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16 reviews for:
The Blue Zones: 9 Power Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest
Dan Buettner
3.94 AVERAGE
16 reviews for:
The Blue Zones: 9 Power Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest
Dan Buettner
3.94 AVERAGE
Overall really enjoyed reading this book, including the anecdotes mixed in with research. At certain points, it seemed to drag just a bit, but I would still recommend. Now, off to figure out my ikigai.
Travelling across the globe and examining the lifestyles of communities with many centenarians. Guide to healthier living
So not something I would normally pick up... this was our book club pick for work... but I enjoyed it more than I would thought. None of the longevity advice was new or groundbreaking (I think the book was written in 2007?) but it was well researched and entertaining and hearing the centenarians stories was worth the read alone.
It's good, but I got the feeling they picked and chose their data ...
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Clickbait in paper form.
While this book covers an objectively interesting topic and has a couple of good insights, it is also shallow, unscientific, and lacking in rigor. Buettner—a journalist, not a scientist—chose to write this book as a personal narrative about his time wandering through "Blue Zones" and talking with people, resulting in little more than anecdote and speculation.
I also take issue with the idea of creating a self-help book for individuals on the basis of the Blue Zones. The longevity in these areas is inherently the product of geography and culture, not individual decisions. Urban planners and zoning boards should study Blue Zones to create a geography and foster a culture that promotes public health (walkability, bike infrastructure, social infrastructure, "granny flats," community gardens), but I am doubtful that an individual could "create their own Blue Zone," given the complex nexus of external factors involved in that. This framing may sell books, but it's an intellectually dishonest way to frame the Blue Zone phenomenon. Individuals hoping to live healthier lives within an unhealthy culture should look to other people in their culture who manage to still be healthy rather than pastoralists in Sardinia who live an entirely different lifestyle that would be unachievable and undesirable in, say, an American urban setting.
While this book covers an objectively interesting topic and has a couple of good insights, it is also shallow, unscientific, and lacking in rigor. Buettner—a journalist, not a scientist—chose to write this book as a personal narrative about his time wandering through "Blue Zones" and talking with people, resulting in little more than anecdote and speculation.
I also take issue with the idea of creating a self-help book for individuals on the basis of the Blue Zones. The longevity in these areas is inherently the product of geography and culture, not individual decisions. Urban planners and zoning boards should study Blue Zones to create a geography and foster a culture that promotes public health (walkability, bike infrastructure, social infrastructure, "granny flats," community gardens), but I am doubtful that an individual could "create their own Blue Zone," given the complex nexus of external factors involved in that. This framing may sell books, but it's an intellectually dishonest way to frame the Blue Zone phenomenon. Individuals hoping to live healthier lives within an unhealthy culture should look to other people in their culture who manage to still be healthy rather than pastoralists in Sardinia who live an entirely different lifestyle that would be unachievable and undesirable in, say, an American urban setting.
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
This is a great book for initially learning about longevity. Although the book seems to encourage a strict diet, it does not seem as strict because the book has a positive outlook on the diet. It is about more than just what you eat, but also how you eat, and your lifestyle in general. I found the book very motivating because of the countless examples of how these centenarians live and the fulfillment they achieve from it.
That being said, the book is far from perfect. It shallowly describes the blue zones lifestyle by jumping to conclusions without scientific reasoning. I suppose it is because the author is not a scientist. An example of this is the encouragement of drinking wind every day. This claim did nor have enough scientific background when the book was written, and the claim was disproved some years later.
All in all, alright and motivating book and great if you haven't read about this subject beford, but take everything with a grain of salt. I suggest you read more scientific books on this subject in addition to this book to get a more in depth understanding of why certain habits increase our lifespans. I have only read one; Lifespan by David Sinclair, which did a good job at explaining longevity on a cellular level.
That being said, the book is far from perfect. It shallowly describes the blue zones lifestyle by jumping to conclusions without scientific reasoning. I suppose it is because the author is not a scientist. An example of this is the encouragement of drinking wind every day. This claim did nor have enough scientific background when the book was written, and the claim was disproved some years later.
All in all, alright and motivating book and great if you haven't read about this subject beford, but take everything with a grain of salt. I suggest you read more scientific books on this subject in addition to this book to get a more in depth understanding of why certain habits increase our lifespans. I have only read one; Lifespan by David Sinclair, which did a good job at explaining longevity on a cellular level.
medium-paced
The book was interesting, but the science behind it wasn’t very well explained. From my point of view, having only read this book, the author makes sweeping generalisations, regularly dismisses the scientific method and the way some of his colleagues want to find further evidence before jumping to conclusions, and does not draw clear lines between his own hunches and theories that his colleagues have backed up with evidence. Obviously, this is a book for laypeople but I would have preferred one with a little bit more meat to it. The other point that annoys me is the patronizing tone. The way female colleagues are described or treated is occasionally inappropriate, like when he objectifies his colleague while chatting with an interviewee, and descriptions of locals he has interviewed sometimes come across as patronizing.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced