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Speaker 1: We make about two hundred and twenty food decisions a day,

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Speaker 1: only ten percent of them are conscious. If you're unhealthy

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Speaker 1: and overweight, it's probably not your fault, and I'll tell

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Speaker 1: you why.

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Speaker 2: New York Times best selling author, award winning journalists Dan.

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Speaker 1: You these five areas where people are living measurably longer.

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Speaker 1: Not only is there plenty of evidence that these approaches work,

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Speaker 1: but also it offers a path to longevity that's enjoyable.

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Speaker 2: Before we jump into this episode, I'd like to invite

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Speaker 2: you to join this community to hear more interviews that

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Speaker 2: will help you become happier, healthier, and more healed. All

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Speaker 2: I want you to do is click on the subscribe button.

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Speaker 2: I love your support. It's incredible to see all your comments,

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Speaker 2: and we're just getting started. I can't wait to go

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Speaker 2: on this journey with you. Thank you so much for subscribing.

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Speaker 2: It means the world to me, the best selling author

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Speaker 2: in the host the number one health and well in this.

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Speaker 1: Podcast, Purpose with Jay Sheetty.

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Speaker 2: Hey everyone, and welcome back to On Purpose, the number

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Speaker 2: one health podcast in the world. Thanks to each and

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Speaker 2: every one of you that come back every week to

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Speaker 2: become happier, healthier, and more healed. Now. I love sitting

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Speaker 2: down with people who have deeply studied, obsessed, and excavated

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Speaker 2: insights and ideas for us. People who have focused deeply

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Speaker 2: on mining the world, traveling the world and finding wisdom,

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Speaker 2: finding tenets of ideas and concepts that can transform the

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Speaker 2: way we live in the modern world. And today's guest

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Speaker 2: is someone I've had on the show before, but I

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Speaker 2: am so excited to see him again after around four

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Speaker 2: or five years it's been since we were last together.

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Speaker 2: I'm speaking about Dan Buttner, an explorer, National Geographic Fellow,

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Speaker 2: award winning journalist and producer, and New York Times best

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Speaker 2: selling author. Dan discovered the five places in the world

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Speaker 2: dubbed Blue Zones hotspots where people live the longest, healthiest lives.

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Speaker 2: New book that I have right now, The Blue Zone

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Speaker 2: Secrets for Living Longer Lessons from the Healthiest Places on Earth.

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Speaker 2: Dan talks about his travels and journeys of living and

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Speaker 2: learning from people all over the world that will dive

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Speaker 2: into today. I want you to grab a copy of

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Speaker 2: this book. It beautifully synthesizes and summarizes really complex and

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Speaker 2: difficult ideas and really really simple and beautiful ones In

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Speaker 2: a way that you can practice them and bring them

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Speaker 2: to life in yours and the people you love. Welcome

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Speaker 2: to the show, Dan, butener Dan, thank you for being.

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Speaker 1: You're such a master. It's a complete joy to see

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Speaker 1: you again and to be here in your studio.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and congratulations on your documentary too on Netflix. I mean,

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Speaker 2: it's been received exceptionally well. If anyone hasn't seen it yet,

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Speaker 2: make sure you go and see that and get the

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Speaker 2: book at the same time. It's so beautiful because when

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Speaker 2: we met you'd been dedicated to this work for so

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Speaker 2: long already, and the fact that it's now having another resurgence,

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Speaker 2: and you know, it's becoming even more mainstream, which I

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Speaker 2: love because I think these ideas need to be mainstream.

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Speaker 2: Talk to us just about how long you've been fascinated

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Speaker 2: and obsessed about this journey and how amazing it is.

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Speaker 2: You just said a moment ago outside to me, you said,

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Speaker 2: you know, I thought the work had had its course,

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Speaker 2: but here it is again. It's timeless.

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Speaker 1: Nineteen ninety nine, I did a read a study in

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Speaker 1: the World Health Organization finding that Oki now Japan, produces

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Speaker 1: the longest live disability free lives in the world.

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Speaker 2: I thought, ah, that's a.

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Speaker 1: Great mystery, and it did a very quick expedition there

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Speaker 1: and became personally on fire about the topic. And then

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Speaker 1: in two thousand and four I got an assignment from

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Speaker 1: National Geographic and a grant from the National Institutes on

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Speaker 1: Aging and wrote a cover story for National Geographic, and

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Speaker 1: the idea here Jay, was, you know so many it's

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Speaker 1: very hot in Silicon Valley right now to search for

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Speaker 1: longevity hacks or anti aging, no storms and so forth.

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Speaker 1: And instead of looking for secret to longevity test tube

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Speaker 1: or some sort of genetic code, we've very methodically found

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Speaker 1: these five areas where people are living measurably longer. And then,

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Speaker 1: because only about twenty percent of how long we live

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Speaker 1: is dictated by our genes, eighty percent of something else,

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Speaker 1: then we took teams of scientists to find the common

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Speaker 1: denominators and the correlits. And I think the reason the

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Speaker 1: Netflix series is resonating so much right now is because,

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Speaker 1: in our fast paced world, where we're constantly looking for

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Speaker 1: answers and technology, we've overlooked this wonderful repository of time

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Speaker 1: honorn wisdom that if we stop pay attention, you can

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Speaker 1: see not only is there plenty of evidence that these

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Speaker 1: approaches work, but also it offers a path to longevity that's.

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Speaker 2: Enjoyable, absolutely, and I'm so happy that you are shining

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Speaker 2: a light on that because I think it's so interesting

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Speaker 2: how obsessed we can get and even how stressed we

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Speaker 2: can get about health and almost when you go back

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Speaker 2: to these very grossroots ways and methods and approaches, it's

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Speaker 2: so much more natural and organic. But we'll come through that.

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Speaker 2: You said twenty percent is genes. What's the other eighty percent?

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Speaker 1: Maybe ten percent is healthcare? You know how good your

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Speaker 1: insurance is, how much access do you have to hospitals

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Speaker 1: and doctors. But the other seventy percent or so, I

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Speaker 1: argue it is largely your environment. We spent over one

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Speaker 1: hundred and fifty billion dollars a year on diets and

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Speaker 1: exercise programs. But if you look at the duration of

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Speaker 1: how long those lasts, it's measured in months and maybe

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Speaker 1: a year and a half or so. And when it

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Speaker 1: comes to longevity, there's no short term fix, there's no pill,

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Speaker 1: there's no supplement. It is the sum of lots of

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Speaker 1: small improvements to your life's aggregated over decades. That's what works,

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Speaker 1: and I've been shown nothing else that can work in

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Speaker 1: the in the in the short runs. So that seventy

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Speaker 1: percent is how you set up your environments so that

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Speaker 1: you are unconsciously nudged to do things that favor longevity

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Speaker 1: and nudged away from the things that we know take

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Speaker 1: away from health and vitality. That's kind of the general idea.

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Speaker 2: And I love that idea about environment. I think the

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Speaker 2: challenge is today that a lot of us would find

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Speaker 2: that environments we grow up in, or environments we live

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Speaker 2: and work in, are almost set up against longevity. Yes,

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Speaker 2: would you agree with that? And what are some of

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Speaker 2: the ways in which we almost have to not fight,

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Speaker 2: but we have to almost defend, protect and create environments

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Speaker 2: to grow and be abundant in.

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Speaker 1: So we're in Los Angeles right now, I happen to

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Speaker 1: know that the average Angelino spends forty seven hours a

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Speaker 1: year not just in traffic, stopped in traffic, in places

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Speaker 1: that are walkable, where there are bike lanes, where there

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Speaker 1: are nice wide sidewalks with trees so they're esthetically pleasing,

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Speaker 1: cleaned up playground. The physical activity level of the entire

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Speaker 1: community is twenty percent higher. So we live in a

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Speaker 1: nature nation where freer than twenty four percent of people

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Speaker 1: get the minimum amount of physical activity, which is only

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Speaker 1: about twenty minutes. So just by living in a walkable neighborhood,

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Speaker 1: you're probably going to get more physical activity over the

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Speaker 1: long term than you are signing up for a gym.

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Speaker 1: The other problems are food environment. You know, we evolved

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Speaker 1: with genetic hardwiring to favor salt, favor sugar, urn for fat,

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Speaker 1: and take rest whenever we can. That served us very

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Speaker 1: well in an environment of scarcity and difficulty like we

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Speaker 1: evolved in. But now we live in this environment where

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Speaker 1: we're never more than five steps away from a salty

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Speaker 1: snack or soda or hamburger pizza, and you know, our

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Speaker 1: genes lusts for that, and we can try to deploy

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Speaker 1: discipline or presence of mind to overcome it three or

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Speaker 1: four times, but the sixth times you're confronted by it

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Speaker 1: in a day, you know that discipline muscle wears out.

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Speaker 1: The next thing you're you know, eating that snickers or

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Speaker 1: digging into that bag of chips. And it's hard to

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Speaker 1: wake your finger at Americans and say it's your responsibility

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Speaker 1: to eat healthy when ninety seven out of one hundred

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Speaker 1: choices out there for most people aren't healthy.

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Speaker 2: I want to dive into all the lessons and the

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Speaker 2: insights that we can make shifts. How have you found

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Speaker 2: people being able to apply the Blue zones work in

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Speaker 2: their modern lives in these big cities, in places when

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Speaker 2: ninety seven out of one hundred options are unhealthy or

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Speaker 2: toxic or whatever they may be. What examples have you seen?

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Speaker 2: What have you learned about people actually making changes and

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Speaker 2: transformations in their life?

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Speaker 1: So I have two answers, and I'll first, I'll take

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Speaker 1: it at the community level. So my daytime job for

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Speaker 1: most the last thirteen years has been working with cities

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Speaker 1: were publicly endorsed but privately funded, so we don't get

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Speaker 1: involved with people worried about spending tax hours. We've gone

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Speaker 1: into cities like Fort Worth, Texas, Naples, Florida, Jacksonville, the

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Speaker 1: whole state of Hawaii, and instead of trying to get

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Speaker 1: people to convince people to eat mostly a plant based

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Speaker 1: diet and to get physical activity, we work with city

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Speaker 1: council to help them identify policies that favor healthy food

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Speaker 1: over junk food, that favor the pedestrian over the motors,

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Speaker 1: that favor the non smoke over the smoker. And we

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Speaker 1: don't come in telling cities what to do. Nobody wants

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Speaker 1: to be told what to do. We bring them menus

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Speaker 1: and then we go through every item on that policy

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Speaker 1: menu and assess it for number one, effective to people

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Speaker 1: in this room from the public and private sector, think

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Speaker 1: it to be effective in this city? And two is

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Speaker 1: it feasible? Is there enough sort of political equity to

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Speaker 1: get these things done? And in every city, we're able

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Speaker 1: to find a half a dozen to a dozen policies

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Speaker 1: that float to the top and my team could get implemented.

