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6 habits the longest-living people have in common

Rebecca Harrington   

6 habits the longest-living people have in common
Science1 min read

centenarian piano old man active

Mary Altaffer/AP

New York City's oldest cabaret singer and piano player Irving Fields plays the piano during his 100th birthday celebration for him at Nino's Tuscany restaurant, Friday, Aug. 7, 2015, in New York.

People who live past 100 usually don't usually try to live that long; it just sort of happens to them.

For the last decade, Dan Buettner, an author and National Geographic fellow, has been looking into what he calls Blue Zones: pockets of longevity around that world that have unusually high concentrations of centenarians. (The most famous is the Greek island of Ikaria.)

Buettner spoke at a plenary talk on longevity at the Clinton Health Matters Initiative's fifth annual Health Matters Summit on Jan. 25. Former President Bill Clinton hosted the panel.

During the talk, Buettner mentioned things that he and his scientist partners have found Blue Zones tend to have in common.

Of course, not everyone in any given place lives a long life, and no set of behaviors can guarantee someone will make it past 100. But healthier communities tend to have healthier people, and - based on what Buettner has observed during his extensive travels - Blue Zones are some of the healthiest communities in the world.

Here are six habits Buettner has found are shared among the long-living people in Blue Zones.

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