National Geographic Speical

This must have been a feature in National Geographic but they have this interactive website on longevity. The photojournalist went to three separate cultures in the world and tried to observe why the people lived so long.

The first was Sardinia, Italy. There the men live as long as the women do. This is an impressive feat. The scientists theorize that it has to do with the fact that the "women wear the pants" in the family. This goes to alleviate a lot of the stress on the men and perhaps its the more stress free lifestyle that has allowed for longer life. In addition, there is a strong family bond. In the journalist's example, there is a family in which 4 generations always have a sunday meal together. The journalist asks whether is will last. The Sardinian culture is fading and the younger generations are leaving and moving away from the home. Compounding, the young are living more sedentary lives and eat less natural foods, more processed foods.
In Okinawa, Japan, there are many people living over 100 and the people who are living in their 90s are going 8 miles out to fish and biking around the village. There is this woman who is lving in a kamoi (??? spelling) which is esentially a support group. It's a group of people all living together. Again, the social support is important. The last component of the Okinawan lifestyle is a low caloric density intake. The food is full of fish, carrots, potatoes, and seaweed.
The final group is from Loma Linda, Ca. The town is mainly comprised of Seventh Day Aventits. The religion positively supports the people's lifestyles. To be an Aventits they have to be vegitarians, not smoke, and take a full day of sabbath on saturday. The journalist followed a 100 year old woman who just got her driver's license renewed and lifts weights and cycles every morning. Interesting to not, this final group is the only group who is "keeping" their longevity and not loosing it.

It's interesting to see that the modern world is actually living shorter. Have we actually reach a point in society that we've reached at least a temporary limit in our age that we are regressing? Just brainstorming, I know that Chinese, and Asians in general, live longer than their Caucasian counterparts. What sticks out is the familial bond that exists. I think this social support is a driving factor in "propping up" the lifespans of these people. It'll be interested to see if I can find some more scientific evidence. These three genetically dissimilar groups share one thing in common: lifestyle change.


If you want to watch the commentated slideshow I watched, it's here: http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0511/sights_n_sounds/index.html