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Speaker 1: And that's the biggest According to the CDC, the most

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Speaker 1: powerful lever we have to create a healthier America is policy.

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Speaker 1: It's the most cost effective. But then we also have

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Speaker 1: a Blue Zone certification program for restaurants, grocery stores, workplaces

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Speaker 1: in schools, and over five years we can usually get

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Speaker 1: thirty to forty percent of those places to agree to

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Speaker 1: optimize their designs and their policies so people mindlessly move more,

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Speaker 1: eat better. Cafeterias are healthier with healthier choices, socialize more.

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Speaker 1: We all know loneliness kills and then no one live

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Speaker 1: their purpose. And it only works when you're comprehensive, and

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Speaker 1: from the time people wake up till the time they

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Speaker 1: go to bed, they are nudged unconsciously nudged into slightly

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Speaker 1: better behaviors. Over the period of decades, and in every

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Speaker 1: city we worked in and Gallop measures this, we've seen

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Speaker 1: the obesity rate go down, life satisfaction go up, and

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Speaker 1: healthcare go down a lot. And in a country where

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Speaker 1: we're spending four point four trillion dollars on healthcare, that's

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Speaker 1: an important consideration.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, I mean it's incredible to have these very

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Speaker 2: I love how you're approaching it almost from a very

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Speaker 2: macro level, like in the sense if it's not just

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Speaker 2: about micro habit changes, it's about redesigning entire cities or

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Speaker 2: reformatting entire cities, which which I was fascinated when we

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Speaker 2: first met and you walked me through the models, and

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Speaker 2: I remember you showing us how you were thinking parks

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Speaker 2: and spaces could be redesigned, and how schools and homes

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Speaker 2: and how they all need to be close to each other,

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Speaker 2: and I was thinking, wow, this is it's such a

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Speaker 2: practical but macro level. I want to dive into some

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Speaker 2: of these areas because I want to give people a

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Speaker 2: small tour of this beautiful book that you've created, and

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Speaker 2: of course highly recommend that everyone grabs the book for

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Speaker 2: all the full details. But the blue zones are Sardinya

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Speaker 2: and Nkoya, Lomlinda, Ikaria, Okinawa and Singapore, and so they're

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Speaker 2: not necessarily the most they're not predictable, and they're not

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Speaker 2: places that you'd go, oh yeah, I know that place,

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Speaker 2: like of course, those people live a long time and

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Speaker 2: I've only been to I've been to Sardinia before and

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Speaker 2: I remember going and meeting with some of the people.

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Speaker 2: Then I was totally blown away. I've been to Singapore

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Speaker 2: before and I met some local individuals. But I wanted

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Speaker 2: to dive into a couple of areas that I highlight,

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Speaker 2: So I wanted to talk a little bit about a

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Speaker 2: few things that may sound counterintuitive to people. One of these.

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Speaker 2: One of these ones was the plant based diet, because

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Speaker 2: I think a lot of people right now there's a

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Speaker 2: lot of debate over plant based versus meat based diet,

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Speaker 2: but this was something that you saw across the board

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Speaker 2: as quite a strong indicator of longevity.

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Speaker 1: I think people should eat what makes them feel the best,

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Speaker 1: and I'm not here to tell people what to eat,

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Speaker 1: but I'm also right for National Geographic and my feet

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Speaker 1: are held to the fire. So if I want to

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Speaker 1: talk about a diet of longevity, our process was to

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Speaker 1: aggregate dietary surveys in all five Blue Zones universities go

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Speaker 1: out and find what the population is eating. And we

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Speaker 1: did that for over the past eighty years, so one

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Speaker 1: hundred and fifty five dietary surveys over eighty years, so

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Speaker 1: we know what a centenarian was eating when they were

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Speaker 1: twenty and what they're eating when they were newly retired

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Speaker 1: and recently. I had over side from Harbor to do

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Speaker 1: what's called a meta analysis. And if you really want

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Speaker 1: to know what a centenarian has eaten most of his

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Speaker 1: or her life, it is about ninety to ninety five

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Speaker 1: percent whole plant based food. Contrary to sort of the

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Speaker 1: popular keto diets and so forth. It's very high in carbohydrates,

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Speaker 1: but complex carbohydes carbohydrates. Both jelly beans and lentil beans

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Speaker 1: are carbohydrates. And obviously you know in a way carbohydrates

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Speaker 1: is the worst word in the nutritional dictionary, because I

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Speaker 1: would argue simple carbohydrates like jelly beans are the most

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Speaker 1: toxic components of our diet, whereas beans is the most healthy.

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Speaker 1: The five pillars of every longevity diet in the world

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Speaker 1: are whole grains, greens, and other garden vegetables. It's all

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Speaker 1: seasonal tubers like sweet potatoes. In Okinawa, until nineteen seventy,

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Speaker 1: about sixty five to seventy percent of all the calories

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Speaker 1: consumed were from purple sweet potatoes nuts as a snack.

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Speaker 1: And then the cornerstone of every longevity diet in the

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Speaker 1: world is beans. And if you're eating a couple of

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Speaker 1: beans a day, it's probably worth about four years of

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Speaker 1: extra life expectancy. They do eat meat, and I readily

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Speaker 1: acknowledge that the Adventists don't all eat meat, but in

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Speaker 1: all Blue zones, on average, they were eating meat about

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Speaker 1: five times per month. Average American eats about two hundred

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Speaker 1: and twenty pounds of meat a year, which is just

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Speaker 1: too much. I think there's plenty of evidence to show

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Speaker 1: that that level of meat consumptions highly associate it with

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Speaker 1: about a doubling or tripling of your chances of cardiovascular

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Speaker 1: disease and even type two diabetes. In blue zones, they

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Speaker 1: might be consuming twenty pounds of meat a year, and

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Speaker 1: it's a celebratory food. It's usually from an animal that's

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Speaker 1: had a pretty decent life. Not to say that justifies

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Speaker 1: killing it, but it's just a whole different way of

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Speaker 1: consuming meat and much lower quantities. So is there room

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Speaker 1: for meat people's diet, Probably, but a lot less. I

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Speaker 1: think we're me.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And I love how you've connected, And I mean

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Speaker 2: the amount of analysis that's been done is truly remarkable,

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Speaker 2: and obviously the amount of years. The fact that you

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Speaker 2: know what someone was eating at twenty years old and

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Speaker 2: what they've eating for their whole life is pretty phenomenal.

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Speaker 2: One of these ones that you had here was laughing

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Speaker 2: with friends, and you know, I think laughter is laughter

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Speaker 2: and crying both as such underestimated emotions and expressions. And

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Speaker 2: I almost feel like I wonder if every one of

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Speaker 2: us who's listening and watching right now did a personal

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Speaker 2: audit on how much we laughed per week. Oh yeah,

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Speaker 2: I would be intrigued to see how many of us,

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Speaker 2: And I would love that everyone who's listening and watching

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Speaker 2: just for the next seven days. It sounds like a

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Speaker 2: stupid activity and maybe this makes you laugh, and that's great, right,

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Speaker 2: down how many times you truly laugh, not just like

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Speaker 2: ha ha ha, but like truly laughed every day. What

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Speaker 2: did you discover about the importance of laughter? Because that

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Speaker 2: sounds like such a subtle, soft, small thing, but you

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Speaker 2: put in the book.

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Speaker 1: Well, it's hard to quantify, quite honestly, but where that

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Speaker 1: comes from. The word sardonic, which is a type of

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Speaker 1: kind of slightly biting but good natured humor, comes from Sardinia,

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Speaker 1: and it very much pervades the culture. There's a lot

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Speaker 1: of sort of ribbing, good natured ribbing, of each other,

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Speaker 1: and that's sort of a social currency. So when they

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Speaker 1: get together at the end of the day for their

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Speaker 1: glass of wine or two, it's usually they're not sitting

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Speaker 1: around griping about politics or what the left is doing

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Speaker 1: or what the right is doing. They're poking fun of

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Speaker 1: each other or the shepherd over the hill. And so

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Speaker 1: that's an anecdotal observation, but it just seemed to be

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Speaker 1: one of the propellants of a very hearty and healthy

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Speaker 1: social life. I wrote the cover story for National Geograph

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Speaker 1: in two thousand and five. I don't think anybody was

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Speaker 1: connecting social the quality of your social relations with health

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Speaker 1: or longevity until my first articles and books were And

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Speaker 1: I think there's a general realization that transcends blue zones.

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Speaker 1: That you know, if you could put the health full

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Speaker 1: properties of a good social life in a tablet, it

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Speaker 1: would be a billion dollar blockbuster drug. Being Having at

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Speaker 1: least three friends who you can laugh with, who care

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Speaker 1: about you on a bad day is worth about eight

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Speaker 1: years of life expectancy over being alone. And I don't

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Speaker 1: know of any other supplement or pill that will give

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Speaker 1: you anywhere near that.

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Speaker 2: We inherently know that. Like when someone hears that, they sound, yeah,

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Speaker 2: I have three friends. But I think, like you said,

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Speaker 2: it's the topic of conversation, it's the energetic exchange. It's

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Speaker 2: the vulnerability and the depth of that relationship that seems

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Speaker 2: to be stifled. Like you're saying, like we're all searching

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Speaker 2: for the magic pill, but you're saying, actually, just having

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Speaker 2: three friends that you can call on a bad day

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Speaker 2: is actually going to increase your life expectancy greater than

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Speaker 2: any pill you could take. Which just to think about

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Speaker 2: that for a second, Like you make it sound so easy,

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Speaker 2: but that's a really powerful point. But we maybe don't

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Speaker 2: engage as effectively with three people in our life. Where

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Speaker 2: have we gone wrong in that social space? What did

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Speaker 2: you kind of come across?

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Speaker 1: There's this great Harvard researcher named Robert Putnam. He wrote

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Speaker 1: a book called Bowling Alone, and when he first read

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Speaker 1: it wrote it in the late eighties, he calculated that

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Speaker 1: the average American has three friends. He now calculates we're

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Speaker 1: down to under two. So we may think that we're

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Speaker 1: socially connected, but as a nation, we're getting less and

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Speaker 1: less socially connected. And I think part of it is

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Speaker 1: this thing right here. We're using this as a proxy

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Speaker 1: for the face to face conversations like we're having right now,

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Speaker 1: which isn't nearly as good. Part of it's our environment.

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Speaker 1: We spent about twice as much time in our cars

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Speaker 1: than we did in nineteen eighty. If were't our cars,

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Speaker 1: we're not out walking interacting with people and having those

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Speaker 1: serendipitous social interactions that can lead to friendships. We spend

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Speaker 1: four and a half hours a day at least interacting

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Speaker 1: with our screens, yet again, another time taken away from

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Speaker 1: social interaction. And we are humans. The reason why we're

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Speaker 1: successful over other simions is that we have this capacity

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Speaker 1: to feel empathy for each other, to cooperate with each other.

