Habits and Hustle - Episode 146: Dan Buettner – NYT Bestselling Author, Nat Geographic Fellow & Founder of Blue Zones

Episode Date: December 14, 2021

Dan Buettner is a NYTimes Bestselling Author, National Geographic Fellow, and Founder of the Blue Zones. In a pursuit to understand what real longevity is and how different cultures and areas of the world have accessed that in ways most people haven’t even come close to, Dan has spent decades tracking claims and debunking/verifying true longevity. From places where people commonly live to 100, to places where out of 3 million people only 8 have dementia, to people who don’t even have a word for retirement, but instead, a lifelong commitment to enriching their communities and youth. This isn’t going to be the “life-hacking” conversation you’re used to when it comes to a healthier longer life. Dan has real substantive data from real, National Geographic-backed expeditions he and his crews have gone on. It is what you eat. It is how you eat it. It is managing your stress, spending time with loved ones, and contributing to society. It might not be what you want to hear. It might not be the easy road you were looking for, but Dan is a wealth of knowledge in what it really takes to live a longer, healthier, and more fulfilling life. Are you going to miss it? Youtube Link to This Episode Dan’s Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/danbuettner/ Dan’s Website – https://www.bluezones.com/ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Did you learn something from tuning in today? Please pay it forward and write us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. 📧If you have feedback for the show, please email [e-mail] 📙Get yourself a copy of Jennifer Cohen’s newest book from Habit Nest, Badass Body Goals Journal. ℹ️Habits & Hustle Website 📚Habit Nest Website 📱Follow Jennifer – Instagram – Facebook – Twitter – Jennifer’s Website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blazing deals, boundless options. It's Hot Grill Summer at Whole Foods Market from June 14 through July 4. Fire up the grill with quality cuts at the best prices. We're talking animal welfare certified meat. Check out the sales on Bone-In-Rib-I, Beef Cabobs, and New York Strip Steak. Round out your barbecue with plant-based proteins, slice cheese, soft buns, and all the condiments. Plus, sales on fresh strawberries, peaches, and more. Don't forget to pie, either.

Get grilling at Whole Foods Market Terms Apply. When there's a penalty on the field, referees are there to sort it out. When there's an accident on the road, that's where USAA steps in. We help make the claims process easy, so drivers can get back on the road fast. Making the right calls. That's what we're made for. Membership eligibility and product restrictions apply in our subject to change. USAA means United Services Automobile Association and its affiliates.

San Antonio, Texas. Hi guys, this Tony Robbins, you're listening to Habits in Hustle. Fresh It. Today on Habitson Hustle, we have Dan Butner. Dan is an explorer, national geographic fellow, an award-winning journalist, and of course, a multi-multinear times best-selling author. He discovered the five places in the world dubbed BlueZones Hot Spots, where people live the longest, healthiest lives.

Dad now works in partnerships with municipal governments, large employers, and health insurance companies to implement BlueZone Project in communities, workplace, and universities around the world. His books, the BlueZones lessons for living longer from the people who lived the longest, his cookbooks, and of course his newest book, which is the blue zone challenge, have all been number one on the New York Times. He has appeared on the today show Oprah, NBC

Nightly News, Good Morning America, and has key noted speeches for Ted, Bill Clinton's Health Matters Initiatives, Google, and on and on and on. In fact, his speech for the Davos, for the economic forum in Davos was chosen as one of the best of Davos. Butane are also hold a three-time Guinness World Book record for distance cycling. I am so excited to be sharing this interview with you guys.

Dan is not only super interesting, but his information on longevity is really, really impactful and was best. You don't need any quick fixes to actually implement these very practical solutions. Enjoy. Thank you so much for being so patient. Today we have Dan butiner. I said it correctly, yeah. You got it. Thank you. On the podcast.

And for those of you who don't know who he is, he wrote and his whole brand and identity. I feel like now is all about the blue zones. It's all about longevity. So if you're interested in living until a hundred or more, then this is the podcast you need to listen to. And Dan, thank you so much for being on. He is amazing. He is an explorer. He is a Guinness World Book Record holder for writing, for cycling I think it is yeah and he has an extraordinary background and he's amazing so thank you for being off. What pleasure. And he's also very patient because you know we had some technical snapples. So I guess I'd like to start this podcast by really starting from

the beginning which is can you just tell everybody what the blue zones is? Yeah, it's about 20 years ago we had the idea of trying to reverse engineer longevity. So instead of trying to look for the secret to living longer in a peepery dish or test tube, I teamed up with National Geographic and we got funding from the National Institutes on Aging to hire demographers. These are population experts to go through 190 countries, population data, to find areas where people are living statistically longest. So these are places where people either have the highest life expectancy, the lowest rate of middle age mortality, which that means they have the best chance of hitting 95 or the

highest concentration of centenarians, hundred-year-olds, and we found five of them. Because these are places that have achieved the outcomes we want, they lived a long time without chronic disease, and they have an average set of genes. They're not any better than you or me or anybody listening right now. They're part of a melting pot of people. We know they're doing something, or we know there's something about their environment that is producing extraordinary longevity. And that means these people are living about 10 years longer than the rest of us.

And that's the potential that we're missing quite frankly in this country. Right, so let's go with, to just name what those are. And then I want to break down what they're doing, their habits, what, and then go into what we're doing wrong and how we can fix it. Yeah, so the five blue zones are, longest of women, Okinawa, Japan, longest

of men in the highlands of Sardinia, our friend, Darren Oli and Ben there. Nikoya Peninsula coast to Rikki, we have a population that has about a threefold better chance of reaching a healthy age 95, and they achieve that spending about one-fifteenth a month we do on healthcare. In Iowa and in the GNC called Icadia, where people are living eight years longer, but they're not getting suffering from dementia. And then in the United States,

it's among the seventh day Adventists and in and around Lomolini, California. That's so interesting. So, is there a like a through line just from those five blue zones that everyone's doing? Or because I watched your TED Talk, I watched all your interviews in your books, and you know, there's different habits and different, I guess, different like tweaks that each place is doing, which we'll get into, but is there any through lines that all of these places are all doing? Yes. Okay. They're all eating mostly a whole food plant-based diet. So the four pillars of very longevity diet in the world are whole grains, flies right in the face of all this paranoia around grains. They're eating wheat, rice and corn, but whole grain, not the stripped down simple stuff. Greens, as many as 60 or 70 different types of greens, including

you know, fennel tops and dandelions, nuts, and then the cornerstone of every longevity died in the world, beans. So that's mostly, they do eat meat a few of them five times a month, but they have vocabulary for purpose They have sacred daily rituals to help reduce the stress of everyday living in the inflammation They have strategies to keep them over eating the way they set up their homes. I love that part I want to talk about that. That's amazing They tend to belong to a faith Almost all of them are belong and show up.

