Good Health is Wealth
In a previous post we were challenged to a Retirement Readiness Quiz. One of the questions asked, “Are you taking care of your health”. That question is one of the most important aspects of your plan to Retire Well. Obviously you should be taking advantage of your FEHB and Flexible Spending Account options, but no matter how much money you have saved and how well you are prepared, whether your eligible for Social Security, whether your eligible for the TSP or a Corporate sponsored 401(k), whether you use LiteBlue or TSP.gov, plan the enjoyment of your hard work goes out of the window if your health is not good.
Let’s talk about a very eye opening project that has been getting quite a bit of press over the last few years. Dan Buettner, co-director of the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project launched the Blue Zone Quests in 2005 to study and research these rare regions and to share what they can tell the rest of us about taking care of our health so that we live longer and better lives.
The term ‘Blue Zone’ is really an accident of history. Demographer, Michael Poulain, during a meeting in 2001 highlighted the region of Sardinia with a blue marker on the map. The region of Sardinia was home to an exceptionally large concentration of centenarians and thus the first Blue Zone was born.
Buettner and his team have identified other Blue Zone areas: Okinawa, Japan, Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, the remote Greek Island of Ikaria, the Barbagia region of Sardinia, Italy and Loma Linda, California. You will note that only one Blue Zone has been identified in the United States. People in these regions live to reach 100 years of age at a rate significantly higher than the rest of the population. They live longer and healthier lives and suffer about one-fifth the rate of heart disease and cancer found in the general population in the United States.
We are learning more and more that genetics play a monumental role in the longevity of our lives, but life style may play an even greater role. Diet, exercise, spiritual values, and mentally stimulating activities are important factors in creating good healthy living habits. The Blue Zone centenarians seem to always be busy doing something physical. It is reported that their muscle tone is much different than the average one of us. They keep busy. We can learn pretty valuable information from the Vitality Project. They are obviously doing something the rest of us must learn to do.
It also appears they have found a way to manage stress, live long and healthy. To live long and healthy is surely a goal we would all like to reach. Good health is wealth. In order to achieve that wealth that has a greater rate of return than any financial instrument imaginable, we must have a plan for staying healthy and active. If you don’t start the engine to a car for long periods of time, when you do attempt to start the engine, it just might stall or not start at all. Reeve up your engines and let’s get started preserving our wealth. CHEERS!!! To Your Good Health.
P. S. Always Remember to Share What You Know.
