White hair chronicles XIX

I might have the chance to live long. My great grandparents from my mother side lived into their 90s. My father's father passed away in 2008 at 94. My mother was born in Lubang Island (where Onoda hid) off Mindoro, where people routinely live into their 90s. I eat healthy. I keep my body mass index right in the middle of the range. My blood pressure is 110/70.

I saw the interesting talk by Dan Buettner at TED.com about how to live to be 100+. Together with the National Geographic, he sought out the regions of the world where people commonly live past 100 years. Their quest brought them to 4 areas called the blue zones: Sardinia, Italy; the islands of Okinawa, Japan; Loma Linda, California; and Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica.

The people in the blue zones have common lifestyle characteristics that contribute to their living longer. Among the characteristics shared are shown in the diagram above.

Aside from what I learned about the people in the blue zones and what I know about the people in Lubang, I know what they do not have.

They do not have pollution. They live in remote rural areas where the air is ever fresh. They do not share the polluted roads with maniacal, stressed drivers. They do not have sedentary lives, ranting and venting out in blogs. And they do not spend geek long hours watching porn.

Now I'm not so sure about my chances.