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Speaker 2: And at the end of the.

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Speaker 1: Day, most things that feel good favor our health and

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Speaker 1: our longevity. That's why we get hungry and it feels

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Speaker 1: good to eat, or you know, we get that little urgent,

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Speaker 1: it feels good to have sex. These are all things

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Speaker 1: that sort of favor the thriving of our species.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I want to pick up a few things that

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Speaker 2: really resonated with me there. First is you spoke about

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Speaker 2: serendipitous moments, and I think that that's such a Again,

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Speaker 2: it's become so random or rare now to bump into

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Speaker 2: someone at a grocery store and start a conversation. We're

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Speaker 2: in a line at anywhere, whether it's the doctors, whether

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Speaker 2: it's a store, whatever it may be, and everyone's on

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Speaker 2: their phone, and it would be rare or actually we'd

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Speaker 2: see it as weird. If someone said hello to us,

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Speaker 2: we'd kind of look around, going like are you okay?

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Speaker 2: Like what do you need? It would be uncomfortable. And

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Speaker 2: I actually think that when those synchronous or serendibitous moments

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Speaker 2: happen where you kind of have a moment of surprise

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Speaker 2: or delight, or you bump into someone that feels familiar.

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Speaker 2: I had this happen to me through a work thing

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Speaker 2: last week. We were going on a work project. One

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Speaker 2: person on the team hadn't come to an event yet.

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Speaker 2: We hit it off immediately and it felt like serendibity,

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Speaker 2: and it was through work, and I was just like,

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Speaker 2: I want to build a relationship with this person. And

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Speaker 2: I often feel that way. And because I moved country

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Speaker 2: and I moved city, so I moved from London to

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Speaker 2: New York to now La, I've had the positive pressure

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Speaker 2: of having to rebuild community. And I remember when I

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Speaker 2: moved to New York and then moved to LA. I

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Speaker 2: said to my wife, I was like, we're not just

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Speaker 2: I'm not just trying to build my career. I want

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Speaker 2: to build community at the same time, because you can't

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Speaker 2: really have one without the other. I could have an

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Speaker 2: amazing career here, but if I don't have community, how

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Speaker 2: meaningful is my career going to feel? And so they

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Speaker 2: were both pursuits and efforts, and I remember having this

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Speaker 2: really and I still do it today and I'm thirty

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Speaker 2: six years old, and I'm not shy about it. If

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Speaker 2: I connect with someone or if I enjoy someone's company,

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Speaker 2: I'll just say, hey, do you want to come over

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Speaker 2: for dinner? Let's hang out. And I try and avoid

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Speaker 2: going out for dinner, and I try and avoid going

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Speaker 2: to bars and restaurants because I find them to be loud,

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Speaker 2: I find them to be impersonal, and I find them

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Speaker 2: also to be short, Like you've got for dinner for

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Speaker 2: an hour and a half and then everyone look at

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Speaker 2: their phone and leave. And I almost think that if

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Speaker 2: there's someone that I deeply want to connect with, I'd

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Speaker 2: rather meet them one on one and if they can

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Speaker 2: come over to my apartment or my home or whatever

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Speaker 2: it may be, that intimate time and ordering food in

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Speaker 2: kind of creates more time. You're now going to spend

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Speaker 2: three hours with someone, it's likely that you're going to

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Speaker 2: extend that period of time. And another thing that's been

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Speaker 2: massive in helping me is I think often we hide

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Speaker 2: in groups. So we go out with big groups. We

407
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Speaker 2: go out with twenty people, we go out with thirty people,

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Speaker 2: and you then end up having or you go up

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Speaker 2: with six people and you end up having five shallow

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Speaker 2: conversations as opposed to one or two deeper ones. Now

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Speaker 2: I'm not saying I don't hang out in groups. I do,

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Speaker 2: and I enjoy it, and my wife and I throw

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Speaker 2: regular game nights and we love that kind of stuff.

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Speaker 2: But I also crave deep, intimate, valuable conversation as well,

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Speaker 2: and I know my friends do, and so to me,

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Speaker 2: I've tried really, really hard, and sometimes you know, you

417
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Speaker 2: wear your heart and your sleep and you say to someone, hey,

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Speaker 2: do you want to hang out and they're like no,

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Speaker 2: And it's okay because I feel like if I do

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Speaker 2: feel that with someone and someone feels it back with me,

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Speaker 2: that's the beginning of a beautiful friendship as an adult.

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Speaker 2: And I feel like we make less friends as adults

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Speaker 2: than obviously we did as kids, and especially for men especially.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, interesting, go ahead, Sorry, No, I'd.

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Speaker 1: Actually like explore this side. There's a positive pressure to socialize.

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Speaker 1: I think there are a lot of Americans who would

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Speaker 1: love more social interaction. It's just hard, and I'm wondering

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Speaker 1: what you like if you're a middle age American living

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Speaker 1: in Iowa in a small town, how would you use

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Speaker 1: this positive pressure and actually start to build network or

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Speaker 1: build meaningful relationships.

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Speaker 2: I find places of equal value, and that could be

433
00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,840
Speaker 2: a bar, a restaurant, a pool, bar, adarts place, I

434
00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:22,800
Speaker 2: don't know. I'm thinking places that people in England definitely

435
00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:25,359
Speaker 2: go to connect, like you know, I think sports to me,

436
00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:28,560
Speaker 2: finding this has happened recently to me here, it's like

437
00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:31,479
Speaker 2: and I know this isn't Iowa, but the idea of

438
00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:35,840
Speaker 2: I have melmos and I haven't made I have made

439
00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:39,200
Speaker 2: so many new friends simply playing pickleball. So pickleball is

440
00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:42,480
Speaker 2: taken over the nation. I go to a local park,

441
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,320
Speaker 2: like literally ten minutes down the road. I go there

442
00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:48,560
Speaker 2: and I play, and if we've lost the doubles partner

443
00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:50,520
Speaker 2: or whatever, we'll go up to someone random or someone

444
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:52,280
Speaker 2: will come up to us and say, hey, you guys

445
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:54,520
Speaker 2: looking for another pairent. We're like, yeah, sure, And all

446
00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:56,280
Speaker 2: of a sudden you're on a text thread and you're

447
00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:59,040
Speaker 2: all friends and you're playing pickleball together twice a week.

448
00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,760
Speaker 2: And so I found that sports places of equal value.

449
00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:06,400
Speaker 2: I think charities and give back opportunities are amazing places.

450
00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,919
Speaker 2: I think there are so many social networks inside a

451
00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:13,080
Speaker 2: city that we're not even aware of. Obviously, people's schools

452
00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:15,840
Speaker 2: and your children's schools and communities. I think there are

453
00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:19,280
Speaker 2: just so many opportunities to meet like minded people. And

454
00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,520
Speaker 2: I think if we go there wanting to connect and

455
00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:25,560
Speaker 2: find people of equal value, I think it's possible. And

456
00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:27,280
Speaker 2: so I don't know. I've never been to Iowa, so

457
00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:30,000
Speaker 2: I can't speak specifically for their but I definitely feel

458
00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:35,439
Speaker 2: like getting into places of yeah, finding tangents to connect.

459
00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:36,840
Speaker 2: And I don't think you're going to bump into someone

460
00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:38,440
Speaker 2: at a grocery store. I don't think you're going to

461
00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:41,359
Speaker 2: bump into someone on the street anymore. It doesn't work

462
00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:43,560
Speaker 2: like that. But you will bump into someone if you

463
00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:47,320
Speaker 2: went to a class, a course, a program, an event.

464
00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,320
Speaker 2: I went on a world tour this year. We went

465
00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:52,439
Speaker 2: to nearly forty cities across the world, and I had

466
00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:56,200
Speaker 2: people who turned up to my show single alone, came

467
00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:58,960
Speaker 2: by themselves, and left with a group of friends, right,

468
00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:01,680
Speaker 2: And that I think that's possible. But because you're going

469
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:03,720
Speaker 2: to a place where you feel safe and they.

470
00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:07,000
Speaker 1: Share interests you share, exploring what you're in probably sharing

471
00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:09,760
Speaker 1: values exactly. Yeah, It's just that you know, we're sort

472
00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,720
Speaker 1: of relentlessly marketed that the path to health is through

473
00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:17,480
Speaker 1: this diet program or this exercise program, or these supplements

474
00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:22,280
Speaker 1: or a longevity hack, and the realization that quality social

475
00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:25,119
Speaker 1: interaction is probably better for your health than any of

476
00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,639
Speaker 1: those things. Just marketers can't make money off of it,

477
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:31,840
Speaker 1: so you don't hear about it. To your point about Pickaball,

478
00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:35,520
Speaker 1: I think it is the most important social innovation that

479
00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:38,280
Speaker 1: America has seen in the last three decades. I'm also

480
00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:39,240
Speaker 1: pickaball financially.

481
00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:39,560
Speaker 2: I love it.

482
00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:42,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, And we have this place where I'll just show

483
00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:45,800
Speaker 1: up at nine o'clock in the morning alone and within

484
00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:49,400
Speaker 1: ten minutes I'm playing a game and often because there's

485
00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:52,399
Speaker 1: so much kind of talking back and forth. By the

486
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:55,280
Speaker 1: end of it, I have the seeds of three new friendships,

487
00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:58,639
Speaker 1: and after three months it's a community. I think it's

488
00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,560
Speaker 1: a wonderful thing. A few other things that have worked

489
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:05,840
Speaker 1: for me This past summer, I visited Minnesota some I

490
00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:09,080
Speaker 1: want to expand my social circle, so I started. I

491
00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:12,120
Speaker 1: just went through my own context, just one by one

492
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:15,719
Speaker 1: and thought, yeah, that's a person who's a healthy and

493
00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:17,800
Speaker 1: I'm interested in and I'd like to get to know.

494
00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:21,840
Speaker 1: And I just made Tuesday and Thursday afternoons lunch days

495
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,240
Speaker 1: because it was a low bar, you know, for me

496
00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:26,960
Speaker 1: to ask somebody to come to lunch with me. I'll pay,

497
00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:30,400
Speaker 1: you know, and instead of investing in a diet program

498
00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:33,679
Speaker 1: or something or you know some supplements. I you know,

499
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,240
Speaker 1: had eight lunches, and out of that eight lunches, three

500
00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:39,600
Speaker 1: of those people are you know, more of a I

501
00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:42,480
Speaker 1: would say in my media social circle now, so there's

502
00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:43,199
Speaker 1: ways to do that.