They put their family first above their career and they all have really great close social circles. There's actually vocabulary for that too, and Okinawa they call it a moai or a group of friends with whom they travel through life. And these friends can have the right behaviors and support the right living for decades. What I find also so interesting and why I really wanted to talk to you beyond obviously the obvious reasons was that all these misconceptions of, you know, I feel like me coming from the wellness background helps and fitness like we spoke about, there's, I feel like me coming from the wellness background, health and fitness,

like we spoke about, there's, it's a bigger, it's a bigger market than ever before. Every single day, there's a new wellness thing, a smart tech thing, a product, a supplement, and we're literally getting sicker and sicker, you know, every year. It's not, we're not getting healthier. And I do want to talk about that because what I don't understand is like Loma Linda, which is in California, they're obviously, they're doing it something correctly. But with all of this information and like all this happening, how is it that the businesses here are just getting, and it's also like, people are doing more and more things

and they're getting sicker and more obese. Why do you think that is? I think number one, it's our food environment. Back in 1980, only about 15% of Americans were suffering from obesity. And now we're up to 45%. And that's not because people have lost self-control or they don't have discipline or they were better diets back in 1980.

We do know that there are about 20 times more fast food restaurants and over 55% of all retail outlets from the place you get your tires changed to where you buy your diabetes medicine force you to route through a gauntlet of salty snacks and package sweets and sugar sweeten beverages. And we're genetically hardwired to crave those foods. And traditionally, it was hard to get those foods. And now all of a sudden, you can't escape them. So our genes take over.

Also, about 70% of all packaged foods contain high fruit toasts, which we know is in sugar. There's all these highly processed foods that are very calorically dense but nutritionally bankrupt. So we eat this food, we don't feel satiated and we want more food. So we end up craving food even though we've eaten too many calories. So those two things combine. And quite frankly, I think this whole superfood industry is misleading people too. Yeah. Well, that's something I don't think it's just the package goods, like I think by now, even if they're eating french fries or fast food and package goods,

I mean I think people intellectually know it's not great, but I'm actually talking more about that other area, right? Like in my world, because every day there's a new healthy snack that has none of those ingredients that you mentioned, right? Like in my world, because every day there's a new healthy snack that has none of those ingredients that you mentioned, right? Organic, non-GMO, we were laughing earlier about something else, right? And then how all these people use all the, they're all those tag lines are indicated on these package goods, okay? And but yet people, it doesn't, it's not changing how people's health is, that's number one, that the food it doesn't, it's not changing how people's health is.

That's number one, the food. Number two, it's not just a food. Like I said, the smart tech about tracking your sleeps and the cryo therapies and the vitamin drips and everything else. Like with all of that stuff, it's not, there, there's not, there hasn't been an uptick in us living longer necessarily or us being healthier, in fact, you write, like that's what I don't, I mean, people have done a really good job at like marketing, right? But that doesn't, like in your experience, I guess my question is, do you have any statistics or research based on those things like within the wellness health space of what because longevity as itself is a humongous industry. Forget about everything else. Do you have any statistics or anything you can share that like does not count, it's counterintuitive say if you do red light and

you do you know it the sauna and you organic. There's like a 1% chance you'll be living longer. Do you have anything like that where it doesn't make a difference at all? Do you have anything about that, that kind of niche market? I can tell you for sure there's no pill, there's no supplement, there's no hormone, therapy, there's no superfood that will reverse stop or even slow aging. It's all marketing and it's all basically bullshit. When you think of it, these people, these purveyors, they're goals to make money. Not a normal nonprofit organizations, scientifically, rigorous that are really

trying to help you live longer. They're trying to package and market and sell you something that will help you. Well, they're trying to give you the, make you believe that these products are going to help you live longer, be healthier. And there's two big problems with them. First of all, most of them contain sugar and most of them aren't all that healthy to begin with or any healthier than the whole food plant-based version of what you should be eating. And secondly, the way we're hardwired, we simply don't stick to things for a long time. If you look at the recidivism curves for diets or for exercise programs or even taking

supplements, we're good for about six months. We can keep our focus or our discipline or our presence of mind for about six months and then we always fall off. And when it comes to longevity, unless you're doing something for decades or lifetime, forget about it, it's not going to help you. There's nothing you can do this week, this month or for the next six months Nothing you can eat or pill you can take Nothing you can do short of not dying That's going to help you live

A year longer and 50 years So does that mean like me doing the infrared sauna is not going to extend my life expectancy Necessarily or me because you know like again like me doing the infrared sauna is not gonna extend my life expectancy necessarily. Or me, because, you know, like, again, and I'm a victim of, believe me, I'm not saying I'm there, I'm part of this too, right? Like I believe not so much the food stuff, but like, oh, if I do the sauna and I do,

you know, if I exercise this amount every day and I do this, you know, cookie regimen that that would extend my life expected or help me with aging or like anti-aging I should say and you're saying that all of this stuff is like a bunch of nonsense and this is not at all related to longevity or anti-aging and it's all just marketing and branding. Yes, it's all marketing branding. I would say some of those things may have a short-term positive effect on your health or make you look better or feel better or maybe

help you build your muscles in the short run but it's not going to help you live longer in the long run. Because you said something in your book that I like my ears kind of perked up. And then I'll talk to you about what all these other places are doing, but you talk about like human growth for bones and hormones, right? Why my ears perked up wasn't because I'm doing it,

but it's because I know a lot of people are doing that to stay out to reverse aging, right? And I want you to talk about that because I think that what people actually think can be reversing aging and helping them is actually very detrimental. Not only is it not doing anything, it's actually detrimental. Yeah, I mean, it was a fashionable a few years ago for aging men to take testosterone. People are still doing it more than ever. Well, there's a clinical proof that shows that your life expectancy drops. ago for aging men to take testosterone. People are still doing it more than ever.

