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Community Corner

TEDx MB Event Looks at Unlocking the Mysteries of Longevity

Can Beach Cities residents live more vital and longer lives? Experts weighed in with thought-provoking evidence Thursday night.

So you want to live to 100, and be healthy and happy, too? It’s a tall order, but in five communities scattered from Loma Linda, Calif., to Okinawa, Japan, 10 times more people hit the 100 milestone compared to the U.S.

These so-called “blue zones,” the subject of a 2004 book by Dan Buettner, are behind a new initiative to improve health among residents of the Beach Cities. Launched in December, the Healthways/Blue Zones Vitality City initiative was at the heart of a conference that drew more than 150 people to the Campus Theater at El Camino College on Thursday evening.

 Entitled “Vitality: Living Longer and Better,” the event was organized by TEDx Manhattan Beach, a local nonprofit offshoot of a worldwide organization devoted to bringing people together around ideas.

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John Marston, curator of TEDx Manhattan Beach and a Manhattan Beach resident, told Patch the idea of basing a conference around vitality and tools for longevity intrigued him partly because he’s turning 50 this year. “I’m getting older. That’s why I’m interested in enjoying every minute of my life. Exploring that subject seemed intriguing.”

Four main speakers, plus Buettner on video, weighed in on what it takes to live longer, more vital lives and promote well-being, a concept that Joel Spoonheim, director of the Healthways/Blue Zones Vitality City, explained goes beyond your state of physical health and involves your mental and social well-being.

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In the video, Buettner observed that “only 10 percent of how long the average person lives…is determined by our genes. The other 90 percent is dictated by our lifestyle.” The premise of setting up blue zones is, “if we can find the optimal lifestyle of longevity, we can find a de facto formula for longevity.”

Unfortunately, even though centenarians are the fastest growing demographic in this country and scientists believe humans ought to be able to make it to 90, life expectancy in the U.S. is only 78. In places such as Sardinia, the Nuoro province of Okinawa and Loma Linda, old people not only live to 100 more frequently than elsewhere, “but do so with extraordinary vigor,” Buettner said.

What do they share? The so-called “Power 9 principles.” Among these are moving naturally (such as walking, climbing stairs and gardening); a sense of purpose; a plant-rich diet with limited meat consumption; eating only until 80 percent full; down-shifting to reduce stress; drinking no more than one to two drinks daily, preferably with friends and food; attending faith-based services four times a month; keeping aging parents and grandparents nearby or in your home; and surrounding yourself with friends that support healthy behaviors.

Dr. Lisa Santora, chief medical officer for the Beach Cities Health District based in Redondo Beach, spoke of her frustration when she was a staff physician at a Venice clinic, and her efforts to persuade people to drop bad habits like smoking and overeating failed repeatedly.

“I finally realized I had to leave the practice of medicine and change the world the patients lived in,” a stress-filled world that was telling them “to eat more and exercise less,” she said. That led her to join the BCHD to help implement the organization’s preventive health strategies.

Spoonheim cited a 2005 article in the New England Journal of Medicine that warned that increasing obesity rates may mean that today’s youth could be the first modern generation to live less healthy and possibly shorter lives than their parents. But the focus on promoting healthy lifestyle practice—such as the Power 9 principles—could alter this future, he added. Small steps, such as recruiting seniors to walk children to school; encouraging restaurants to put healthy choices, such as fruits and vegetables, higher on the menu; and making walking and biking more accessible and fun, can work, he said.

Dan Burden has visited more than 3,000 towns and cities around the world in his capacity as an expert on making communities more accessible to walkers and bikers. Burden, who is bringing his expertise to the Vitality City’s efforts in the Beach Cities, told the audience he started his journey after reading John Steinbeck’s Travels With Charley. His vision is that “every village is a neighborhood,” shopping centers can be converted to villages and “main streets will come back to life.” This is all based on integrating pedestrians and bicyclists into the mix to bring people closer both physically and emotionally. It has the added benefit of increasing home values, too, Burden said.

Haley Rushing, a self-described “chief purposologist” for The Purpose Institute in Austin, Texas, used her experience working with such companies as Southwest Airlines and Procter & Gamble to stress the need for companies to have a sense of purpose in order to inspire their workers’ loyalty and increase their well-being on the job. Southwest Airlines did this when it made “freedom” the core of its message, and P&G did it with a diaper ad focusing on a baby’s brain development rather than absorbency.

Carrie Krutzner, a Manhattan Beach resident, attended the conference with boy friend Jorge Pastrana. A health strategies and wellness director for UnitedHeathcare, she found the presentations “passionate and engaging,” but was particularly taken with Rushing’s talk on the importance of having a sense of purpose. “That’s something I think I’ll focus on more, not just for myself, but for the people I work with. This is another area that could be tapped into to change people’s lives.”

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