#1
4 Likes
#2

yes, very poor data and bad analysis by people with an activist agenda

2 Likes
#3

There are people debunking the debunk, so I wouldn’t be so sure what the truth is.

3 Likes
#4

There are “counter-debunkers” countering this type of critique by Saul
 I don’t have pony in this race


See:

Lots of past discussions on Blue Zones:

see our search on blue zones: Search results for 'blue zones' - Rapamycin Longevity News

1 Like
#5

One thing that undercuts that response is the level of hysterics, accompanied by undocumented assertions.

#6

This is another example of poor science at work. How credible are peoples birth dates? How well do these centenarians recall their diets over the past 100 years? What is the comparison group? What factors did the people doing the analysis disregard?

So much of what goes as science is barely credible these days as academics feel pressure to publish papers rather than delivering high quality work.

1 Like
#7

I feel pretty confident that the Okinawan blue zone is close to accurate. Probably Loma Linda as well. The others not so much.

When you go to Japan you see a lot of active healthy and skinny Japanese working. I swear all the hotel employees are spry 70-80 year olds.

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#8

Agreed. I lived there for 3 years. They eat a healthy diet and lead an active lifestyle, although becoming less so as the island gets westernized.

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#9

Out of 47 prefectures in Japan, Okinawa is 36th in life expectancy. Nothing exceptional here. So yes, blue zones are bullshit.

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#10

Due process. Below is the actual paper of Newman, and the “objection” of Buettner.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334497888_Supercentenarians_and_the_oldest-old_are_concentrated_into_regions_with_no_birth_certificates_and_short_lifespans

Newman makes conclusions based on aggregate data. Newman does not state whether he ever visited the Blue Zones.

Instead, the introduction of state-wide birth certification coincides with a sharp reduction in the
number of supercentenarians born in each state. In total, 82% of the GRG supercentenarian
records from the USA predate state-wide birth certification. Forty-two states achieved complete
90 birth certificate coverage during the survey period. When these states transition to state-wide
birth registration, the number of supercentenarians falls by 80% per year overall (Fig 2a) and
69% per capita (Fig 2b) when adjusted relative to c.1900 state population sizes.

Buettner says:

In Sardinia, for example, we double-checked the age of every centenarian in the blue zone villages using:

  • Civil status databases dating back to 1866.
  • Handwritten records from ecclesiastical archives, consistently available from the 17th century onward.
  • A complete genealogical reconstruction of village inhabitants from 1866 onward.

Not only were the birth and death dates of each centenarian confirmed, but those of their siblings were also cross-checked. This allowed us to rule out any possible identity switches, such as the case of a false supercentenarian that was rigorously eliminated from our Sardinian centenarians’ database

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#11

As I said they’ve been westernized. I lived there 30 years ago. I believe from 1970’s until 2000 there were ranked #1 in life expectancy.

I would suspect other blue have suffered the same fate. I will continue to believe in blue zones as I think genetics, diet and life style could certainly combine to make a local population healthier.

3 Likes
#12

I’ll disagree with you there. I believe that blue zones exist. Just like I believe that most of America is an anti-blue zone where people don’t live up to their potential.

Until you’ve lived in Asia and know exactly how many 90-100 year olds there are, I wouldn’t comment. Most of my friends have parents in their 90s-100s.

#13

Yes some countries have longer life expectancies. But the point is that the regions cherry picked by the author in these countries might have nothing extraordinary compared to the rest of the country.

1 Like
#14

Are you looking at (1) life expectancy before westernization (2) life expectancy controlled for infant mortality (3) centenarians per capita or some other similar marker at extreme longevity.

#15

What before westernization? Most blue zones are in Western countries. People there have been fully Westernized for millenia.

#16

I mean before an increase in Western pattern diet:

Mediterranean diet is the one from the 1960’s and modified.