Well, there's a clinical proof that shows in your life expectancy drops. It's a little bit like putting a Maserati engine in a Model T. Even though that Model T will go faster, the wheels are hormones decrease conventionally for a reason. And just by amping our bodies up with more hormones, when your bones are more brittle and your skin isn't as resilient, and you have fewer muscles and your arteries are often hearted. You sent yourself up for a catastrophic failure." Yeah, I mean, that's interesting to me. So, that's a great analogy, actually. Blazing deals, boundless options.

It's Hot Grill Summer at Whole Foods Market from June 14 through July 4. Fire up the grill with quality cuts at the best prices. We're talking animal welfare certified meat. Check out the sales on Bone In, Rib Eye,-I beef kebabs and New York strip steak. Round out your barbecue with plant-based proteins, sliced cheese, soft buns, and all the condiments. Plus, sales on fresh strawberries, peaches, and more. Don't forget to pie, either. Get grilling at Whole Foods Market Terms Apply

This episode is brought to you by FX's The Bear. The hit series returns with Jeremy Allen White in the Golden Globe-winning role of Karmie. He and the team will transform their family sandwich shop into a next-level spot, all while being forced to come together in new ways as they confront their past and reckon with who they want to be in the future. FX is The Bear, all episodes episodes now streaming only on Hulu. So, because there's so many of these things saying, oh, a few years ago, I guess, because I feel like I'm so in it, like almost everybody I know and they reach a certain age, they

do like hormone replacement, even women, right? Like they're doing hormone, so what happens with women with hormone replacements? And not to mention just like the vanity stuff of men taking testosterone to have even more muscle mass, but what about for other health reasons? Is it not, is it actually detrimental? Well, I think if your doctor's telling you to take hormone for health reasons,

that's beyond my pain. But to your point, not saying because you're a doctor, but what I, what I think is interesting is that, you know, there, there's, I don't know if it's detrimental to their health necessarily, but I think it's, what I found interesting is just so they can age better, basically. I'm not saying they're going to die from it. So I think that there's, I think the conversation is very interesting to me in that way. Like, I don't, that's why I find that,

when you said that in the book, my ears were kind of like, you know, I'm surprised about that. I can tell you the longest of people, statistically speaking, conferred, long, none of them are doing this hormone therapy. Oh, that's what I'm saying. Of course not.

So let's get into it. So let's go and, because I know that some of them have like each place has a couple that they do different things. So can we talk about the habits then of each place and what we can believe from it? Well, the important thing to remember is these people don't have better discipline.

They're not different than you or I. Remember, these people don't have better discipline. They're not different than you or I. They're living a longer time because they live in environments where the healthy choice is the unconscious choice. The cheapest and most accessible foods are peasant foods. There are time-honored recipes that have evolved for four or 500 years that taste delicious and are easily made and people love them. So that's what they eat. Every time they go to work or a friend's house or out to eat an occasion to walk,

you just tell me a minute ago walking is the best exercise ever and I concur with it actually. It's something you can do into your 90s and it keeps your brain sharp and it's easy on your joints etc. They have gardens out back. They don't have mechanized conveniences to do their yard work and their housework and their kitchen work. So every 20 minutes they're nudged into physical activity, which not only burns more calories than the folly of thinking we're going to sit at our desk for eight hours than go to the gym, which most of the time we don't go to the gym in the first place, but all those calories add up to bigger, caloric burns throughout the day than thinking we could go to the

gym and burn it off. But also they keep their metabolism higher for the whole day. Right, so the option to implode into their rooms and disappear into their handheld devices doesn't exist because they are expected to participate in the social life and the family life and show up to parties and show up to religious ceremonies. And so there's a lot less, you know, I'm sure, you know, our way of life will corrupt them eventually. But right now, they're not addicted to to to hand down devices the way so many Americans are. They have vocabulary for purpose. We know that people who can articulate their sense of purpose live about eight years longer than people who are runnerless in life. And so many Americans,

you know, we're getting pulled in all these directions, family split up, we move, it's very hard to maintain a center. And no clearly, what's my position in this world. How do I matter? Where can I put my gifts to work? In blue zones it comes with mother's milk. It's it's a the vocabulary, eki guy or plundi Vida. We'll talk about that. I want what is the vocabulary? I want to know exactly. So we can implement it. What did they say? What did they do? Well, Eki Guy is probably the most famous.

The Okinawans, it roughly means the reason for which I wake up in the morning. Okinawans, long as live humans in the history of the Earth, they have no word for retirement. This artificial punctuation between their productive life and their life or repose. Instead, Eki Guy imbues their entire adult life. This artificial punctuation between their productive life and their life or repose instead Eki guy abuse their entire adult life so you can ask a hundred year old what their eki guy is and they might be

Practicing a martial art passing it down or teaching the younger generations how to weave baskets But you know, there's a the thing of the difference between eki guy and Plunda Vena and the vocabulary used in Blue Zones is it's not just purpose of, I'm going to follow my own passions. There's always a service element to a responsibility, so it's really purpose plus responsibility, because if you're not putting your purpose to work in a productive way, it's not really all that powerful. So like in start, which place was it that they really kind of revered the elders? Where was that?

All of them? But there's one place specifically that I thought it was at start. Yeah, I know I highlighted in the Sardinia. Oh, the Sardinia, what? Right. Yeah. Yeah, older people, unlike America, where we're obsessed with youth, I mean, you're just talking about hormone therapy, trying to maintain or regain youth. It's not something they do in blue zones because you don't get any credit.

You get credit for making it to a 90 or 100 years old and continuing to contribute. So I joke, it's true. You go into these mont villages and sardinia, these old men sitting around having a glass of wine and the poster on the wall is not the, it's not the, yeah, yeah, not the sports illustrated supermodel calendar. It's the centenary of the month calendar. So. That's so funny.