503
00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's brilliant, super practical. Another one that stuck out,

504
00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:47,800
Speaker 2: and I want to go into so many more. But

505
00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:51,840
Speaker 2: this one kind of on that community element and again

506
00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:55,480
Speaker 2: potentially more anecdotol, but really powerful and a big part

507
00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:58,320
Speaker 2: of how we lived in the monastery and how I

508
00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:03,240
Speaker 2: was raised celebrating elders. And I love that idea because

509
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:05,360
Speaker 2: my wife's one of my wife's favorite people in the world,

510
00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:07,400
Speaker 2: or her favorite person in the world is her grandmother,

511
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,520
Speaker 2: who's thankfully still with us, and she loves celebrating her.

512
00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:13,400
Speaker 2: She loves spending time with her, she loves learning from her.

513
00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:16,200
Speaker 2: She a few years ago, she sat down and interviewed

514
00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:19,040
Speaker 2: her just for herself so she'd have those memories to

515
00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:22,720
Speaker 2: hold on to her grandma's experiences. She went in asked

516
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:25,240
Speaker 2: her grandmother to share with her, like old photos and

517
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:27,560
Speaker 2: all of this kind of stuff. When I think about

518
00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:31,520
Speaker 2: my monk teachers who are twice my age, and celebrating

519
00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:33,560
Speaker 2: them and being present with them and learning from them.

520
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:37,320
Speaker 2: I think celebrating elders is such a part of society

521
00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:40,040
Speaker 2: that's completely been lost, but especially in Sardinia, that stood out.

522
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:41,960
Speaker 2: Walk us through what you saw there.

523
00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:46,560
Speaker 1: It's very easy to map respect of elders as a

524
00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:49,080
Speaker 1: long gravity strategy for a community. So you go into

525
00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:53,200
Speaker 1: these sort of old man bars up in the mountains

526
00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:57,240
Speaker 1: and instead of seeing the sports illustrate it swimsuit of

527
00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:00,520
Speaker 1: the month, you know, you would see the Senate Tenarian

528
00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:03,760
Speaker 1: of the month and they actually have that. Yeah. Yes,

529
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:08,040
Speaker 1: in Bonnay, it's called in the cluster of the blue zone.

530
00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:13,399
Speaker 1: I mean that's just an outward manifestation. But in Sardinia,

531
00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:16,880
Speaker 1: it would shame the family to put your aging parent

532
00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,440
Speaker 1: in a retirement home. So they all stay nearby or

533
00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:23,680
Speaker 1: usually living in the home. And they're not just recipients

534
00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:25,520
Speaker 1: of care. I think a lot of people are afraid

535
00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:29,760
Speaker 1: of that. They're expected to participate. So the women are

536
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:34,240
Speaker 1: helping with childcare. They are the keepers of the food tradition.

537
00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:37,840
Speaker 1: The men, you know, they're still advising when to plant

538
00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:40,000
Speaker 1: when they're sold. They know how to make that wonderful

539
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,560
Speaker 1: blue Zone's wine which has the very high levels of antioxidants.

540
00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:48,440
Speaker 1: So it's this beautiful virtuous circle where older people are

541
00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:51,560
Speaker 1: told they matter, they're they're given a reason to get

542
00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:53,840
Speaker 1: up in the morning, to take their meds, to stay

543
00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 1: physically fit, to eat right, so they're living longer. And

544
00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:00,680
Speaker 1: then there's something called the grandmother effect that shows that

545
00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:03,360
Speaker 1: a household with a grandmother living in it, or at

546
00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:07,680
Speaker 1: least nearby grandfather or grandmother, those children have lower rates

547
00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:12,040
Speaker 1: of mortality and lower rates of disease. So this circle

548
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,360
Speaker 1: is what sort of think of it, an upward ratcheting

549
00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:17,960
Speaker 1: of the life expectancy of the whole community.

550
00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:20,960
Speaker 2: And that becomes harder, like even for us, like we've

551
00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:24,600
Speaker 2: moved away, we're not close to us our own parents

552
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,640
Speaker 2: and of course our grandparents getting older as well, And

553
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:30,520
Speaker 2: it's harder when the world is growing in the world

554
00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:33,120
Speaker 2: is getting bigger and you're moving and traveling more. Is

555
00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:37,400
Speaker 2: there a way of keeping that connection through phones, through facetimes,

556
00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:40,600
Speaker 2: through visits, like does it? Can it still have a

557
00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:41,560
Speaker 2: similar impact to.

558
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:46,160
Speaker 1: Us or even more immediate have a surrogate grandparent. There's

559
00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:49,120
Speaker 1: a Yale researcher named Becca Levy, who found that just

560
00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:52,800
Speaker 1: having a positive attitude towards aging lowers your mortality by

561
00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:56,360
Speaker 1: about forty percent. And part of that is having older

562
00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:59,440
Speaker 1: people in your life and learning from their wisdom and

563
00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:03,320
Speaker 1: honoring it. Not forcing them to retire, but finding a

564
00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:06,280
Speaker 1: way for their wisdom to put work, even though they

565
00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:08,600
Speaker 1: might not have as much fluid intelligence as they had

566
00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:09,400
Speaker 1: when they were thirty.

567
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,000
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, yeah, No, I have a lot of That

568
00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:14,080
Speaker 2: makes me feel really good. I'm really happy you brought

569
00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:16,920
Speaker 2: that up as such a research point. I definitely have

570
00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:20,600
Speaker 2: people in LA that I see as those elders in

571
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:24,280
Speaker 2: my life and in my world that can replace those

572
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:27,640
Speaker 2: people that I don't always have access to. That's really powerful.

573
00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:29,720
Speaker 2: A couple of things that I want to surprise people

574
00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:31,840
Speaker 2: with because this was huge. A couple of fun ones.

575
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:35,440
Speaker 2: This ideal to drink seven cups of green tea a day.

576
00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:38,600
Speaker 2: I think this is on your TikTok seven cups of

577
00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:41,360
Speaker 2: green tea tooke me through that. That sounds like a

578
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:42,600
Speaker 2: lot hard to do.

579
00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 1: I was just in Kyoto last week with the researcher

580
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:50,160
Speaker 1: who actually very clearly mapped it to frailty. Seven is ideal,

581
00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:52,520
Speaker 1: but as little as three cups of green tea to

582
00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:57,000
Speaker 1: day is associate with about four extra years of healthy

583
00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:00,640
Speaker 1: life expectancy. And we don't know why. I mean, you

584
00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:04,160
Speaker 1: can you can guess. It's probably the antioxic oxidants or

585
00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:07,760
Speaker 1: the catchickins they call but it or there's there's probably

586
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,920
Speaker 1: fifteen hundred compounds in green tea. We don't know for sure,

587
00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:13,760
Speaker 1: but green tea has been around for a long time

588
00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:18,400
Speaker 1: and it's consumed daily and volume by at least two

589
00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:21,480
Speaker 1: of these blue zones. And you know, it's one of

590
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:24,120
Speaker 1: these things that you know, rather than turn to the

591
00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:27,160
Speaker 1: super food or the super beverage, why not drink what

592
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:32,280
Speaker 1: we learn from our ancestors who've achieved the outcomes we want,

593
00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:33,640
Speaker 1: which is a long, healthy life.

594
00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:37,560
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, My wife and I created this sparkling adaptogenic

595
00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:40,960
Speaker 2: tequo June and we put one cup of green tea

596
00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:43,560
Speaker 2: in there, and so that's one of the seven At least,

597
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:47,360
Speaker 2: I'm doing this for my long chovity. It's got zero

598
00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:49,800
Speaker 2: grams of sugar and it's delicious, thank you. It's got

599
00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:52,600
Speaker 2: zero grams of sugar in only five calories. Rely it's

600
00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:56,800
Speaker 2: old natural products. It's you know, it was part of

601
00:31:56,800 --> 00:31:59,280
Speaker 2: that like how do you create something that's fun and

602
00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:00,280
Speaker 2: healthy at the same time.

603
00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:03,520
Speaker 1: And that's right, yes, and that competes with the sugar

604
00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:06,240
Speaker 1: sweet and beverages and much much better off grabbing a

605
00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:08,000
Speaker 1: junie than a pepsi.

606
00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:12,480
Speaker 2: Yeah you said no, but no, but that was the goal.

607
00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:14,920
Speaker 2: It was like, I think it's about what you're doing

608
00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:18,000
Speaker 2: here as well. It's about how do we make alternatives

609
00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:19,080
Speaker 2: accessible and how.

610
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:21,440
Speaker 1: Do we makes you hit the nail on the head

611
00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:24,640
Speaker 1: and easy, yeah, and you remove the friction of price.

612
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:26,240
Speaker 2: Correct you know, I was.

613
00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:30,080
Speaker 1: I named Singapore a blue zone two point zero and

614
00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:34,120
Speaker 1: the reason is in one lifetime, life expectancy has jumped

615
00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:38,040
Speaker 1: twenty years. They now have the highest health adjusted life

616
00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:40,600
Speaker 1: expectancy in the world, so the the longest, healthiest life.

617
00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:44,080
Speaker 1: It's not some coincidence from some ancient culture. They very

618
00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:50,120
Speaker 1: deliberately went went about making unhealthy food more expensive and

619
00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:53,800
Speaker 1: harder to get. So, for example, they taxed sugar. We

620
00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:56,560
Speaker 1: all know sugar is not good for us. If a

621
00:32:56,640 --> 00:33:00,080
Speaker 1: coke in Singapore has twenty percent less sugar than the

622
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,440
Speaker 1: same coke in America, so they've they've mandated it it

623
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:07,360
Speaker 1: has to be less sugar. Meanwhile, they they subsidize things

624
00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:10,680
Speaker 1: we know are good for us, like brown rice. They

625
00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:15,240
Speaker 1: know that driving, especially in traffic, is bad for the air,

626
00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:17,959
Speaker 1: it's bad for you know, kids get killed in accidents.

627
00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:20,640
Speaker 1: You don't get much physical activity when you're sitting in

628
00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:25,000
Speaker 1: the car. So they've made car driving incredibly expensive, one

629
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:27,320
Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars just to have the right to drive

630
00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:30,480
Speaker 1: a car, three hundred percent tax on top of that. Therefore,

631
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:34,880
Speaker 1: eighty nine percent of people in Singapore walk, but they

632
00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:40,320
Speaker 1: take yeah, the on eleven percent people own cars in Singapore.

633
00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:42,680
Speaker 1: But what that means is that there's all this tax

634
00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:46,680
Speaker 1: revenue that they're able to sink into a fast, efficient, clean,

635
00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:52,239
Speaker 1: air conditioned, wonderful public transport system. And nobody's more than

636
00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:56,520
Speaker 1: about three hundred meters away from fast, much faster than

637
00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:58,160
Speaker 1: driving public transportation.

638
00:33:58,640 --> 00:33:58,840
Speaker 2: You know.

