National Geographic author shares secrets to a long life

CEDAR RAPIDS - Dan Buettner knows health and longevity don't come in a pill.

The National Geographic writer says you won't find them in the latest diet trends, either, but in simple ways of everyday living that can add years to a person's life.

Buettner, 50, has been sharing secrets he's learned from global travels to places where people enjoy the longest, healthiest lives.

The author of “The Blue Zones” and “Thrive” notes that children nowadays are predicted to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents' generation, due mainly to obesity.

“It's really a travesty,” he says during a telephone interview from Minneapolis, where he lives. “We're providing an environment where our children are going to die sooner.”

Buettner cites the roles that junk food and decreased activity play in that downward trend.

Americans often look to the latest diet and exercise fads, he says, but the real secrets can be found in a person's lifestyle.

“There's no pill or supplement,” he says. “There's no quick fix to living longer.”

Buettner traveled to Okinawa, Japan; Costa Rica; the Sardinian highlands of Italy and elsewhere to find the world's oldest people, but you don't have to live in those areas to enjoy a longer life.

“All these secrets are portable,” he says.

Buettner will share his findings during a free presentation held by St. Luke's Hospital on June 16 at the Cedar Rapids Marriott.

Some of the tips he offers to live 10 to 12 years longer include:

• Take a nap. Adults who take a 30-minute mid-afternoon nap five days a week are 30 percent less likely to die of cardiovascular disease than those who don't, he says.
• Eat nuts. People who eat 2 ounces of nuts per day - basically a handful or two; it doesn't matter what type - can live two to three years longer, Buettner says.
• Drink wine. Two daily glasses of Sardinian red cannonau wine along with a plant-based Mediterranean diet provides the best dietary combination for adding years to a person's life, he says.

Some of his tips go against popular thinking.

For example, dieting and working out with exercise equipment aren't on the list.

“We spend tens of billions of dollars a year on these industries and they do no good,” Buettner says. “None of these spry centenarians are on diets. They don't belong to gyms.”

Rather, the people he interviewed, including a 109-year-old woman, have active daily lives through gardening, hiking or other physical activities.

Buettner, who holds three world records in cycling, says he still bikes for fun and enjoys outdoor activities such as canoeing with family and friends. He doesn't always get in a daily nap, but surrounds himself with people with similar lifestyles.

“I live by most of them, but I'm not trying to fashion myself as a guru,” he says of the tips. “I can say, ‘here's what they do.' It's up to you to decide if you want to do them or not.”