I see an important attitude, because older people, the definition of wisdom is knowledge plus experience. So you can be really smart in 30 years old, but you don't have the experience. And these 90 hundred year olds by virtual of their age don't have the experience. And these 90 hundred-year-olds by virtue of their age, they have this experience. And it's hardest in blueshills. It's hardest, the culinary wisdom is still,

the hundreds-year-old food tradition is still alive. When to plant, when to harvest, what happens if there's a drought, what happens if there are past older people, the grandmothers are still helping raise children, so the children are more likely to survive. So there's this beautiful virtuous circle that is involved over centuries that is honored instead of cast away for the newest gadget or the newest superfood or the newest supplement or whatever we lurch for in the quest for trying to retain empty beauty or youth. Exactly, that was my point really,

is that we're all chasing youth, but in a very vain way, right? Like we wanna, it's, we come down to like our aesthetics, right? But it's not actually, it's kind of contrary to really anti-aging, really. Because anti-aging gracefully, I should say, right? But what you just, I also find very interesting is that like, it feels like the more self-absorbed you are, again, in the very art culture in America here. It's actually a deterrent for longevity, right?

We're also conditioned to follow your dreams, do what you want, you know, be who you are. But that's not necessarily what overall longevity is really good for you. It seems to me that all these places, what have in common is like for the common good of the community helping You know having a lot of friends socializing like being around people that are Kind of like minded and help Kind of just overall assist you with life. That's right You know, like we I think you said also like we have less friends now than we've ever had, right? Like, we have, how many friends we used to have, how many friends?

Well, in the 80's, the average American had three friends. They could, what, real friends, not, not, not Instagram friends, but, uh, friends, the friends you can count on on a bad day, we're now down to about 1.8. So as we, is that because of social media now down to about 1.8. So as we... Is that because of social media though? I think so. Yeah. I'm sorry.

It could be because the polarization of our political environment too. I don't really know what the point is. We should be conscious. If we want to really live longer and also enjoy those years, there's a very queer lesson from people who've done it. And that is take the time, invest in quality friends.

Know your sense of purpose. Slow down and cook your own food at home and make sure it's whole food plant-based. If you belong to a religion, honor that onto your family. These things, and I work for National Geographic and the fact checkers occupy the corner offices. So everything I've distilled from these blue zones is academically underpinned. It's not just empty observation. These are things we know contribute to real longevity.

No, exactly. And people don't hear much about it, because there's nothing I can package in market. As hear much about it because, you know, there's nothing I can package and market. It's not sexy. And there's no magic pill that you can make a billion dollars off of. That's right. Right. But it works. Exactly. Exactly. You know, I was telling you earlier when I my first, my book, my first book and my first company was called No Jim Required, right? And it was very common sense, right? Like it was like,

you know, you don't need any equipment, you can just use your own body weight. And it wasn't like, it was no, I wasn't really selling a magic pill, and it wasn't like sexy enough for people to get excited for, right? Because it's like people are psychologically, I feel, are wired to like look for that, wired for that magic pill now, right? Because they don't want to just accept the the easiest or the the basics of what things are and everything. I just find that I just find like the human like a human mind to be very interesting that way. So like you're saying basically then, you know, one other thing you're said, I want to get into the other thing, the

strategies of eating less. So I think that's a big one that people do psychologically cannot stop. Can you talk about that first? And then I was going to ask you another question, what they do and is it in what place was it the strategies for the rest? Yeah, so the book that came out this week, the Blue Zones Challenge. The whole idea is rather than trying to make you remember what to eat, if you set up your life the right way, especially your kitchen, you can eat and your social life, I would say secondarily, eating the right way becomes natural. So eating the right way is more a function of your environment than it is your discipline or your quote-unquote habits. And I can offer you this. The Cornell Food Lab tracked individuals and found that we make about 220 food decisions a

day. Am I going to salt my food, my ketchup on it, and my gonna have water, or my juice, or my drink coffee, and I can put cream on my coffee. Am I going to eat a full plate or quit half? It goes on and on. Only about 10% of your decisions are conscious. So if I manage to engineer those conscious decisions of yours, I only get 90, fewer than 10% of the whole problem. If I can engineer your unconscious decision so that you're mindlessly eating in a certain way, I have a much bigger opportunity to impact your health and longevity.

So there's good research on things you can do. Eating off a smaller plate so we know occasions, consuming fewer calories because you're taking the toaster off the counter, establishing a junk food drawer where the chips and packed sweets know what we're going to probably bring them into our home, but we need a lot less if we have to stoop form or reach high for them, having a big fruit bowl in the middle of your table, getting rid of the TV in your kitchen. These are all our evidence-based ways to reduce

your caloric consumption and also get rid of the shitty calories. So you have room for the better calories. But wasn't there something else about how they have a prayer so they can only eat 80% of the... So they're stopping with their 80% full. Like I thought that right, like routine. Yeah, so you're thinking of the Okinawan at it's Hata Hachi Boo, which is what you said, yeah. Which is in tone like a prayer. I think the sort of other religious traditions that say grace before meal,

achieve kind of the same things. Really? I don't. If I say a prayer before I eat, I wouldn't just naturally stop eating at 80%. Unless I'm consciously doing it for that reason. Yeah, I think at a certain point, they're not, they're just saying it. But the point being is you're slowing down.

You're putting some punctuation between your busy life. OK, I have food of grapefruit for it. Take a breath, nominee. And I think it favors an insardinia and a catellae and Costa Rica, they're saying a religious prayer usually. But there's some, they don't just motor into their meal, or they're not eating with one hand of the steering wheel.

They're doing it intentionally and it takes about 20 minutes for the full feeling in your belly to reach your brain. Right. So if you're eating slower either because there's some intentionality or some gratefulness, there's a better chance that you're going to get that signal that, oh, full. True, but I feel like even in a, in a, where we live, right? Like we hear that. We hear like, eat with intention.

Don't even find the television, have gratitude. But that's not slowing down the people's, the obesity rates and what people are actually doing. It becomes like you said, it becomes like autopilot and you're not really paying attention. So I'm interested in, well, I'm not sure, I don't know if you had to have the answer, but that doesn't seem to be the fact or the case in the blue zones, right? Like they say the prayer because they don't want to be eating, they're much more,

their intention is for the 80% to stop and they're 80% full, but it works. And so I guess it's because you're doing so many different things in tandem, like what you're eating, the community around. You're not focused on the food as much maybe as you would. Yeah, so the traditional Okinawan diet until about 1980 was mostly sweet potatoes. And even purple sweet potatoes, eight times more tofu. They were about 98% vegan diet until, until probably 1980. So, you know, you can, if you're eating a whole food plant-based diet, you can, you can eat as much as you want.

