Dan Buettner: Live to 100 with secrets of the blue zones | Professor Tim Spector

Improve your gut health - download our FREE gut guide: Do you want to live to 100? Dietary patterns, community, environment, and stress management play pivotal roles in longevity. From Sardinia’s matriarchal villages to Okinawa’s garden-rich diets, this episode takes us on a tour of insights. It’s not just about living longer, it’s about thriving. In today’s episode, Jonathan is joined by Dan Buettner and Prof. Tim Spector to discuss the secrets of a longer, healthier life. Together, they journey through the world’s blue zones, rare global hotspots where celebrating your 100th birthday is common. The guests also address the threats to these longevity havens and the decline of traditional diets. Dan Buettner is an American National Geographic fellow and New York Times bestselling author. He’s also an explorer, educator, and creator of the Netflix series “Live to 100,” which discovers five unique communities where people live extraordinarily long and vibrant lives. Tim Spector is a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, director of the Twins UK study, scientific co-founder of ZOE, and one of the world’s leading researchers. He’s also the author of Food for Life, his latest book on nutrition and health. If you want to uncover the right foods for your body, head to and get 10% off your personalized nutrition program. Follow ZOE on Instagram: Timecodes: 00:00 Introduction 01:42 Quickfire questions 02:58 What are Blue zones? 05:13 Why do people in Blue Zones live longer? 07:08 What is a Centenarian? 09:32 What are Blue Zone diets? 12:15 Foods for longevity 16:12 Why are these foods good for us? 20:17 Is eating meat 5 times a month healthy for us? 28:57 Why are the Blue Zones disappearing? 32:33 Blue Zone tactics to reduce stress 37:05 Can stress reduce life expectancy? 42:36 Why unconscious physical activity is best 47:03 How can we make our lives more ‘Blue Zone’ like? 49:22 The number one thing you can do to add years to your life is… 50:57 Dan’s stress reduction techniques 53:36 What is Dan’s daily diet? 55:10 Summary Mentioned in today’s episode: Telomere shortening and the transition to family caregiving in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study by PLOS ONE Books: The Blue Zones Challenge by Dan Buettner The Blue Zones Secrets for Living Longer by Dan Buettner The Blue Zones Kitchen by Dan Buettner Live to 100 Netflix series by Dan Buettner Episode transcripts are available here: