The Blue Zones Solution - by Dan Buettner

Book Synopsis

Bestselling author Dan Buettner reveals how to transform your health using smart nutrition, lifestyle, and fitness habits gleaned from longevity research on the diets, eating habits, and lifestyle practices of the communities he's identified as "Blue Zones"--those places with the world's longest-lived, and thus healthiest, people, including locations such as Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California.

With the audacious belief that the lifestyles of the world's Blue Zones could be adapted and replicated in towns across North America, Buettner launched the largest preventive health care project in the United States, The Blue Zones City Makeovers, which has impacted the health of millions of Americans since 2009. In The Blue Zones Solution, readers can be inspired by the specific stories of the people, foods, and routines of our healthy elders; understand the role community, family, and naturally healthy habits can play in improving our diet and health; and learn the exact foods--including the 50 superfoods of longevity and dozens of recipes adapted for Western tastes and markets--that offer delicious ways to eat your way to optimum health. Throughout the book are lifestyle recommendations, checklists, and stories to help you create your own personal Blue Zones solution. Readers will learn and apply the 80/20 rule, the plant slant diet, social aspects of eating that lead to weight loss and great health naturally, cultivating your "tribe" of friends and family, and your greater purpose as part of your daily routine.

Filled with moving personal stories, delicious recipes, checklists, and useful tips that will transform any home into a miniature blue zone, The Blue Zones Solution is the ultimate blueprint for a healthy, happy life.

Review Quotes

"Buettner's latest book, "The Blue Zones Solution," . . . takes a deep dive into five places around the world where people have a beguiling habit of forgetting to die."--The New York Times

"Bestselling author Buettner is back with a well-organized game plan for a long and well-lived life...This is a thoughtfully presented and well-written guide from which anyone--no matter where he or she is in the journey to better health--can benefit." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"An ideal way to learn how to live longer and better is to study people who are doing just that. [Buettner] distills the deepest insights from the Blue Zones to light our path." --Mehmet Oz, M.D.

"The Blue Zones Solution elegantly combines deep investigation and science with practical advice and recipes, making it the rare book that belongs in both your office and your kitchen." --Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and A Whole New Mind

"Buettner's initiative has the potential to dramatically change the way we think about health in America." --Walter Willett, M.D., chairman of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health

"Propogating the Blue Zones would not only prevent a rise in the prevalence of diabetes (and other such misfortunes); it would allow us to eliminate more than 80 percent of the burden we have now. That's revolutionary."
--David Katz, M.D., director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center

"If you want a delicious way to eat to 100, then this is perhaps the most important food book of your lifetime." --Andrew Zimmern, host of the Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods

"In this worthy successor to his 2009 best seller, The Blue Zones, journalist and health activist Buettner teases out the habits and practices of the people he deems the world's healthiest...Readers seeking a healthier lifestyle will appreciate this warm and encouraging book." --Library Journal

"A lot of science and research have gone into searching for the healthiest diets, but when it comes down to the Blue Zones, the proof is in the pudding: These people actually are living longer, healthier lives. One of the tricks? Lay off the pudding." --Food and Wine

"Cheater's Guide to Living to 100: 4 super-simple secrets to living longer, healthier and happier--from longevity expert Dan Buettner and centenarians around the world." --Parade

"These healthy living techniques might just convince you to start planning ahead for your 100th birthday party." --Dailyburn.com

About the Author

DAN BUETTNER is the founder of Blue Zones, an organization that helps Americans live longer, healthier lives. His groundbreaking work on longevity led to his 2005 National Geographic cover story "Secrets of Living Longer" and two national bestsellers, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest and Thrive. He lives in Minneapolis, MN. He can be found on Facebook and Twitter, and through his website bluezones.com.