More from our guests, but first a few words from our sponsor. Mornings are coming on strong with Darken Bold from Community Coffee. I feel like Bustaloo's come on. Get on up. Get on up. Bustaloo's when you want to say. Bustaloo baby do your thing. Talk about Ble loose. Dark and bold from Community Coffee.

Look for it at your local grocery or communitycoffee.com. So there's no messing around when it comes to my hair. And there is no one size fits all. I have curly, long, thick hair. I can be using the same product as someone with very thin fine hair, right? And that's why I am so happy that I found pros because they have a personalized customized product routine that I just like live by. I can honestly say I've never been more in love with my hair.

They make custom hair care that's super effective because it's really personal to what your hair actually needs. They use all natural ingredients with proven results. When I tell you they customize a program, they customize the program. You have to take a quiz and they ask you questions that you would never even think of. How often you exercise. What your day is like, I mean, they are not leaving anything out. So, even what you eat is one of the questions. I mean, it was amazing, but I gotta tell you, it really works.

My hair gets super frizzy if I'm not careful and since I've been using pros, I think it's the custom, it's a curl cream that is just the balm. So I'm telling you guys, you have to take this quiz. Pros is this healthy hair regime, and it has your name all over it. Take your free in-depth hair consultation

and get 15% off your first order today. Go to pros.com slash hustle. That's pros.com slash hustle for your free in-depth hair consultation and get 15% off. I'm telling you, you won't be disappointed. And now to our next sponsor. Entrepreneurs are always on the lookout for effective new techniques and ideas

to level up their capabilities. But sometimes, as optimized as we want our personal and professional lives to be, it's our tech that holds us back. In this age of remote work that has never been more true. Introducing Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 3.5G, a powerful foldable device that is opening up a new world of mobile productivity,

giving you greater flexibility to get business done. The Galaxy Z Fold is not just a phone, open it out and it becomes a tablet with an edge-to-edge 7.6 inch screen. Connect it wirelessly to a smart monitor or a TV and it delivers a PC-like computer experience. You can even flex the Galaxy Z Fold 3 so it stands upright on its own while you video conference hands free. In tablet mode, you can use multi-active window to work across three apps simultaneously. An optimized life deserves an optimized mobile device. With Galaxy Z Fold 3, entrepreneurs get a

three-in-one powerhouse designed to make multitasking, easy, and seamless at work, at home, and everywhere in between. Learn more at Samsung.com slash Galaxy Z for work. That Samsung.com slash galaxy Z for work. Well, you still can gain weight though. I don't think so on a whole food plant based diet. What? I mean, I think you can because it's love. Well, take a Okinawan's, they're typical Niosus Goya,

Cham Puru, which is made with tofu and dicon and bitter melon and a number of other vegetables and it's stir fried lightly with a little bit of oil. And the meal comes in front of you and it looks like a compost pile. It probably has five times the volume of a hamburger and fewer calories than it is. So you could eat until you can feel stuff. Right, you don't have that many calories, but it's nutritionally dead. I don't think you can get fat on a whole food plant based diet. Well, I can, because I tell you what you need.

Okay, because I have a ravenous appetite, and so for me, protein is what fills me up, right? So I've tried being a weak I've tried not because I've tried to have to the vegan diet I've tried to have a plant-based diet but I just don't feel like staciated I feel like I'm like craving protein so I'll end up eating like 10 times the amount of a carbohydrate which then of course is not good for me anyway, but you're not much of it, right? Well, it's almost actually, the whole protein thing so irritates me because of all your

questions. Well, if you look at the CDC, the average American consumes about twice as much protein as they need, and protein after you get enough is actually bad for your organs. Right. It is. So, it's number one. Number two, if you're eating two thirds of a cup of lentils, you're getting more protein than you are from two eggs.

And the problem is, I don't, I would argue that you didn't get satiated because someone didn't teach you the right way to cook whole food by base. 100% true. But that's 100% true. I think most people don't know. So if you take, I mean, I wrote a blue zone kitchen, which was, I gathered all the recipes from the longest of people. I got to get that.

Can you send me one? Yeah, we'll get you one. It was number one New York, best times best serve, number one Wall Street Journal, and number one Amazon. It just killed it. Not because, I mean, there are nice pictures in that, but because these were authentic recipes from people who've achieved the outcomes we wanted.

And I challenge you to show me somebody who eats a whole food plant based guy, not packaged super food crap, whole food who is overweight. Okay, give me a day in the life. What do you tell me what you eat? You wake up at what time? Because look at you, you're very lean, you're 120, but you look like you're like 30. And what do you do?

What's the day in the life of you? What if you kind of like the lean from all of this that you now kind of integrate into your life? Yeah, first of all, I sleep until I'm done sleeping because that's super important. Long of some people sleep between eight and a half hours a day. Number two, I start slow. So I like to read in the morning and stretch. And then I might go take a walk or I have coffee. Coffee's one of the indulgences that you can enjoy without worried about.

Number one source of antioxidants, the American diet. I usually had a savory breakfast. I have a recipe for a minestrone, a sardinian minestrone. But you were saying that earlier, what is that? What is that? So it's three beans, it's carrots, celery, onions, garlic, red pepper, olive oil, potatoes, tomato, but it's slow, I can use an Instapot. It's, I wrote up an article recently for National Geographic on the

diets of longevity and talked to, I think, all the best dietary experts in the world. And I can tell you beyond a shadow without one of the biggest things Americans overlook is fiber. Fiber is way more important than protein. And the standard American diet, chips, burgers, pork chops, pizza, almost no fiber in that. You have about a hundred trillion bacteria in your gut. Mm-hmm. Ways about eight pounds, biggest organ in your body.

