Dan Buettner has studied five places around the world where residents are famed for their longevity: Okinawa in Japan, Nicoya in Costa Rica, Icaria in Greece, and Loma Linda in California and Sardinia in Italy.
People living in these so-called “blue zones” have certain factors in common—social support networks, daily exercise habits and a plant-based diet, for starters. But they share another unexpected commonality. In each community, people are gardening well into old age—their 80s, 90s and beyond.
It is well-known that an outdoor lifestyle with moderate physical activity is linked to longer life, and gardening is an easy way to accomplish both. “If you garden, you’re getting some low-intensity physical activity most days, and you tend to work routinely,” says Buettner. He says there is evidence that gardeners live longer and are less stressed. A variety of studies confirm this, pointing to both the physical and mental health benefits of gardening.
If gardening is good, is farming even better? Many of the lifestyle factors associated with longevity, such as living in the country and getting lots of exercise, apply to farmers as well. Some evidence suggests that farming is one of the healthiest occupations.
However, neither farming nor gardening will ultimately guarantee a longer lifespan. But some of the lifestyle factors associated with both, namely going outside, engaging in light physical activity and eating a healthy plant-based diet, just might.
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