Dig life to live longer

Gardening can help you live up to 10 years longer— according to National Geographic writer Dan Buettner.

When I was in Buffalo, New York recently for the Buffalo Garden Walk, I got together some of my Buffalo and Florida friends, all having gardening as a hobby in common. As we relaxed on a roof deck, enjoying the breezes coming off Lake Erie, I was struck by how happy everyone was taking about their lives as gardeners. It turns out garden groups are a very healthy lifestyle choice.

Dan Buettner is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, “The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest.” Blue Zones are the longevity hotspots of the world. Dan Buettner has traveled the globe to uncover the best strategies for longevity found in the Blue Zones: places in the world where higher percentages of people enjoy remarkably long, full lives.

In his dynamic book, he discloses the recipe— blending this unique lifestyle formula with the latest scientific findings to inspire easy, lasting change that may add years to your life.

Featured is a 94-year-old farmer and self-confessed “ladies man” in Costa Rica, a 102-year-old grandmother in Okinawa a 102-year-old Sardinian who hikes at least six miles a day, and others. By observing their lifestyles, Buettner’s team has identified critical everyday choices.

Nine habits that make these people the longest lived in the world

Buettner took teams of research scientists into places such as Sardinia, Italy, Okinawa, Japan, and a particular community of Seventh-Day Adventists in Los Angeles to identify nine habits that make these people the longest lived in the world.

Veggie rich diets, eating less and purposeful activities were a common thread. None of the centenarians did strenuous gym exercises, took supplements or pills.

The Power9: Secrets to Living Longer, Better

1. Move (find ways to move mindlessly, make moving unavoidable)
2. Plan de Vida (know your purpose in life)
3. Down Shift (work less, slow down, rest, take vacation)
4. 80% Rule (stop eating when you’re 80% full)
5. Plant-Power (more veggies, less protein and processed foods)
6. Red Wine (consistency and moderation)
7. Belong (create a healthy social network)
8. Beliefs (spiritual or religious participation)
9. Your Tribe (make family a priority)

I would make one addition: Laugh a lot with others, about anything including yourself. Consciously try to stop taking yourself so seriously.

Gardening can help you live up to 10 years longer

Healthiest patients– gardeners

I remember reading a book by an English osteopath a while back, which mentioned the author’s healthiest patients were gardeners. He listed many reasons why gardeners are healthier, some of it was tied to the physical nature of gardening; reaping results of regular low impact exercise and digging close to oxygen producing plants combats time spent in unhealthy indoor environments. There are also the mental benefits; gardeners tend to be more optimistic in that the have something to look forward to – unlike the majority of people whose lives revolve around the sole activity of working. Lastly, there is the self improvement and greater good aspect;  planting with the expectation of benefiting from the results and seeing the results of their efforts as a contribution to making the world a better place.

Gardeners see the bright side of life

It is important to have a hobby, and you get double benefits if the hobby includes physical exercise such as gardening. Studies show that people without hobbies outside work risk a much greater chance of dying within 6 months of having the work removed from them.

Being part of a tribe of gardeners has many positive benefits. Gardeners tend to be optimistic, sharing and caring individuals. I have found being part of the Garden Fairy flock has improved my quality of life.

Living where red wine has a starring part

When the book  “Eat, Pray, Love” first came out I picked it up at the airport on the way to visit my mother who was dying. The author, Elizabeth Gilbert consciously sets out to blunt her depression by eating and enjoying life (Eat). For this therapy she picks Italy, a perfect place to palliate ones woes, while feasting on what life has to offer. Italians naturally live life according to the Power9.  Barbara Fisher of The Boston Globe said of Gilbert’s writing, “she describes with intense visual, palpable detail. She is the epic poet of ecstasy.” The book was a savior, allowing me to get a break from grief.

I was flung back in time, to when I was “my own poet of ecstasy”.

In 1976-77 I lived in Siena, Italy for my junior year of college. My mother said she wanted me to experience Italy so when I was scrubbing floors (sometime in the future), I would have something remarkable to reminisce about. When you are young you dismiss the probability of the mundane, but looking back my mother was mostly right. 33 years later, I’m not yet scrubbing floors.

The family I lived with in Italy loved to eat and I learned a lot about cooking watching Mama whip up classic Tuscan food. I was amazed that a family of four was able to exist with less than most Americans did, exemplified by the size of their seemingly small refrigerator.

One of the ways the Italians stay fit is walking everyday to buy food. Even the most elderly people haul around satchels stuffed with things they will eat that day. Unlike here, where at a certain age you opt to go out to Bob Evans or some other carb factory for many of your meals. American has many great attributes, but healthy living is not generally one of them.  We can learn so much from cultures that are much older than our own.

I returned to the USA after a year in Italy with a new perspective, never forgetting how the Italians celebrate life. Italians love to garden, you see gardens and potted plants where ever you go. Initially, I had a hard time fitting my way back into harried American life. I had to traded in my usual leisurely lunch with wine for a grab-what-you-can-while-working life.

The Power 9 is a minestrone of methodology, but it incapsulates the way the Italians have been living for eons. Money doesn’t rule the Italian’s lives, quality of life does. True Italian cuisine is simple and mostly unprocessed. They shop everyday, so everything is fresh.

The Power9 could be used as a credo for the Garden Fairies, especially the part about red wine— of course partaken in moderation.

Blue Zones Book at Amazon.com