You feed it the right thing and produces something called short chain fatty acids, which keep your immune system, finally tuned, keep your inflammation checked finally tuned keep your inflammation check governs your mood the only thing those healthy bacteria eat is fiber so if you're in a standard American diet you're starving those bacteria and they go to work at your intestinal lining all up and getGut disease. It's a mess. You eat this minestrone for breakfast. You get about 25 strains of fiber. By the way, you have about 1,000 strains of bacteria

in your gut. Many of them like different types of fiber. So having this rainbow fiber, it's about the best thing you can eat. Plus it's chock full of micronutrients and complex carbohydrates. And by the way, when you mix the barley and the beans together, you get a whole protein. So there's more protein in my minestrone than there is in a quarter pound of steak.

And it's a lot healthier without the hormones. And I'm completely satiated from that. And then you're right. You're right. You're going to combine the beans with the grain, that makes a full protein. That's my favorite. Greens have full protein. It's the whole meat and egg industry has hijacked protein.

It's just another micronutrient they use to market to get you to buy their product. If you're eating a whole food plant, you're going to get all the protein you need. But it's just the trick is how to cook it to make it taste good. So I've been maniacally focused on that for the past couple of years. So that names some other things that you think is very... You said the... So that's in the book the by the way, that's in the blues kitchen. You can name something else that you rest is very, you said the, so that's in the book the by the way that's in the

blues kitchen. The can name something else that you, you're the rest of your day. So you have that progress this later on during the day. So you're not at, do you, do you intermittent fast or you don't intermittent fast? Would you believe in that? I know, I believe in that. I think it's a good idea to get all your calories in eight or twelve hours, something like that. and get all your calories in eight or 12 hours, something like that, leave your digestive system,

because if you're not, if you're eating for 16 hours a day, you're probably snacking and crap. So, once you get used to five or six o'clock, that's your last meal, once you get used to it, you don't get hungry anymore. Well, then so, okay, so you have to stew, what else do you eat, what you get used to it, you don't get hungry anymore. Well, then so, okay, so then go on. So you have to suit, what else do you eat, what else do you do? So then you go for your walk, how's the gym?

What do you think of the gym? I think if you enjoy going to the gym, you should go to the gym. I think the trick though, especially once you get beyond your single years and you're trying to buff up and get laid the the The yeah if you want to if you want to condition yourself for the long run You should be doing low intensity physical activity Every day and the trick to that is doing something you enjoy So what what is that usually for people walking with a friend because you get to talk you don't even feel pain

Pick a ball walking with a friend because you get to talk, you don't even feel the pain. Pickleball, the sport that has the highest life expectancy is actually tennis. Believe it or not, golf, people golf have a pretty high life expectancy. That's right. And you enjoy it. And people get obsessed with cross-fed or high yoga or whatever the current fat is and they do it or brain marathons and they do it for a year. And then they're sick of it. They don't look forward to it anymore. Or they over did it and they wrecked their joints. And then it's a spiral down. So doing gentle, regular physical activity, I think, is I know

is the key. I know it's the works with the wellness of people in the world. OK, let's go into, OK, so let's just go into some other things that we've got, like other things that they've done. So we know socializing is super high on the list, community building, mostly a whole plant-based diet. The other thing was the religion part that I found interesting because in one of the places

You're saying and this might have been from in the tetah. I don't know the book. I don't merge you together About taking 24 hours a day, right and like weeks or a week and Doing the shabbos or that's what I say, but Sabbath for those who are not Jewish. And they also, that was a really, really big habit that was very, that showed to be really helpful in increasing longevity in life. So my question is, so that's the way I heard you say it,

is sounded like it was like what we call the Jews, like Shabbat, right, 24 hours of no phones, no nothing. You just kind of like like bed like you don't watch no electronics. You just kind of like communicate talking to people in person. And why I'm asking you this is why was it Israel or other a blue zone? Well The where was that by the way that you wrote the seventh day Adventist and by the way I think it's a great practice for people to have that 24 hour Sabbath or Shabbat For several reasons one you tend to slow down and de-stress

It's trying to focus on your higher power, you tend to focus on your family, your social connections. It's a beauty, and the most important thing is people who observe these do it forever, they do it for the whole life. It's not one of these fat things. It's a good day. Right, it's a good day. It's a good day. Our Saturdays, so the big, the big element that all these other gimmicks to get you healthier live longer. None of them think about how you keep people doing it for long enough. And Sabbath and Shabbat work.

Right. Because you do it all the time. Exactly. It was a social component that makes you do it. Why isn't Israel living a long time? Why wasn't that a blue zone? I was wondering when I read that and I'm like, oh, it's interesting because it could be because there's higher infectious disease there. It could be because it's an amalgam of traditions and maybe not a unified, there may be a higher mortality rate from violent crime. I don't really know why for sure, but they don't need a whole food plant-based diet. There tends to be a lot of meat and schmaltz

and all these other... That's true, the diet's not there. For sure, you're right. And that's... That's very... That can very well... You're right. It's basically not one habit by itself. It's doing everything together. It's a cluster of mutually supporting. Yeah. So it's people are eating mostly a whole food plant-based diet. They're moving every 20 minutes.

Their life is underppin by purpose and that's what helps them keep doing these things. They have a social circle that are reinforced and they live in a place where the healthy choice is the easy choice. So these five factors sort of support each other to keep people doing the right thing and avoiding the wrong thing for long enough so they're not developing diabetes, heart disease, certain types of cancer, dementia, most of which are avoidable and those are the things that are shaving the dozen years off our life expectancy. And then all these places and these blue zones, are they even getting these diseases or they're getting them at a very low rate? They're getting them at a very low rate. They prove to us that these diseases

are almost completely avoidable. The ION Vicaria has 10,000 people, and there's only three known cases of mild dementia. In the United States, if you hit 85, there's about a 60% chance if you're a woman that you're suffering from dementia. Yeah. Okinawa has about one-sixth rate of heart disease, one-sixth rate of breast cancer. So, you know, our healthcare system incents for sickness.

You have to remember if you've sent for a, and hope for B, you're going to get disappointed. So we're, how do you make money in healthcare? Well, you make money if you're a pharmaceutical company and people run out by your prescription. You make money if you're a doctor or doctor's office and sick people come in for a procedure or or or you're make money if you run a hospital and people rent a bed and get all the services. Nobody makes money if you stay healthy. So lo and behold, we have one of the least healthy populations in the developed world, and we spend exponentially more than everybody else, about $3.7 trillion this year will spend mostly unavoidable diseases, but there's no incentive to keep us healthy.