639
00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:01,640
Speaker 1: With the side of benefit of that is everybody takes

640
00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:04,520
Speaker 1: about seventy five hundred steps a day without even thinking

641
00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:07,720
Speaker 1: about it. So they're already ahead of seventy five percent

642
00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:10,279
Speaker 1: of Americans just getting to work in the morning, or

643
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:12,040
Speaker 1: going out to see their friends or going out to

644
00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:14,600
Speaker 1: eat because they're walking to the subway.

645
00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:16,399
Speaker 2: Wow, that's the.

646
00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:20,480
Speaker 1: Way American policy makers need to start thinking if we

647
00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:22,200
Speaker 1: really want a healthier America.

648
00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:24,880
Speaker 2: Are you working on the policy shifts too? Is that

649
00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:26,839
Speaker 2: a big part of your focus or is that well, yeah,

650
00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:28,000
Speaker 2: you have to work on local pots.

651
00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:32,080
Speaker 1: I'm working with one of my favorite congressman's, Dean Phillips,

652
00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:36,759
Speaker 1: about a Design for Healthier America bill that would provide

653
00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:40,560
Speaker 1: block grants for cities to do this kind of work.

654
00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:44,560
Speaker 1: So designing for us setting Americans up for health right now,

655
00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:46,960
Speaker 1: we're set up for ill health in this country, I

656
00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:49,200
Speaker 1: need to say it. So it's just instead of the

657
00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:52,680
Speaker 1: four point four trillion dollars a year we spend cleaning

658
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:56,480
Speaker 1: up America's health mess, getting ahead of it, which is

659
00:34:56,520 --> 00:35:00,360
Speaker 1: a much better investment, and it also avoids lots of

660
00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:02,200
Speaker 1: suffering and lots of premature death.

661
00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:05,759
Speaker 2: Absolutely. I mean speaking on that, you know, one of

662
00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:07,000
Speaker 2: the things I wanted to ask you is what are

663
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:09,640
Speaker 2: things that Americans do currently that is seen as healthy

664
00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:12,480
Speaker 2: but are actually causing us to gain weight and live

665
00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:14,719
Speaker 2: a shorter life. Are they certain things that you think

666
00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:18,040
Speaker 2: a marketed promoted to focused on for us to become

667
00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:20,320
Speaker 2: healthier than having the opposite impact.

668
00:35:20,719 --> 00:35:23,080
Speaker 1: Anytime anybody markets you as super food, you can be

669
00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:26,719
Speaker 1: pretty sure it's not many, if not most of them

670
00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:29,839
Speaker 1: have added sugars or processed ingredients will are to all

671
00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:34,200
Speaker 1: that good for you. Basically, any packaged food that that

672
00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:38,360
Speaker 1: trumpets some health benefit, it's probably all not all that

673
00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:41,719
Speaker 1: good for you. In blue zones, the foods they eat

674
00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:44,359
Speaker 1: have one ingredient, you know, the high as it comes

675
00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:46,760
Speaker 1: out of the ground. For the most part, it's combined

676
00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:51,200
Speaker 1: in wonderfully delicious ways, but it's not processed, and it's

677
00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:55,239
Speaker 1: seasonal too, right, it's often seasonal, but several of the

678
00:35:55,239 --> 00:35:57,399
Speaker 1: blue zones only have two growing seasons, so they still

679
00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:00,879
Speaker 1: have to get through winter. The cornerstone of all these

680
00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:04,560
Speaker 1: longevity diets are beans and grains, which store beautifully for

681
00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:06,760
Speaker 1: years at a time, and those sort of get people

682
00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:10,480
Speaker 1: through the times where their gardens aren't producing. By the way,

683
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:13,880
Speaker 1: you know, we put enormous burden on ourselves trying to

684
00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:17,719
Speaker 1: tell Americans that they need to eat fresh fruits and vegetables.

685
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:20,680
Speaker 1: You go into the inner city, a lot of people

686
00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:22,400
Speaker 1: don't know what to do with fresh fruits and vegetables.

687
00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:25,280
Speaker 1: They don't have a taste for them. A much greater,

688
00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:31,920
Speaker 1: easier solution is beans and rice. Beans and corn, tortilla

689
00:36:32,520 --> 00:36:35,920
Speaker 1: beans and pasta pasta pajoli. Whenever you have a bean

690
00:36:36,120 --> 00:36:37,840
Speaker 1: and a grain and you put them together, you have

691
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:42,480
Speaker 1: a whole protein. They're cheap. Almost every ethnicity knows how

692
00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,920
Speaker 1: to cook them and make them taste delicious. They're usually

693
00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:50,560
Speaker 1: fast to combine and cook. We would serve Americans much

694
00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:54,560
Speaker 1: better if we sent the message to eat healthy. To

695
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:57,000
Speaker 1: start your journey to perhaps live a new one hundred,

696
00:36:57,400 --> 00:36:58,360
Speaker 1: eat beans and rice.

697
00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:02,080
Speaker 2: What's really hard is I'm listening to you, and I

698
00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:05,120
Speaker 2: see this as the challenge too. It's like, it almost

699
00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:08,560
Speaker 2: seems like all of our bad decisions, whether it's what

700
00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:12,279
Speaker 2: we eat, whether we walk, whether we work out, are

701
00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:16,320
Speaker 2: primarily based on high levels of stress. So when we're stressed,

702
00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:18,799
Speaker 2: you're going to reach for unhealthy food because it makes

703
00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:20,880
Speaker 2: you feel better. When you're stressed, you're more likely to

704
00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:23,680
Speaker 2: reach for sugar. When you're stressed, you're more likely to

705
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:27,040
Speaker 2: sleep in or try to sleep in, or have bad sleep,

706
00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:29,120
Speaker 2: and then you don't have energy to work out. You're

707
00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:32,160
Speaker 2: more likely to skip a workout or skip walking because

708
00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:33,920
Speaker 2: you feel stressed, you want to rush home in your

709
00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:36,040
Speaker 2: car and just get in front of the TV, and

710
00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:39,440
Speaker 2: so so much of our choices are all based on

711
00:37:39,719 --> 00:37:41,960
Speaker 2: a lot of stress. And obviously in the blue zones

712
00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:44,200
Speaker 2: they don't have a stressful life.

713
00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:49,239
Speaker 1: I imagine you're right fundamentally that stress drives poor decisions.

714
00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:53,400
Speaker 1: And also, if we're eating a meal, we're stressed, you're mixing,

715
00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:59,080
Speaker 1: you're interrupting the digestion process with cortisol, which is not

716
00:37:59,239 --> 00:38:01,960
Speaker 1: good for not good for you. But people in blue

717
00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:04,279
Speaker 1: zone suffer stress just like we do. They worry about

718
00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:07,000
Speaker 1: their kids, they worry about their finances, they worry about

719
00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:11,319
Speaker 1: their health. If you're unhealthy and overweight in America, it's

720
00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:14,640
Speaker 1: probably not your fault. And I'll tell you why. In

721
00:38:14,719 --> 00:38:20,359
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty about fifteen percent of Americans were obese. Now

722
00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:22,799
Speaker 1: it's forty two, going to forty three percent. Of its

723
00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:26,319
Speaker 1: almost tripling of the OBC rate. There's seven times as

724
00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:29,640
Speaker 1: many people are suffering from type two diabetes or pre diabetes.

725
00:38:30,239 --> 00:38:33,919
Speaker 1: That's not because thirty five years ago people had more

726
00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:37,840
Speaker 1: discipline or better diet programs, or they were better people,

727
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:41,240
Speaker 1: or they were exposed to less stresses. What has changed

728
00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:45,560
Speaker 1: is our environment. I mentioned before, we're driving more, but

729
00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:48,000
Speaker 1: also the number of fast food restaurants has gone up

730
00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:52,200
Speaker 1: exponentially over fifty percent of all retail outlets, including the

731
00:38:52,239 --> 00:38:54,560
Speaker 1: place you get your tires changed, in the place you

732
00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:58,400
Speaker 1: pick up your diabetes medicine, force you through a gauntlet

733
00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:02,160
Speaker 1: of sugar, sweeten, beverages, chips, and sodas. We make about

734
00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:06,640
Speaker 1: two hundred and twenty food decisions a day. Only ten

735
00:39:06,680 --> 00:39:09,719
Speaker 1: percent of them are conscious. The other two hundred or

736
00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:14,399
Speaker 1: so I have been orchestrated by marketing and by proximity

737
00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:18,560
Speaker 1: and convenience and really mindless decisions. And two point some

738
00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:21,719
Speaker 1: of those bad, mindless decisions are because of stress, but

739
00:39:21,760 --> 00:39:24,440
Speaker 1: most of it is because of our unhealthy environment.

740
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:27,560
Speaker 2: Yeah. I've always said that being plant based has saved

741
00:39:27,600 --> 00:39:31,919
Speaker 2: me from those gauntlets because I can't eat any of it. Yeah,

742
00:39:32,239 --> 00:39:34,600
Speaker 2: it has some tot of dairrea, some sort of animal

743
00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:36,319
Speaker 2: in it. And it's like, that's the only reason. Me

744
00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:37,960
Speaker 2: and my wife talk about that all the time. Whenever

745
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:40,840
Speaker 2: we walk past donuts, we was doughnuts and pastries and

746
00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:43,840
Speaker 2: we're just like, oh gosh, if I wasn't plant based,

747
00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:46,560
Speaker 2: I would be because I have a massive sweet tooth.

748
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:49,600
Speaker 2: I grew up being a ton of sugar. I was.

749
00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:51,279
Speaker 2: I was exposed to it since I was a kid,

750
00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:53,960
Speaker 2: and so it's taken me years to curb that. But

751
00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:56,319
Speaker 2: the thing that saves me the most from exactly what

752
00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:58,960
Speaker 2: you're talking about right now, the doughnut shop, that the

753
00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:01,000
Speaker 2: pizza shop or whatever, and plant based and that's the

754
00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:02,120
Speaker 2: only thing that saves me.

755
00:40:02,239 --> 00:40:04,360
Speaker 1: I hate to tell you there are plant based donuts.

756
00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:06,680
Speaker 2: Oh no, there are, yeah, I know luckily I live.

757
00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:09,399
Speaker 1: So that's called all rounded meal.

758
00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:11,120
Speaker 2: No, so I'm gonna put I'm gonna put it out.

759
00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:13,279
Speaker 2: There is an amazing if you live in La there

760
00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:16,480
Speaker 2: is an amazing plant based donut place called Doughnut Friend.

761
00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:21,080
Speaker 2: It is unbelievable. And I am so lucky that I

762
00:40:21,160 --> 00:40:25,520
Speaker 2: live like over thirty minutes away from so thinking about

763
00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:28,040
Speaker 2: driving for thirty minutes then thirty minutes back to get

764
00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:29,719
Speaker 2: a donut they don't deliver it to where I live

765
00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:33,319
Speaker 2: is like that saves me. Again. Van Lewin is too

766
00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:35,000
Speaker 2: close though that's not taken ice cream.

