The La Jolla Town Council is considering whether La Jolla should become a “Blue Zone,” a movement that encourages communities to embrace patterns of behavior associated with long life.
Local resident Gerhard Gessner, founder of Prana Yoga Center, made a case for the designation at the Town Council’s April 11 meeting. Blue Zones were recently brought to the public’s attention when they were featured in a four-part Netflix documentary series.
“There are certain areas in the world where people naturally live longer than other areas,” Gessner said. “So what are they doing that is different from everyone else?”
Blue Zones featured in the documentary include Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, Calif.
Gessner said there are nine “Blue Zone principles” that such areas have in common:
- Move naturally: Move without thinking about it and engage in activities like gardening without mechanical equipment.
- Purpose: Look at what gives one a sense of purpose.
- Downshift: Take time every day to destress.
- 80 percent rule: Stop eating when 80 percent full.
- Plant slant: Incorporate more beans into one’s diet.
- Wine at 5: Drink alcohol, preferably wine, moderately and regularly.
- Belong: Have a sense of community or faith-based congregation of any denomination.
- Loved ones first: Keep family as close as possible.
- Right tribe: Surround oneself with close friends who share healthy habits.
“There are quite a few communities in the United States that already have integrated some of these principles,” Gessner said. “Some of the principles could easily be applied to us.
“I wanted to get started somewhere and thought the La Jolla Town Council would be a good place to start.”
The Town Council did not vote on the proposal, but trustees asked that it be placed on a future agenda for additional discussion.
La Jolla already has initiatives in progress that could encourage residents to explore those principles, Gessner said, such as a streetscape project designed to make The Village more walkable. “That perfectly integrates with these principles,” he said.
Blue Zones LLC, an organization founded two decades ago by explorer, journalist and author Dan Buettner, says it works with communities, as well as employers and other organizations, “to make healthy choices easier.”
“Our innovative, environmental approach to well-being optimizes policy, urban design, food systems and social networks,” according to the Blue Zones website.
The benefit, the organization says, is that everyone can learn to live better and longer.
Gessner said becoming a Blue Zone takes about six years and that “a lot would need to be done” for La Jolla to be designated.
“But the wonderful thing is that there is a lot of data and experience already out there — a lot of communities have already gone through this, so we don’t have to reinvent anything,” Gessner said. “It’s more looking into what makes sense for our community and what to integrate.”
Not everyone is convinced. A 2011 study of claimed longevity in Okinawa said it was unable to whether residents were as old as they claimed because many records did not survive World War II. It called for more in-depth validation of longevity there.
Also, Dr. Harriet Hall, a critic of alternative medicine who died last year at age 77, wrote for the website Science-Based Medicine that there are no controlled studies of elderly people in Blue Zones and that the diets there are based on speculation, not solid science.
A first step toward Blue Zone designation, Gessner said, could be a feasibility study. He said costs associated with the evaluation and the designation could run in the tens of thousands of dollars.
La Jollan Diane Kane suggested the Town Council explore grants to cover the costs. “It’s quite doable,” she said.
Her interest in having La Jolla be a Blue Zone, she said, is its potential to benefit older residents.
“Blue Zones assist older people to be able to stay in their homes longer by having ,” Kane said. “Instead of sticking people in old folks’ homes, Blue Zones keep them integrated in the community with neighbors and neighborhoods.”
Other Town Council news
Board election: The Town Council is seeking candidates for its trustee election.
“I’m really hoping to get lots of diverse voices from interested people … that want to make a difference in the community,” council President Treger Strasberg said.
She noted that many trustees who have already served one year have been grandfathered in for a two-year term through the bylaws, so unless they declare they do not want to serve another year, they will automatically continue.
New trustees can apply online. The bylaws allow for 23 board ; the Town Council currently has 18.
A candidates forum will be held during the group’s May 9 meeting at the La Jolla Recreation Center, 615 Prospect St. The election will be in June. Learn more at lajollatowncouncil.org. ◆