My company, the Blue Zones, we got paid by insurance company to go into cities and change the defaults and the nudges to lower the obesity rate, therefore raising life expectancy. To my knowledge, we're the only population health company that actually gets paid for keeping people healthy, not for trying to mop up the mass after it's been going for decades. So that's going to ask you. So with all this information, everything that you've not, like all of the stuff that you've learned, how are you implementing it into, are you implementing it into America? Obviously you said you have a company that does it.

But so what's the process? What do you do? You go into a place and do what? Who do you speak to? Because what are you looking for? Well, if you Google BlueZone's projects, we've been hired by 50 cities, including Fort Worth, the Naples, Florida, several places in California, Selenas, and the beach cities. And we

have a team that comes in and works there for five years, and we've worked with city government to change food policy to favor whole plant-based food over fast food and junk food to favor the pedestrian over the motorists, to favor the non-smoker over the smoker. So there are best practice policies out there that have been implemented elsewhere. We've just aggregated them all,

and we present them to city council in this consensus way where they can easily identify and implement them. Number two, we have a blue zone certification program for schools, restaurants, grocery stores, workplaces, and churches. So we can usually get a third to a half of all those places certified. And when they certify, that means they're changing their policies and designs to favor more movement,

more healthy eating, more purpose, and more social connectivity. And then a third squad gets about 15% of people and gets them to take our blue zone challenge. And again, we're not trying to get them to change their behavior. We get them to adjust their social circles, so there's healthy people in it, to go in their house and optimize their house so the healthy foods are in this year. So we're not trying to rely on people's discipline and self-control, which is a limited commodity, we're changing their environment and it's working. It is working. So what kind of, how much has it worked you have any numbers or statistics? So four worth Texas, about a million people hired us, Texas Health Systems, Texas Health Resources, the hospital system, and we worked there for five years, and in five years we

lowered the obesity rate by 6%, we lowered the smoking rate by about 9%, and that occasion to about a quarter of a billion dollars in healthcare costs per year and for every year going forward and my company just gets a percentage of the savings. So that's that's wow that's amazing yeah and and we're actually keeping people healthy not making money off of them when they get sick, which is the health care system. Right. It's the opposite. So then why are more places not doing this? Number one, number two, well, that's number one. Why are more places not doing this? Because there's no reimbursement for it. No, you know, hospitals get reimbursed by Medicare and so forth. It's not the way our health care system is set up.

So, are you not, can you reach out to a city or you have to wait for them to reach out to you? Who is a person that you're even like, who's your point person in these places? We've had 400 cities come to us and Miami, we're actually working with Miami right here right now. They reach out to us and we actually audition them. We don't have the capacity to every city in America. So unless the mayor, the city council, the Chamber of Commerce, the city council, the superintendent of schools, they all have to spend time with us,

understand what we're doing, and sign a pledge that they're gonna get behind it, or we don't come into the city. Really? And so what do you look for certain things to make sure that they will do this? What do you kind of, do you give them a list of things that they have to kind of? Yes. So with city government, we're going to take them through these policy bundles that I

talked to. And we tell them, these are the bundles. We've are among the policies we expect you to pass is this something you can get behind. You're not going to pick six of them right now but and if they say it sounds like nanny state to me we say okay we can't help you but if they say yeah I have an open mind and I looked at your evidence it's strong yeah it's something I can get behind if they say yes, then we do it. We go for schools. We have this blue zone certification for schools. And we give them a menu of about 30 things schools can do.

Like get rid of soda machines. Don't have your athletic field sponsored by Coca-Cola. No eating and hallways and classrooms. There's all kinds of evidence-based things. And we ask the superintendents, is something your district will work towards? And if they say yes, we check the box. And if they say no, we check another box.

And if there's enough, no, is we don't come into the city. Because we can't be effective. Right. And who's paying for all of this? Usually the Blue Cross Blue Shield plan or the hospital system or a nonprofit, nonprofit foundation in the city. It should be the government paying for this.

Right, right. But we don't pay for health in this country. Pay for sickness. I know. And then, do you think that's good? Why is this, and this is a lifelong question, but why is it not changing? All of this information, all of this evidence-based stuff that we now know, why is, like, why we still, in America and Canada, it's not like this, but it's not, like, there hasn't been any kind of uptick or change in a positive way.

It's the same reason why we still drink sugar sweet and veberch is knowing that's the number one source of fructose in the American diet. We still eating junk food and eating bacon and all these things because there are enormous business interests that, and lobbyists that, and advertising, that keep us believing one thing when another thing is really true. Yeah, absolutely. I know you got to wrap it up with you.

Is there anything else that I have not? Your book is kept up. Well, now I'm going to say that is Dan's newest book, Watches Now, and it is a Blue Zone Challenge. And what is that? Can you you talk about that for two seconds? Yes, the Blue Zone challenge represents 20 years of work. And it's a four week program that takes people by the hand into their houses and their kitchens and their work

lives and helps them set their up their surroundings. Evidence-based ways to set up their surroundings so that the healthy choices unconscious. I mean because we know about 60 million people will make new years resolutions this January 1st and over 80% of them will be they'll be forgotten by Valentine's Day. So this is an evidence-based program to set up your life so that it's you'd be healthier for decades. And it's already a number one best seller on Amazon. Already?

Yeah. It hasn't even dropped yet. It hasn't dropped today. It hasn't even dropped yet. It hasn't even dropped yet. It hasn't even dropped yet. It hasn't even dropped yet. It hasn't even dropped yet.