767
00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:38,399
Speaker 1: Just imagine if there were you you walk went came

768
00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:40,560
Speaker 1: out your driveway. Every time you came out your driveway,

769
00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:43,400
Speaker 1: there was a there was a special little donut vendor

770
00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:46,719
Speaker 1: right there. Totally, and that's what most Americans are confronted

771
00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:51,480
Speaker 1: with that, the convenience stores, it's hard no matter where

772
00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:54,560
Speaker 1: you shop, you're tempted by this stuff. And yeah, we're

773
00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:56,680
Speaker 1: set up for really a tough time.

774
00:40:56,960 --> 00:40:59,040
Speaker 2: Yeah. One of the things you mentioned again on your

775
00:40:59,080 --> 00:41:01,799
Speaker 2: TikTok was you've said that you believe the best weight

776
00:41:01,880 --> 00:41:05,360
Speaker 2: loss tool is the scale. I want to ask you

777
00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:07,000
Speaker 2: about that because I think for a lot of people,

778
00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:10,440
Speaker 2: getting on a scale is stressful. It's like anxiety inducing.

779
00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:12,840
Speaker 2: They look at it and it makes them more aware

780
00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:15,160
Speaker 2: of a number, and now they get focused on a number,

781
00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:17,880
Speaker 2: and if they don't make that number, they judge themselves

782
00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:21,399
Speaker 2: and criticize themselves, or they call themselves fat or ugly

783
00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:23,880
Speaker 2: or name, you know, whatever it may be. So how

784
00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:26,000
Speaker 2: what were you trying to get at when you were showing.

785
00:41:26,040 --> 00:41:30,240
Speaker 1: You're right there is a minority of people who obsess

786
00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:35,719
Speaker 1: about it and it's in anxiety inducing. But for the aggregate,

787
00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:39,040
Speaker 1: people who step on a scale every day and confront

788
00:41:39,040 --> 00:41:42,480
Speaker 1: their weight. And by the way, you know, if your

789
00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:44,400
Speaker 1: weight goes up, yeah you're gonn feel att kick in

790
00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:46,200
Speaker 1: the pants, But if your weight goes down, there's a

791
00:41:46,239 --> 00:41:50,480
Speaker 1: little endorphinserge. It's a little reward and setting up that

792
00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:53,359
Speaker 1: system putting a bathroom scale in your way. People who

793
00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:57,000
Speaker 1: self weigh every day after two years weigh about eight

794
00:41:57,040 --> 00:42:00,319
Speaker 1: pounds less than people who never self weigh well. I

795
00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:02,640
Speaker 1: actually have one of my little social groups from Los

796
00:42:02,680 --> 00:42:05,759
Speaker 1: Angeles here I used to live here. I still have

797
00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:08,400
Speaker 1: four people, and I hardly know I've seen them once

798
00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:10,319
Speaker 1: in my life, but every day we email each other

799
00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:14,239
Speaker 1: our weight, and it kind of keeps us doing it.

800
00:42:14,719 --> 00:42:17,440
Speaker 1: We were accountable to somebody and every one of us.

801
00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:20,040
Speaker 1: Our weight has gone down a little bit over the

802
00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:22,839
Speaker 1: last decade or so, and for the average American male,

803
00:42:22,920 --> 00:42:25,280
Speaker 1: in ten years, you can expect to gain an extra

804
00:42:25,320 --> 00:42:27,839
Speaker 1: ten years. So we've been among my little focus group,

805
00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:29,720
Speaker 1: we've been. It's worked really quite well.

806
00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:34,200
Speaker 2: Competition and collaboration together are really fascinating. Really yeah, yeah, powerful, Yeah,

807
00:42:34,200 --> 00:42:36,799
Speaker 2: It's why pickabull works for me. It's also why I

808
00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:39,879
Speaker 2: think I have so many people I know do ten

809
00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:43,160
Speaker 2: thousand step challenges within their family, and most of those

810
00:42:43,200 --> 00:42:46,080
Speaker 2: people are walking way over ten thousand steps simply because

811
00:42:46,080 --> 00:42:47,839
Speaker 2: they're trying to beat someone in their family. And then

812
00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:50,759
Speaker 2: everyone's average is growing up, and so I think that

813
00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:56,000
Speaker 2: making something competitive and collaborative is the genius of the

814
00:42:56,040 --> 00:43:00,279
Speaker 2: social network, the fitness, the fun in life like, so

815
00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:02,279
Speaker 2: much of it comes from that. I think we've lost that.

816
00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:05,440
Speaker 1: One of the strategies we deploy in our cities. It's

817
00:43:05,480 --> 00:43:08,840
Speaker 1: an idea we took from Okinawa, the notion of a moi,

818
00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:12,399
Speaker 1: a committed social circle. And we'll get four or five

819
00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:15,120
Speaker 1: hundred people to show up to a gym. We'll have

820
00:43:15,239 --> 00:43:17,560
Speaker 1: them circle up according to what neighborhood they live in.

821
00:43:17,719 --> 00:43:21,160
Speaker 1: We ask them a bunch of questions about, you know,

822
00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:23,520
Speaker 1: are they religious, what their favorite food is, what they

823
00:43:23,520 --> 00:43:25,439
Speaker 1: listen for music, and have them look at each other

824
00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:27,840
Speaker 1: as these questions are being answered, and then we have

825
00:43:27,920 --> 00:43:30,600
Speaker 1: them self select in groups of five people. And a

826
00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:33,359
Speaker 1: lot of these people are completely lonely. And once they

827
00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:36,120
Speaker 1: self select in these clusters we call the moai's, We

828
00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:40,400
Speaker 1: have them give themselves a name, and then we organize

829
00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:44,319
Speaker 1: them around walking together. Everybody can walk together, and then

830
00:43:44,360 --> 00:43:46,760
Speaker 1: we offer a little prize at the end of ten weeks.

831
00:43:46,920 --> 00:43:49,319
Speaker 1: What happens during that ten weeks is not only are

832
00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:52,200
Speaker 1: these people walking a lot more than they normally would,

833
00:43:52,360 --> 00:43:57,360
Speaker 1: they're creating a social network or social circle around walking

834
00:43:57,480 --> 00:44:02,160
Speaker 1: that in many cases about sixty percent are still around

835
00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:06,000
Speaker 1: four years later, so as you were starting to latch

836
00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:10,760
Speaker 1: onto it's the power of collaboration. But creating a social

837
00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:14,600
Speaker 1: circle around a healthy behavior, that's what's going to last

838
00:44:14,640 --> 00:44:16,200
Speaker 1: and that's what's going to matter over time.

839
00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:20,200
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I wanted to quickly jump back to diet and

840
00:44:20,280 --> 00:44:23,160
Speaker 2: food because there's this great technique that you have and

841
00:44:23,200 --> 00:44:26,400
Speaker 2: you method mentioned and this was popular in parts of

842
00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:28,680
Speaker 2: India that we're teaching it from this perspective as well.

843
00:44:28,719 --> 00:44:32,239
Speaker 2: That the method you spoke about was being eight out

844
00:44:32,239 --> 00:44:35,719
Speaker 2: of ten full when you're eating, and when we were

845
00:44:35,719 --> 00:44:38,239
Speaker 2: trained about that, when we'd hear about it from an

846
00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:42,080
Speaker 2: Eastern or Vadic perspective, the idea of how breath is

847
00:44:42,239 --> 00:44:45,160
Speaker 2: part of feeling full and so food is not the

848
00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:47,279
Speaker 2: only thing that your stomach is full on was how

849
00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:50,160
Speaker 2: I was introduced to that idea of being seven tenthsful

850
00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:52,680
Speaker 2: or eight tenths full and the rest would be covered

851
00:44:52,719 --> 00:44:55,279
Speaker 2: by breath. Of course, there's water as well. Walk us

852
00:44:55,280 --> 00:44:57,240
Speaker 2: through that idea of how we can all stop eating

853
00:44:57,239 --> 00:44:59,799
Speaker 2: at eight tenthsful, because I think most of us wait

854
00:44:59,800 --> 00:45:04,080
Speaker 2: till ten ten or twelve ten, Yeah, yeah, exactly.

855
00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:08,400
Speaker 1: Yeah. So it has its roots in a Confucius. The

856
00:45:08,520 --> 00:45:12,960
Speaker 1: Okinawans have this saying hatahachibou, which is a reminder to

857
00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:15,680
Speaker 1: stop eating when their stomachs are eighty percent full. And

858
00:45:15,719 --> 00:45:18,040
Speaker 1: they'll say that like a prayer before a meal, so

859
00:45:18,160 --> 00:45:22,640
Speaker 1: instead of saying grace or whatever, it's a reminder, I believe,

860
00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:27,360
Speaker 1: though much of it is actually done at the table.

861
00:45:27,440 --> 00:45:30,320
Speaker 1: They tend to preplate their foods and put the leftovers

862
00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:32,799
Speaker 1: away at the beginning of the meal instead of the end,

863
00:45:32,840 --> 00:45:35,960
Speaker 1: when you might be minds leading. They don't have a TV,

864
00:45:36,200 --> 00:45:39,040
Speaker 1: so they're not mindlessly eating to their favorite television show.

865
00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:42,759
Speaker 1: They're sitting around with friends, slowing the meal down. It

866
00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:46,040
Speaker 1: takes about twenty minutes from the full feeling to travel

867
00:45:46,040 --> 00:45:49,320
Speaker 1: from your belly to your brain. And if you're wolfing

868
00:45:49,360 --> 00:45:51,839
Speaker 1: your food down, if you're not breathing like you say,

869
00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:54,920
Speaker 1: not drinking water, there's a pretty good chance you're going

870
00:45:55,000 --> 00:45:56,680
Speaker 1: to overeat before you know it.

871
00:45:56,680 --> 00:45:59,600
Speaker 2: It's so fascinating how how have they been able to

872
00:45:59,640 --> 00:46:02,640
Speaker 2: in these places hold onto these traditions, like even you

873
00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:05,640
Speaker 2: saying they I won't say it like you said. It's

874
00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:09,239
Speaker 2: the repetition, even the reminder of hey, let's stay eight

875
00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:12,200
Speaker 2: tents full at this meal. How have they managed to

876
00:46:12,280 --> 00:46:17,200
Speaker 2: hold onto these very old traditions and ideas and concepts

877
00:46:17,360 --> 00:46:22,200
Speaker 2: in places that I'm sure of being you know, commercialized, gentrified,

878
00:46:22,239 --> 00:46:23,759
Speaker 2: and all the rest of it. Like, how have they

879
00:46:24,200 --> 00:46:25,359
Speaker 2: managed to hold onto it?

