Friends of the Pacific Electric Trail: Make Healthy Living Second Nature

If you are over 75 and are healthy, active, and involved in your community, chances are that you might live in a Blue Zone. Imagine living a healthy, active life well into your 80’s or 90’s just by simply incorporating more plant based meals into your diet. We are learning how consuming fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts daily can provide us with enough nutrition to stay healthy and active. There are several Blue Zone communities across the country where Americans are living to 100 and longer. There are Blue zones all over the world such as Sardinia, Italy, Okinawa, Japan, Nicoya, Costa Rico and of course Loma Linda California. Here are a few states that proudly boast their life expectancy of their community members: Colorado Springs, Boulder and Fort Collins Colorado. Charlottesville, Virginia made the list as did Portland, Maine, Austin, Texas and Bridgeport, Connecticut. California leads the pack with over 15 cities including: Santa Cruz, San Jose, San Francisco, Hayward, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Salinas, Oxnard, Ventura, and Thousand Oaks, of course San Diego and Carlsbad.

Blue Zone residents encourage a well-balanced diet including nuts, fruits, and legumes, low in sugar, salt, and refined grains. Studies have shown nonsmoking Adventists in the community of Loma Linda, Californians who ate 2 or more servings of fruit per day had about 70 percent fewer lung cancers than nonsmokers who ate fruit once or twice a week. Those who ate legumes such as peas and beans 3 times a week had a 30 to 40 percent reduction in colon cancer. Women who consumed tomatoes at least 3 or 4 times a week reduced their chance of getting ovarian cancer by 70 percent over those who ate tomatoes less often. Eating a lot of tomatoes also seemed to influence reducing prostate cancer for men. A new study has found that adherents to this way of life have the nation’s lowest rates of heart disease and diabetes and exceptionally low rates of obesity.

A light dinner early in the evening avoids flooding the body with calories during the inactive parts of the day. It seems to promote better sleep and a lower BMI.

Consuming fruits and vegetables and whole grains seems to be protective against a wide variety of cancers. For those who prefer to eat some meat, Adventist recommend small portions served as a side dish rather than as the main meal. At least four major studies have confirmed that eating nuts has an impact on health and life expectancy.

Lately I have been working from my home office and investing in myself by spending more time researching the world wide web for various projects and assignments. Living in the Inland Empire gives me access to fresh citrus all year long and my all-time favorite beverage to make is fresh squeezed lemonade with fresh ginger and basil. The combination of a few simple ingredients transforms the simple lemon into a refreshing libation. Peel and chop ½” of fresh ginger, combine with the juice of 3 lemons, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of your favorite honey in a blender. Strain and combine with 6 cups of cold water and pour over a tall glass of ice, garnish with fresh lemon slices and fresh basil leaves and see if this doesn’t become one of your favorite libations to share with your family and friends.