Comment by CareerAdvice01
1 year ago
I come from one of these blue zones on the southern coast of Europe. That low income low literacy people live longer, provided they have good genetics seems plausible to me. These people tend to lead a semi-agrarian life and remain active well into their 80s. Their more educated higher income counterparts will probably have spent their life being sedentary and their retirement in a coffee shop indulging themselves. If food plays a role, it's only insofar as them being less indulgent. Otherwise I believe the obsession on diet is only because it is one factor that is relatively easy for people to change. Genetics plays a huge role, because if your body betrays you early on, you won't be able to remain active and focused on life in your later years. Climate probably also plays a role because again, you need good climate to remain active all year round. So does family. Seeing your family everyday keeps you planted in life. Healthcare might also play a role. Our healthcare is much more caring than the one in the northern European states.
They should make a study focusing on northern European retirees who decide to live here on the coast. We have quite a few of those and I wonder whether they tend to live longer compared to their counterparts back home.
The allegation that its simply fraud is ridiculous. If someone in the village dies, the whole village would know before sunset, and pretty much nobody dies at home anyway. And what about inheritance? Or paying rent? No, that's completely ridiculous. Not to mention that pretty much everyone is highly religious around those parts and not giving your relatives a proper Catholic burial is one of the worst things you could do. Not even a staunch atheist would stoop that low.
> The allegation that [it is] fraud is ridiculous.
No? Even the writeup gives specific examples. Number of pension payouts to Greek 100+ year olds was cut by 72% after an audit.
Even if they had a proper Catholic burial. Never underestimate the power of greed. In a predominantly low-income area great-grandpa's pension might be what is keeping you from losing your home.
> That low income low literacy people live longer, provided they have good genetics seems plausible to me.
That it seems plausible is why the story has circulated for so long, but that doesn't make it true. We do research precisely to check what seems plausible against actual data.
Since you're using a throwaway anyway, can you share which part of the Southern coast of Europe you live in? Maybe together we can find data that would help.
The people in the village know, but the culture is such that they aren’t going to rat out the family for the fraud. The priest has nothing to do with the state bureaucracy.
That happens all over the place. People get busted for collecting grandmas social security checks all of the time in the US. When I was in college in the mid-90s, I rented an apartment from a dude who died in the early 80s.
Unfortunately the fraud is real. The fact that blue zones are islands makes it easier to hide the fact from authorities (if it is widespread practice that many people exploit)
how would islands help? it means they're isolated and static compared to areas with lots of people flowing in and out.
In the past they were the opposite, hard to move out, everyone knows each other, the priest can agree not to register the death
You can have a proper burial and just not submit the death certificate to the government.
Just chiming in to add one factor that you overlooked: selective caloric restriction.
We know caloric restriction can extend lifespan. It's usually tested as a discrete variable, but its statistical effect in the wild is continuous. It can be unintentional, coincidental, income-related, historical event-related, culturally related, and related to the local economy. Multiple categories can apply at the same time, complicating the analysis.
Add fasting to the mix, and the analysis is even harder. Here's a difficult to refute conjecture: areas that underwent episodes of accidental fasting during world wars may have spikes of ultra-centenarians. The keyword is may, because you have to subtract out the negative correlations that come with the event. For instance, during a famine you may end up eating lifespan-reducing foods.
>Climate probably also plays a role because again, you need good climate to remain active all year round.
You can be active in any climate. Spain is too hot during the summer so the Spanish aren't active during those hours. If it's too cold you can use a gym or even exercise at home.
>and pretty much nobody dies at home anyway.
That's just not true. A lot of people die in their sleep in their beds.
>The allegation that its simply fraud is ridiculous.
It's not ridiculous.
Your whole post is just littered with statements that just aren't true.
The one part of the blue zone theory that does make sense--a lifestyle that involves a lot of physical activity. Which goes along with what we know elsewhere.