880
00:46:25,560 --> 00:46:28,200
Speaker 1: Well? It worked until about the year two thousand or

881
00:46:28,200 --> 00:46:32,800
Speaker 1: two thousand and five because there haven't been outside influences.

882
00:46:33,080 --> 00:46:36,240
Speaker 1: But in all these blue zones, the American food culture

883
00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:40,319
Speaker 1: and the onslaught of ubiquitous media is starting to hit.

884
00:46:40,880 --> 00:46:43,160
Speaker 1: It's legged by ten or twenty years because these are

885
00:46:43,160 --> 00:46:46,240
Speaker 1: remote areas. But you know, as soon as the American

886
00:46:46,280 --> 00:46:49,480
Speaker 1: food culture walks in the front door, longevity walks out

887
00:46:49,520 --> 00:46:53,520
Speaker 1: the back, and all of these blue zones sadly are disappearing,

888
00:46:54,360 --> 00:46:57,840
Speaker 1: they'll be gone. I figure in about half a generation.

889
00:46:57,960 --> 00:47:02,040
Speaker 1: Okinawa is already no longer a blue zone. So yeah,

890
00:47:02,120 --> 00:47:04,920
Speaker 1: sadly they're making the same mistakes that we're making.

891
00:47:05,239 --> 00:47:07,920
Speaker 2: You think in our lifetime that blue zones.

892
00:47:07,640 --> 00:47:10,000
Speaker 1: Will probably gone in about a decade and a half.

893
00:47:10,040 --> 00:47:13,120
Speaker 1: The Nicoya blue zone has shrunk to about one fifth

894
00:47:13,120 --> 00:47:18,080
Speaker 1: of size. The Okanawan blue zone is gone except for

895
00:47:18,280 --> 00:47:21,160
Speaker 1: people ninety and over, you still have a blue zone

896
00:47:21,200 --> 00:47:25,560
Speaker 1: in that demographic Sardinia. You're starting to see fast food

897
00:47:25,600 --> 00:47:30,000
Speaker 1: restaurants show up. Greece. I CUTI is doing a good job,

898
00:47:30,040 --> 00:47:34,600
Speaker 1: and I'll tell you why, because the recognition they're getting

899
00:47:34,640 --> 00:47:39,000
Speaker 1: as a blue zone has created an awareness of the

900
00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:43,040
Speaker 1: incredible treasures that the older people are and younger people

901
00:47:43,560 --> 00:47:46,680
Speaker 1: in their twenties and thirties are bringing back these traditions

902
00:47:46,719 --> 00:47:50,799
Speaker 1: and they're celebrating this diet that is producing longevity. And

903
00:47:50,880 --> 00:47:53,440
Speaker 1: I have real hope for the Ikuti in blue zone.

904
00:47:54,040 --> 00:47:56,440
Speaker 2: Do you think that might be the last standing one?

905
00:47:56,640 --> 00:47:58,640
Speaker 1: I think it'll be the last of the of the

906
00:47:58,640 --> 00:48:01,719
Speaker 1: blue zone one point zero. Yeah, the Singapore is I

907
00:48:01,760 --> 00:48:04,520
Speaker 1: think there are more, and my current project is to

908
00:48:04,600 --> 00:48:08,319
Speaker 1: track down more of these areas where governments have been

909
00:48:08,360 --> 00:48:12,839
Speaker 1: successful at manufacturing blue zones, and so I think those

910
00:48:12,880 --> 00:48:15,279
Speaker 1: are going to be the most relevant lessons because hey,

911
00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:18,359
Speaker 1: let's face it, we live, you know, in twenty twenty three,

912
00:48:18,520 --> 00:48:22,239
Speaker 1: and there are modern forces that we have to contend with,

913
00:48:22,320 --> 00:48:28,759
Speaker 1: and the lifestyle that evolved beginning in fifteen hundred isn't

914
00:48:28,760 --> 00:48:31,640
Speaker 1: as useful. It provides lessons and we can use it

915
00:48:32,080 --> 00:48:36,160
Speaker 1: to I think, model new environments and new policies, but

916
00:48:37,080 --> 00:48:39,000
Speaker 1: it's not exactly an apples to apple.

917
00:48:39,320 --> 00:48:42,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, at a government level, at a decision making level,

918
00:48:43,040 --> 00:48:47,319
Speaker 2: what is making people care or not care? Because I

919
00:48:47,320 --> 00:48:49,319
Speaker 2: think that's something people always think about, right, Like, all

920
00:48:49,360 --> 00:48:51,440
Speaker 2: of this makes so much sense. If I was in charge,

921
00:48:51,480 --> 00:48:53,719
Speaker 2: I'd say, this is how we should be wanting to

922
00:48:54,200 --> 00:48:56,440
Speaker 2: help people and support people, and let's make it easier.

923
00:48:56,440 --> 00:48:59,319
Speaker 2: Because my job on a day to day basis is

924
00:48:59,360 --> 00:49:03,280
Speaker 2: so much about empowering the individual to make better choices,

925
00:49:03,440 --> 00:49:07,160
Speaker 2: to find healthier options, to build discipline, to almost deal

926
00:49:07,200 --> 00:49:10,120
Speaker 2: with the onslaugh and the gauntlet of everything. That's kind

927
00:49:10,120 --> 00:49:12,600
Speaker 2: of my day job, right, That's what I'm focused on here.

928
00:49:12,960 --> 00:49:15,560
Speaker 2: But if I was in charge at state levels, I

929
00:49:15,560 --> 00:49:17,799
Speaker 2: would want to see the changes you're making. What is

930
00:49:18,200 --> 00:49:21,040
Speaker 2: incentivizing and infusing people at that level to say, let's

931
00:49:21,040 --> 00:49:23,799
Speaker 2: build Singapore two point zero and more blue zones two

932
00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:27,160
Speaker 2: point zero versus what people going That's all right? Like

933
00:49:27,400 --> 00:49:29,160
Speaker 2: GDP is great, Like what is that?

934
00:49:29,520 --> 00:49:33,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, Singapore realized a long time ago that it's most

935
00:49:33,280 --> 00:49:37,160
Speaker 1: important resources. It's people. It's not some industry or not

936
00:49:37,280 --> 00:49:40,399
Speaker 1: some commodity, like a lot of places, and it has

937
00:49:40,440 --> 00:49:43,319
Speaker 1: gone about in a very disciplined way of looking at

938
00:49:43,320 --> 00:49:46,120
Speaker 1: each policy through the lens of does this increase the

939
00:49:46,120 --> 00:49:48,879
Speaker 1: well being of people or not? And they don't have

940
00:49:48,960 --> 00:49:52,879
Speaker 1: the voice of a lobbyist speaking loudly in their ear,

941
00:49:53,480 --> 00:49:58,160
Speaker 1: some sort of fundraising incentive to favor some you know,

942
00:49:58,480 --> 00:50:03,480
Speaker 1: some big business. I think it really starts with electing

943
00:50:03,719 --> 00:50:08,040
Speaker 1: leaders who care about who put well being first. Thomas Jefferson,

944
00:50:08,080 --> 00:50:10,719
Speaker 1: in fact, I believe, was the worst first American to

945
00:50:10,760 --> 00:50:13,640
Speaker 1: say that the charge of any leader is the health

946
00:50:13,680 --> 00:50:18,640
Speaker 1: and happiness of the people. And I think if we're

947
00:50:18,719 --> 00:50:20,600
Speaker 1: able to you know, I don't know, we can't do

948
00:50:20,680 --> 00:50:22,839
Speaker 1: much about Washington, but we can do a lot in

949
00:50:22,840 --> 00:50:25,840
Speaker 1: our own communities about the type of mayor and city

950
00:50:25,880 --> 00:50:29,360
Speaker 1: councils that we elect. A lot of the best government

951
00:50:29,440 --> 00:50:32,359
Speaker 1: in America right now is being done at the municipal level,

952
00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:34,359
Speaker 1: not the federal level. And you can get a lot

953
00:50:34,440 --> 00:50:37,879
Speaker 1: done in a hurry in a city or even at

954
00:50:37,880 --> 00:50:38,640
Speaker 1: the county level.

955
00:50:38,800 --> 00:50:41,320
Speaker 2: If someone wants to be involved or help with support

956
00:50:41,360 --> 00:50:44,319
Speaker 2: and help the community in town become more of a

957
00:50:44,320 --> 00:50:46,120
Speaker 2: blue zone, where would you suggest they stop.

958
00:50:46,600 --> 00:50:49,040
Speaker 1: Well, if you go to the blue Zones website, there

959
00:50:49,120 --> 00:50:51,520
Speaker 1: is a blue zones dot Com. There's a button about

960
00:50:51,600 --> 00:50:54,239
Speaker 1: my community and you can see how other cities have

961
00:50:54,400 --> 00:50:57,839
Speaker 1: done it, and there's lots of good ideas, but honestly, Jay,

962
00:50:57,920 --> 00:51:02,759
Speaker 1: it requires an orchestra straighted effort comprehensively. So many have

963
00:51:02,800 --> 00:51:07,480
Speaker 1: been sort of half baked ideas or they're not comprehensive enough,

964
00:51:07,520 --> 00:51:11,080
Speaker 1: and they get people really excited about it and sponsorship

965
00:51:11,080 --> 00:51:15,880
Speaker 1: as money is spent, and then not much happens. So inconveniently,

966
00:51:16,120 --> 00:51:20,720
Speaker 1: unless it's comprehensive, a four or five year effort staffed

967
00:51:20,760 --> 00:51:24,200
Speaker 1: by people know what they're doing with enough intensity, it's

968
00:51:24,239 --> 00:51:24,759
Speaker 1: probably not.

969
00:51:24,760 --> 00:51:27,560
Speaker 2: Going to work. It. Yeah, it's good to have that clarity.

970
00:51:27,600 --> 00:51:30,279
Speaker 2: I think a lot of people would want to see

971
00:51:30,280 --> 00:51:32,879
Speaker 2: this change. I can imagine, you know, wanting to back

972
00:51:32,960 --> 00:51:35,600
Speaker 2: this change, and I'm sure a lot of those people

973
00:51:35,600 --> 00:51:37,160
Speaker 2: are already doing it in their own lives, but they'd

974
00:51:37,200 --> 00:51:38,600
Speaker 2: love to see it extended out to.

975
00:51:40,160 --> 00:51:43,840
Speaker 1: I do have one one suggestion that most cities can consider.

