# Blue Zones

Blue Zones are regions reported to have unusually many centenarians. The popular list (from Buettner) includes Okinawa (Japan), Sardinia (Italy), Nicoya (Costa Rica), Ikaria (Greece), and Loma Linda (USA). Their shared features include plant-based diets, moderate calorie intake, low-intensity movement, strong social ties, and a sense of purpose, habits you can borrow. But there is a serious caveat. Saul Newman has argued that the supercentenarian counts may be inflated by age-record errors, pension fraud, and missing birth records. His critique was recognized when he won the 2024 Ig Nobel Prize in Demography for the work. So the demographic soundness of the original Blue Zone claims is now contested.

## Sources

- Poulain M, Pes GM, Grasland C, Carru C, Ferrucci L, Baggio G, Franceschi C, Deiana L. (2004). Identification of a geographic area characterized by extreme longevity in the Sardinia island: the AKEA study. Experimental Gerontology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2004.06.016
- Newman SJ. (2019). Supercentenarian and remarkable age records exhibit patterns indicative of clerical errors and pension fraud. bioRxiv (preprint). https://doi.org/10.1101/704080

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_Canonical: https://longevity-switzerland.com/en/glossary/blue-zones · Part of Longevity Cities · Updated 2026-06-22_