you can take out for retirement, but it is okay to borrow money to pay for college.”

5. Eliminate Self-Doubt
For Corcoran, despite starting out as a woman in a man’s world and feeling intimidated at times, she attributes her success to the core belief that she’s worth it. “The big enemy out there is not the crowd you compete with or what they’re telling you, but your own self-talk. I had to learn to defeat my own self-talk inside that said, ‘you don’t have the right…don't try it.’” Instead, she learned to say to herself, “I have the right to be there,” and the money followed.

When it comes to building financial success, what do you think are some of the tricks to trade? Send me your thoughts on Twitter @Farnoosh and use #FinFit.
                                                                                                                           
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64Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!1Common Sense  •  Pensacola, Florida  •  7 hours ago
They are not talking D students that are just plain not smart. They are talking D students that are intelligent but possibly bored in school. Some of the most intelligent kids have no use for boring teachers or subjects that don't challenge them. I would suspect she was one of those.
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47Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!1Carrie S.  •  Atlanta, Georgia  •  7 hours ago
I completely agree. AND, don't ever tell a teacher this, but there's a CHANCE that the material REALLY IS completely useless and NOT interesting to some people. :) I am a teacher, by the way! :)

19Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!0CARL  •  7 hours ago
I think the point the aurthor is getting at is that people who think outside the realm of whats being solely taught in school, are the one's who are able to think outside of the box. People who dwell on key words like "exceptions", "unique" or "rare" are the ones who talk themselves out of doing whats necessary to become successful. The overwhelming fact of the matter is that the few that dont score good in school probably have a higher chance of becoming one of the few that control most of the wealth in the nation. The others become well rounded, good students that work a nice, safe job and thats the end of their story.

11Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!2Carrie S.  •  Atlanta, Georgia  •  7 hours ago
Carl, I agree completely. I know a lot of students who are not particularly smart, but they are great "Parrots". The teacher tells them something, they spit it back out.

Most of our society is this way. Just go around and tell people that you're trying to lose weight and tell them you're limiting yourself to 1000 calories. You will be surprised how many "professionals" will pop up.

They will tell you that "you're not eating enough calories and this is causing your body to hold on to the extra weight because it thinks you're starving."

How do they know? Are they scientists? Did they do clinical trials? No. They're just repeating the rhetoric.

Is it true? I don't know. Doesn't seem logical though. What were the "bodies" of the Halocaust victims "thinking"? What about all the anorexics? How do they do it, if eating "not enough" calories actually makes you fat?

0Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!0Theo S  •  7 hours ago
New ideas don't generally come from what you are taught. They come from what you observe. And you get rich by acting on the ones that make you money... sometimes lots of it.
60% of all new innovations come from people who were trained in a different discipline...they have to think about the porblem and generate a solution based on their different experience.

1Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!0DAVID  •  6 hours ago
You are right and it's getting worse since schools are now teaching to the lowest common denominator. There is also a difference between going to school to get educated and going to get a piece of paper.

1Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!0Marilyn  •  5 hours ago
Don't agree with her comment about the cutup. Ones I knew back in the day didn't accomplish much. Middle of the roaders did. Lucky ones who had some financiall backing from family or in-laws to take that first chance. As far as the helicopter guy, he must have had money to start with. ... More

0Please sign in to rate!Please sign in to rate!0LearnedHand  •  3 hours ago
I agree with what she said abou the negative self talk. Another thing is, if you have an idea or you decide to take action on something, don't tell other people because they will start to tell you unrealistic it is, blah, blah - Edison, Ford, Einstein - all those "doers' were ppl who accomplished things because they believed in their dreams and hunches and kept going. Every thing in this world started out as a dream or thought in someone's head

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