Dan Buettner: ‘Retirement might not be that good of an idea’

Key takeaways:

• Having a purpose to get up in the morning extends life.
• Longevity predictors can be found by looking at Blue Zones.

ORLANDO – In his research to reverse engineer the reason for long life expectancy, most of the centenarians Dan Buettner spoke to were “interested, are interesting, generous often and just loving.”

Buettner, who spoke here at the Lifestyle Medicine conference, coined and trademarked the term “Blue Zone” to describe areas where there was a confirmed history of centenarians. Along with National Geographic, he and his research team found commonalities in five seemly unrelated regions in the world — Sardinia, Italy; Ikaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, United States.

He and the team found predictors of living to 100 years old — daily physical activity; having a reason to get up in the morning; “mostly plant-based, vegetable-heavy, whole grain heavy diet’; consumption of wine; the concept of “eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper”; daily rituals that reduce stress; faith; and a strong social community.

“You all know this statistic, but if you report loneliness in America it shaves about 8 years off your life expectancy. It is bad as a smoking habit,” Buettner said.

“Did you ever think about that word ‘retirement’?” Buettner asked the audience. “It is that artificial punctuation that means the end of your productive life and the beginning of your life of repose. And there is a very dangerous mortality spike that year — 11,000 extra people die the year they retire.”

Why is this? Buettner said reasons for this mortality spike may be because the person who retired may be less physically active, or loss their social network or their sense of meaning.

“Retirement might not be such a great idea in many respects,” Buettner said.

Okinawans do not have a term for retirement and instead they have the term “ikigai,” which Buettner said “roughly translated it means ‘the reason for which I wake up in the morning’.”

Buettner said in their research questionnaire participants were asked what their purpose was to get up in the morning and not once did someone fail to have an answer.

In many of these communities, “older people are seen as treasures. They are honored. The older you are. the more referred you are...they are seen for what they are: the repository of wisdom,” Buettner said.

“In America we pursue health...and it isn’t working,” Buettner said. “In Blue Zones they ensue. It is a byproduct of the right environment.” They move naturally by walking; they have gardens; “they have sacred rituals to unwind”; have “ancestor veneration”; and they do not have mechanical conveniences in their homes.

Buettner’s keynote was followed by information about the strategic partnership between the ACLM and the Blue Zones organization. Michelle L. Tollefson, MD, FACOG, FACLM, DipABLM, and Dexter Shurney, MD, MBA, MPH, FACLM, DipABLM, Blue Zones chief medical officer, said that the ACLM will offer a 6-hour Blue Zone certification in 2025 for any clinician who is certified by the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine. More information can be found on the https://lifestylemedicine.org/blue-zones-partnership/ ACLM website.