Consistencies in healthy populations
By Justin and Clara Hamel
Our focus so far has been on the basics of health: nourishment, sleep and exercise. However, it is vital to adopt a holistic view of health for true well-being. This includes looking at all the aspects of our lives that impact physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual health. We have so much information at our fingertips that it is hard to discern best practices to grow and thrive in all aspects of our well-being. One way to find best practices is by looking at consistencies in the lives of the healthiest populations on Earth, the blue zones. The blue zones are geographic areas with significantly lower rates of chronic disease and longer life expectancies.
We have already discussed several of the pillars of health for blue zones with plant-heavy diets and daily movement, but there are several other commonalities we don’t always connect with health.
The first of these is social connection. A strong sense of social connection and community helps reduce stress, improve mental well-being, and contribute to overall longevity by fostering a feeling of belonging and purpose; essentially, strong social ties are considered a crucial element to living a long and healthy life.
Another pillar of health in blue zones is the incorporation of rituals that reduce stress, such as a daily prayer, meditation, social hour or a daily nap. These rituals can lead to significant benefits like reduced stress levels, improved mental well-being, increased energy and a greater sense of balance. By mitigating the negative impacts of chronic stress through stress-reducing rituals, we can actually decrease the risk of many chronic diseases.
Another element considered crucial to health is having a sense of purpose. People who have a sense of purpose and a reason for getting up and starting their day tend to live longer and healthier lives. In fact, a recent study by the National Institute of Health reports a sense of purpose may add seven years to your life span. The reason for this is multifaceted — a sense of purpose tends to drive connection to a community, assists with managing stress levels and provides enrichment of life.
The extensive research that has been conducted looking at consistencies across longest lived populations is invaluable when looking at the major contributors to health. Over the next few weeks we would like to dive deeper into the essential elements for health and well-being discussed above. Through this we hope to both provide greater understanding into how social connection, stress-reducing rituals, and a sense of purpose affect health. We would like to provide tools for cultivating and incorporating these elements into daily life.
Dr. Justin Hamel and Clara Hamel have a combined over 30 years of experience in health fields. Reach them at 1° Performance & Longevity, located at 900 South Main St., Suite A in Jacksonville, on Facebook or by phone at 217-243-6358.
