This week I am going to talk about the Blue Zones, but not the regulated parking spaces in some municipalities, which we could also discuss another day. The so-called Blue Zones are regions of the world where people are known to live a long and healthy life. They are found in different parts of the world and are home to populations with a high concentration of people over 100 years old. In these areas, the inhabitants have lower rates of heart disease, senile dementia, and cancer compared to the rest of the world.
Unfortunately, the north of Tenerife is not among the most prominent, like Ikaria in Greece, where the Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables and healthy fats with fewer meat products is associated with greater longevity, or like Okinawa (Japan), which is home to the world’s most long-lived women, with staple foods such as Okinawan sweet potato, soy, mugwort, turmeric, and bitter melon.
The Ogliastra region in Sardinia has the highest number of centenarian men in the world, and their diet is low in protein, which is associated with lower rates of diabetes, cancer, and death in those under 65. Another of these areas is Loma Linda (California), a community with the largest number of Seventh-day Adventists in the United States. Their diet is based on grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables, and some of its residents live 10 healthier years than the average American. Finally, I will mention the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. There, its inhabitants have the lowest middle-aged mortality rate in the world and the second highest concentration of centenarian men.
These cultures have discovered the secrets of living longer and better through a healthy diet, physical activity, and an active social life. But is that the secret to living longer and better? I have taken a walk around here to see if we are able to become a blue zone on the planet and I have come to the conclusion that more than a zone, what we should aspire to is to be blue individuals. These can be found anywhere in our territory.
Blue Zones / Marta Casanova
Julio Sánchez was born in 1936. He is a retired doctor with forty years of practice mainly in the municipality of La Orotava, although he also worked in San Juan de la Rambla or Vilaflor. This Catalan arrived in Tenerife a whopping 60 years ago for love. “My wife is also a doctor and when we got married, I stayed here,” he tells us. During all those years, he worked as a home care physician. He remembers how difficult it was in those years to visit patients in very inaccessible places, to which he traveled by donkey, and the most serious cases had to be transported in vans because there were no ambulances. Despite all these difficulties, Julio values above all the personal treatment of the patient. “Before, we would see the patient first and then request the relevant tests. Now it’s the other way around, and there has been a lot of communication lost between doctor and patient. Telephone attention is an example of this depersonalization in treatment,” he says.
Julio also remembers when the construction of the University Hospital of Canarias was announced, which many criticized as “the megalomania of the politician of the moment”, and yet today it has become too small despite having excellent doctors and staff. He also acknowledges the medical advances of these years that have allowed “improving the quality of life and greater longevity.” “Before, many people didn’t even visit the doctor, and when they did, sometimes it was already too late. In the 1960s, I remember a man who lived in the high area of La Orotava and admitted that he hadn’t had a blood test since the end of the Civil War.” He also comments on the North Hospital: he believes it should have been built in the Valley of La Orotava and not where it is.
Julio is in great shape thanks to the pilates exercises he does with trainer Fran Tejera at his centre in Puerto de la Cruz, although he admits it was not his decision. “It was my children who insisted on the need to start exercising the muscles.” He started going to the gym about five years ago and since then claims to have noticed great progress in terms of his agility and strength. At 88 years old, his diet is varied and includes a few glasses of wine and coffee.
For his trainer, “Julio is an inspiration to anyone, regardless of their age.” “He is consistent, never misses a class, and his positive and cordial character favors this evolution. What impresses me the most for his age is the motor control and the strength he has, despite not having practiced pilates for many years,” he explains. Fran recommends “exercising at any age, even if you are not used to it, and in this case, always under the supervision of a professional and adapted to the person’s level, their physical capacity, lifestyle, and with prior medical checks to be able to do the exercises safely.” “The practice of pilates with machines allows for more personal work, where motor control, flexibility… is performed.”.
Ana González, a resident of La Orotava, was born the same year as Julio and attends maintenance classes at the Huerta del Moral Neighbourhood Association twice a week. Before starting this activity, which she shares with more than forty women of all ages, she used to walk many kilometres with several friends. Ana never misses
<!–]>Heading: Staying Active and Positive in the Golden Years
Remaining active and upbeat is crucial as we age. María Jesús Pérez, a fitness instructor in La Orotava, highlights the importance of exercising for the elderly, stating that it plays a vital role in enhancing coordination, heart rate, and muscle tone. She emphasizes the emotional and social benefits that sports bring, reducing feelings of loneliness and boosting happiness hormones like serotonin and dopamine.
The majority of attendees at her classes are women, reflecting the shift towards gender equality in sports. Isabel Toyos Menéndez and Ofelia Triana, both in their senior years, embrace the social aspect of the classes as a source of well-being, while Josefina Navas, living in Los Realejos, focuses on strength training to maintain independence in her advancing age.
The article concludes by endorsing the book “Ikigai,” which emphasizes the necessity of finding purpose in life, especially as we age. It stresses maintaining a healthy lifestyle to delay the effects of aging. With these encouraging examples in mind, it’s worth considering adopting a similar mindset to lead an active and fulfilling life in our golden years.