It hasn't even dropped yet. It hasn't even dropped yet. It hasn't even dropped yet. It hasn't even dropped yet. It hasn't even dropped yet. It hasn't even dropped yet. It hasn't even dropped yet. It hasn't even dropped yet. It hasn't even dropped yet. It hasn't even dropped yet. That's what I think about Sauer. God, you're like a machine over there. Well, it sounds like a machine, but it took me 20, like most overnight success in the 20 years. Office Depot Office Max has great deals on everything you need to succeed, like stylish furniture and chairs to keep you working comfortably, the latest tech to keep you organized and productive,

calendars and planners to keep you on schedule, and cleaning supplies to keep your space spotless. It's the perfect time to stock up on the supplies you need to succeed from the office to your home and everywhere in between. Need it fast? No problem. Place your order at office-tipo.com and pick it up in just 20 minutes at your nearest office depot or office max store. Can I even ask you how you got, I mean, I know you got to wrap it up, but that's why

I was like trying to get everything out. But how did you even get into this world? How did you become an explorer like this with national geographic? How did you even do this? Like, why, how? Is that too much of a question for like two minutes? No, I mean, I would say that's my purpose or eke guy. I said three records for biking across five continents and

then I set up a company that solved mysteries. We had a huge following and we had school product work. I had 14 scientists and photographers and videographers and we travel the world, solve mysteries and one of the mysteries we stumbled upon was Okinawa, Japan This is 21 years ago had the longest disability free life expectancy in the world and that just became the mystery I was most obsessed with now because it has ramifications for me It has ramifications for the healthcare world and it has ramifications for everybody listening right now. And we know there are people who have done it better than everybody else and it's just been my kind of mission to stilling that down, making sure there's a scientific credibility

to it and putting it to work in America. How do you even like, like, have it like logistically so what, like, show up in a place and like, how do you even get the information and like, and how do you put two into together, right? Like, all right. So when you're observing all of these things, okay, these people, there's a lot of people over a hundred here. And you just, are you just asking like a ton of people what they're doing every day or what was the process? The process first is hiring world class demographers to make sure these places are really producing long as of people. So we verify ages. It's been a lot of places

debunked like the Vilca Bamba Valley of Ecuador and the Hunts of Valley of Pakistan and the Caucasus. None of those are longevity hotspots but they still have some mythical. Then once you establish it and then I work for National Geographic, so we talk to the scientists that study those areas. And often, you know that longevity began a hundred years ago. You know, if you want to know what a hundred-year-old did to live in a hundred, you have to know what they're doing as little kids. And teenage years.

Right, right. right so I'll talk to historians I talked to the geneticists I talked to the people who study diets in these areas I pull the dietary surveys that have been done so I know what people were eating throughout the decades I talked to the physicians who treat the older people to explain these things so there's this whole sort of multidisciplinary cluster of scientists that study these populations. They don't realize they're studying for longevity, but their observations are directly then mapped to longevity. So it's my job to pull that past each together and just still it down. That you talk to a lot of people.

Hundreds people. Yeah, my god, you must be exhausted. No, why do you want to be alone when you get when you get home? And so then then you take all that information. So what's next? Is there, do you find other places that are sprouting up that are going to be the next maybe that they're they're taking this information and then you know, emulating it in other zones or do you have, is it still the same zones? I mean, this was down a while ago, right? And you're just constantly... Yeah, I'm finding that, you know, standard American diet is notoriously bad for everybody,

but if you go back about 100 years and you look at the traditional ethnicities in the United States, usually the darker ethnicities, quite honestly. They were very healthy diet, which I suspect is blue zones. So I'm working on a book about the diet in America about a hundred years ago, and I think we'll find it's a blue zone sky. Really? I love that. Okay.

I'm going to wrap it up so I know you're gonna run. But one other fast question, how's the tourism in these places? Is it now like skyrocketed over there? Like are people going there by the heaps and bounds? Because you've made such, you've kind of helped promote these places for the stuff. Yeah, so Costa Rica annoyingly uses blue zones all over the place for junky stuff, but hotels

and resorts, they have nothing to do with blue zones. But, you know, Japan, Okinawa has a nice longevity tourism industry now. Akadia, there's a great place called Faye's guest house. If you really want to experience a blue zone, just Google Fayas Guest House in Akkadia. And in Sardini of two, there's museums coming up. And what's nice about is longevity tourists, at least blue zones tourists, they tend to be respectful

and educated and they're interested. They know there's no silver bullets, so they're absorbing the nuances and bringing them home and I'm pretty proud of that and it's good for the people there. Right because the economy I'm sure is getting much better. All right well I think that's basically all thank you Dan. I'm so I'm so sorry that we went over I apologize again but where could people fight? Well it's already a best seller but the BlueZones challenge you could find it probably anywhere right Amazon

Yes, and if anybody has any questions, I'm really good at answering my Instagram handle is app Dan butiner if you direct message me. I'll answer any questions you might have And I love hearing from people. No, that's great. Thank you so much for coming on I really appreciate it and good luck with the book. And I promise next time you come on, I won't go over and everything will be organized probably. I kind of like the chaos. Good.

Well, I'm glad you did. At least I'm one dead. Thank you. I'm gonna get it rolling. Stay up on the grind. Don't stop. Keep it going. Habits and hustle from nothing in the summit. All out. Hosted by Jennifer Cohen. Visionaries. Tune in. You can get to know. Reinspired. This is your moment. Excuses. We in heaven. That the habits and hustle podcasts. Power by happiness. Hope you enjoyed this episode. I'm Heather Monahan, host of Creating Confidence, a part of the YAP Media Network, the number one business and self-improvement podcast network.

Okay, so I want to tell you a little bit about my show. We are all about elevating your confidence to its highest level ever and taking your business right there with you. Don't believe me? I'm going to go ahead and share some of the reviews of the show so you can believe my listeners. I have been a longtime fan of Heather's no matter what phase of life I find myself in. Heather seems to always have the perfect gems of wisdom that not only inspire, but motivate me into action. Her experience and personality are unmatched and I love her go getter attitude.

This show has become a staple in my life. I recommend it to anyone looking to elevate their confidence and reach that next level. Thank you! I recently got to hear Heather at a live podcast taping with her and Tracy Hayes and I immediately subscribe to this podcast. It has not disappointed and I cannot wait to listen to as many as I can as quick as I can. Thank you Heather for helping us build confidence and bring so much value to the space. If you are looking to up your confidence level, click creating confidence now. and the three-row Grand Cherokee L. Hurrie and now for great deals. Now get 3,500 combined bonus cash

and Texas residents get 2,000 bonus cash plus owners were less seized if competitive vehicles get 500 bonus cash in the 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited and Grand Cherokee L Limited. Competitive vehicles exclude all other FCA vehicles contact dealer for details. Take retail delivery by 531-23.

Jeep is a registered trademark. At 31.23, Jeep is a registered trademark.