Healthy aging habits of the super-healthy

Want to live a long healthy life with little or no degenerative disease or dementia? Follow some of the lifestyle habits of the Ikarians.

 

Ikarian Isle

Ikarians enjoy a wonderful lifestyle on their Greek isle and are one of the five countries in the Blue Zone, which boast the oldest citizens of the world. They reach the ripe old age of 90 with a very low dementia rate, and live over a hundred years.

Ikarians manually work in their self-sustaining gardens which include vegetables, herbs for teas, and grapes for wine. They eat hearty portions of beans, drink goat's milk, eat fish twice a week, and have two to four glasses of wine a day. They also consume as many as 6, yes, 6 cups of coffee a day.

Five secrets of their healthy aging are:

1. They keep active, walk extensively, bike, and manually work their gardens.

2. They eat a Mediterranean diet of vegetables, fish, beans, and goat's milk in the mid portion of the day. Fasting is a regular part of their lives in accordance with their religion.

3. They take naps. Studies show that people who nap on a regular basis are 35% less likely to die of heart disease than those who do not nap. It is good for reducing stress hormones as well.

4. At sunset Ikerians gather to socialize and drink wine or herbal tea.

5. Ikarians value their families and friends.