976
00:51:44,040 --> 00:51:48,600
Speaker 1: There's something called a complete Streets policy bundle. Every street

977
00:51:48,760 --> 00:51:53,000
Speaker 1: is redone on average every seven years, and that provides

978
00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:57,000
Speaker 1: an opportunity to make that street constructed not just for cars,

979
00:51:57,040 --> 00:52:00,319
Speaker 1: as most streets and roadways in America are, but for

980
00:52:00,440 --> 00:52:02,719
Speaker 1: humans too. So in other words, they have to be

981
00:52:02,920 --> 00:52:07,600
Speaker 1: considered for narrower range, which calms trafficked, for bike lanes,

982
00:52:07,680 --> 00:52:12,799
Speaker 1: for wider sidewalks, for trees, for safe crosswalks, and if

983
00:52:12,840 --> 00:52:16,520
Speaker 1: a city council that adopts complete streets, it creates an

984
00:52:16,560 --> 00:52:20,160
Speaker 1: onus for them to make a more walkable, livable community.

985
00:52:20,280 --> 00:52:22,560
Speaker 1: And any city in America can do that. And there's

986
00:52:22,719 --> 00:52:25,880
Speaker 1: by the way, there's great example. Santa Barbara, California has

987
00:52:25,880 --> 00:52:31,520
Speaker 1: done a fantastic job. Boulder, Colorado, fantastic job Madison, Wisconsin.

988
00:52:31,600 --> 00:52:34,600
Speaker 1: These are places that are not only walkable, but they're

989
00:52:34,600 --> 00:52:38,280
Speaker 1: economically thriving and people report the highest levels of well being.

990
00:52:38,600 --> 00:52:41,719
Speaker 1: They have some of the lowest rates of obesity in America.

991
00:52:42,239 --> 00:52:46,240
Speaker 1: So that's a great place to start for most American cities.

992
00:52:46,520 --> 00:52:48,279
Speaker 2: I want to make sure everyone knows when you get

993
00:52:48,320 --> 00:52:53,520
Speaker 2: the book, you're going to hear about sleeps, naps, fausting sunlight.

994
00:52:53,600 --> 00:52:55,560
Speaker 2: I mean, there are so many other topics that I

995
00:52:55,560 --> 00:52:56,840
Speaker 2: don't want to go over here because I want you

996
00:52:56,880 --> 00:52:59,040
Speaker 2: to go and read the book and dive into the

997
00:52:59,040 --> 00:53:01,480
Speaker 2: depth of just how much research, how much store, how

998
00:53:01,560 --> 00:53:04,760
Speaker 2: much work has gone into this over the last couple

999
00:53:04,760 --> 00:53:06,520
Speaker 2: of decades. From Dan and his team. But Dan, I

1000
00:53:06,560 --> 00:53:09,320
Speaker 2: have to ask you about purpose. We're on on Purpose

1001
00:53:09,400 --> 00:53:11,880
Speaker 2: and you talk about purpose in the book. I remember

1002
00:53:11,920 --> 00:53:13,839
Speaker 2: speaking to you about it last time as being such

1003
00:53:13,880 --> 00:53:21,799
Speaker 2: a key attribute of a successful centenarian was purpose? How

1004
00:53:21,840 --> 00:53:26,080
Speaker 2: did they define or view purpose or contributing to the

1005
00:53:26,120 --> 00:53:28,880
Speaker 2: greater good? Like, what does that look like for someone

1006
00:53:29,960 --> 00:53:30,840
Speaker 2: in a blue zone?

1007
00:53:30,960 --> 00:53:32,800
Speaker 1: Well, I have a few things to say about purpose.

1008
00:53:32,880 --> 00:53:36,360
Speaker 1: So it begins in blue zones with vocabulary for purpose.

1009
00:53:36,719 --> 00:53:41,520
Speaker 1: In Costa Rica it's Plan Deevida. In Okinawa it's Ekey Guy.

1010
00:53:42,600 --> 00:53:47,520
Speaker 1: So it's imbued in their in their culture, but it's manifested.

1011
00:53:47,960 --> 00:53:53,200
Speaker 1: Purpose in blue zones is rarely an individual pursuit. It's

1012
00:53:53,200 --> 00:53:56,960
Speaker 1: like my purpose is stamp collecting or something, or butterflies.

1013
00:53:57,320 --> 00:54:01,720
Speaker 1: It always has a social component or of philanthropic giving

1014
00:54:01,760 --> 00:54:06,120
Speaker 1: back to the community, supporting the family, supporting my group

1015
00:54:06,200 --> 00:54:09,840
Speaker 1: component to it, a service component to it. And you know,

1016
00:54:09,920 --> 00:54:11,920
Speaker 1: I do a lot of thinking about it. In our

1017
00:54:11,960 --> 00:54:16,959
Speaker 1: Blue Zone work, we have this purpose workshop And you'd

1018
00:54:16,960 --> 00:54:20,960
Speaker 1: be shocked how many Americans wake up every morning tired.

1019
00:54:21,120 --> 00:54:24,839
Speaker 1: They pull the breakfast together for their kids, get them

1020
00:54:24,840 --> 00:54:27,719
Speaker 1: off to school, rush to work, wait work eight to

1021
00:54:27,840 --> 00:54:32,080
Speaker 1: nine hours muscle through traffic, back home, get dinner, back together,

1022
00:54:32,520 --> 00:54:35,120
Speaker 1: and the stress just never goes away. And only about

1023
00:54:35,280 --> 00:54:38,960
Speaker 1: thirty percent of Americans have purpose in their work. That's

1024
00:54:39,040 --> 00:54:43,480
Speaker 1: according to a Gallup poll that surveyed about two million Americans.

1025
00:54:44,440 --> 00:54:48,080
Speaker 1: I think purpose is the intersection between having clarity on

1026
00:54:48,120 --> 00:54:50,879
Speaker 1: what your values are, knowing what you love to do,

1027
00:54:51,960 --> 00:54:54,799
Speaker 1: knowing what you're good at, and then studying those three

1028
00:54:54,880 --> 00:54:57,719
Speaker 1: lists for an outlet for them. That's true purpose. I

1029
00:54:57,760 --> 00:55:01,360
Speaker 1: think that's available to all of us. But the founding

1030
00:55:01,440 --> 00:55:04,680
Speaker 1: director of the National Institutes on Aging, doctor Robert Butler,

1031
00:55:05,480 --> 00:55:08,800
Speaker 1: found that people who could articulate their sense of purpose

1032
00:55:08,880 --> 00:55:11,959
Speaker 1: over time, we're living about eight years longer than people

1033
00:55:12,080 --> 00:55:15,839
Speaker 1: are rudderless. So there's a real health benefit. But more

1034
00:55:15,840 --> 00:55:19,640
Speaker 1: so than a health benefit, it's just an enjoyable, rich

1035
00:55:19,719 --> 00:55:22,719
Speaker 1: way to live your life. And anything you can do

1036
00:55:22,840 --> 00:55:26,239
Speaker 1: to get more purpose in your life, including I might

1037
00:55:26,280 --> 00:55:28,959
Speaker 1: add listening to this podcast twice a week every week

1038
00:55:28,960 --> 00:55:31,480
Speaker 1: of your life is time well spent.

1039
00:55:32,360 --> 00:55:35,440
Speaker 2: Dan, Thank you so much. The book it's called The

1040
00:55:35,440 --> 00:55:39,280
Speaker 2: Blue Zone Secrets for Living Longer Lessons from the Healthiest

1041
00:55:39,360 --> 00:55:42,080
Speaker 2: Places on Earth, Dan, Bututnah, this is the book. Make

1042
00:55:42,080 --> 00:55:43,520
Speaker 2: sure you go grab a copy. Like I said, we

1043
00:55:43,520 --> 00:55:46,320
Speaker 2: didn't even scratch as surface. There are so many things

1044
00:55:46,600 --> 00:55:47,920
Speaker 2: I could talk to down about, but I want you

1045
00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:49,319
Speaker 2: to go grab the book. I want you to read it.

1046
00:55:49,400 --> 00:55:50,680
Speaker 2: I want you to study it. I want you to

1047
00:55:50,719 --> 00:55:55,239
Speaker 2: see these beautiful summary pages that are absolutely fantastic that

1048
00:55:55,320 --> 00:55:58,319
Speaker 2: talk about the key learnings from each of the blue

1049
00:55:58,400 --> 00:56:01,640
Speaker 2: zones that Dan been to and studied. Because it makes

1050
00:56:01,680 --> 00:56:04,319
Speaker 2: it really easy to just pick it up reflect have

1051
00:56:04,360 --> 00:56:07,360
Speaker 2: a discussion about it. I hope that, I hope that

1052
00:56:07,400 --> 00:56:08,719
Speaker 2: you're going to reach out to a group of people

1053
00:56:08,760 --> 00:56:10,360
Speaker 2: that should listen to this podcast, that are going to

1054
00:56:10,360 --> 00:56:12,239
Speaker 2: be part of that try, part of that squad, part

1055
00:56:12,239 --> 00:56:15,080
Speaker 2: of that social circle for you all, whether it's a

1056
00:56:15,080 --> 00:56:17,440
Speaker 2: book club, whether it's a pickleball team, whatever it may be.

1057
00:56:18,320 --> 00:56:21,440
Speaker 2: I really hope that that social part is not underestimated

1058
00:56:21,480 --> 00:56:23,960
Speaker 2: and undervalued. And Dana, thank you again for coming all

1059
00:56:23,960 --> 00:56:26,480
Speaker 2: the way. You just flew in an hour before this

1060
00:56:26,880 --> 00:56:30,399
Speaker 2: literally landed, came from the airport, stepped in the sea,

1061
00:56:31,280 --> 00:56:34,279
Speaker 2: gave a beautiful interview with all your energy, passion, and

1062
00:56:35,680 --> 00:56:38,319
Speaker 2: it's truly remarkable and I'm really grateful for your work.

1063
00:56:38,400 --> 00:56:39,239
Speaker 2: So thank you so much.

1064
00:56:39,640 --> 00:56:40,880
Speaker 1: An hour and a pleasure.

1065
00:56:40,960 --> 00:56:42,920
Speaker 2: Jay, Thank you, Thank You've always been a fan and

1066
00:56:42,960 --> 00:56:47,080
Speaker 2: continued we'll see you when you're one hundred. Yes, thank you.

1067
00:56:47,400 --> 00:56:50,400
Speaker 2: If you love this episode, you'll love my interview with

1068
00:56:50,680 --> 00:56:54,799
Speaker 2: Dr Gabor Matte on understanding your trauma and how to

1069
00:56:54,920 --> 00:56:58,520
Speaker 2: heal emotional wounds to start moving on from the past.

1070
00:56:58,880 --> 00:57:00,920
Speaker 2: Everything in nature goes on where it's vulnerable.

1071
00:57:00,960 --> 00:57:03,600
Speaker 1: So a tree doesn't grow where it's hard and thick,

1072
00:57:03,680 --> 00:57:04,000
Speaker 1: does it.

1073
00:57:03,880 --> 00:57:06,360
Speaker 2: It goes where it's soft and green and vulnerable.