Blue Zones refer to geographic areas in which people have low rates of chronic disease and live exceptionally long lives. They are called Blue Zones because author Dan Buettner, who was studying areas of the world where people live very long lives, drew blue circles around these areas on the map.

Blue Zones definition

<ol><li>Icaria (Greece): These people eat a Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil, red wine and homegrown vegetables.</li><li>Ogliastra, Sardinia (Italy): Some of the oldest men in the world live here. They commonly work on farms and drink lots of red wine.</li><li>Okinawa (Japan):  You can find the world's oldest women here. They eat soy-based foods and practice tai chi, a meditative form of exercise.</li><li>Nicoya Peninsula (Costa Rica): The Nicoya people regularly do physical jobs into old age. Their diet includes beans and corn tortillas.</li><li>The Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda, California. They are strict vegetarians.</li></ol>

The five known Blue Zones

Most groups are not strict vegetarians but eat meat about five times per month. Diets include:<ul><li>Vegetables, which is a great source of fibre, minerals and vitamins.</li><li>Legumes include beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas, which are all rich in fibre and protein.</li><li>Whole grains, which are rich in fibre.</li><li>Nuts: Nuts are great sources of fibre, protein and polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats.</li></ul> Other dietary factors for Icaria and Sardinia are eating fish regularly. Fish is a good source of omega-3 fats.

People who live in Blue Zones eat a 95% plant-based diet

Calorie restrictionEating fewer calories may be contributing to the longer lives in some of the Blue Zones. <ul><li>Studies found that Okinawans were in a calorie deficit before the 1960s, which may contribute to their longevity.</li><li>Okinawans tend to follow the 80% rule, which they call “Hara Hachi bu.” It means they stop eating when they feel 80% full, rather than 100% full.</li></ul> FastingIcarians are typically Greek Orthodox Christians that have many periods of fasting for religious holidays throughout the year. <ul><li>A study showed that fasting led to lower blood cholesterol and body mass index (BMI).</li></ul>

They fast and follow the 80% rule

People in some Blue Zones drink one to two glasses of red wine per day, which may help prevent heart disease and reduce the risk of death. Sardinian Cannonau wine, which is made from Grenache grapes, has been shown to have extremely high levels of antioxidants, compared to other wines. Antioxidants help prevent damage to DNA that can contribute to ageing.

They consume alcohol in moderation

People in the Blue Zones don't exercise purposefully by going to the gym. Instead, they are active through gardening, walking, cooking and other daily chores. A study of men in the Sardinian Blue Zone found that their longer life was associated with raising farm animals, living on steeper slopes in the mountains and walking long distances to work.

Exercise is built into daily life

People in Blue Zones get sufficient sleep and also often take daytime naps. Studies found that not getting enough sleep or too much sleep can increase the risk of death, including heart disease or stroke. Blue Zone people tend to sleep as much as their body tells them to. Daytime napping of 30 minutes or less is also common.

They get enough sleep

<ul><li>Being religious or spiritual: Blue Zones are typically religious communities. Several studies have shown that being religious is associated with a lower risk of death.</li><li>Having a life purpose: People in Blue Zones tend to have a life purpose, known as “ikigai” in Okinawa or “plan de vida” in Nicoya</li><li>Older and younger people living together: In many Blue Zones, grandparents often live with their families.</li><li>A healthy social network: Your social network, called “moai” in Okinawa, can affect your health. If your friends are obese, social acceptance leads you to have a greater risk of being obese.</li></ul>

Other traits and habits associated with longevity

“Blue Zones" are areas in which people have low rates of disease and live longer than anywhere else. Here are their inhabitants' common lifestyle features.

Stashed ideas

Why People in "Blue Zones" Live Longer Than the Rest of the World

Every year, Muslims around the world anticipate the sighting of the new crescent moon that signifies the official first day of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and the most sacred month in Islamic culture. The start of Ramadan fluctuates each year because the lunar Islamic calendar follows the phases of the moon.

The Month Of Ramadan

<ul><li>Ramadan, one of the months in the Islamic calendar, was also part of ancient Arabs’ calendars.</li><li>The naming of Ramadan stems from the Arabic root “ar-ramad” which means scorching heat.</li><li>Muslims believe that in 610, the angel Gabriel appeared to Prophet Muhammad and revealed to him the Quran, the Islamic holy book.</li><li>Fasting is a shield, so the one who fasts should avoid obscene speech and ignorant behaviour.</li></ul>

Origin Of Ramadan

<ul><li>Muslims aim to grow spiritually and build stronger relationships with Allah.</li><li>Throughout the month, Muslims fast, also refraining from drinking and sexual intercourse between sunrise and sunset.</li><li>Fasting is obligatory for all Muslims, except for the ill, pregnant, travelling, elderly, or menstruating.</li><li>Days missed fasting can be made up throughout the rest of the year, either all at once or one day here and there.</li></ul>

The Rules Of Fasting: Ramadan observance

The sighting of a new crescent moon marks the start of Ramadan, a time for piety and self-reflection.

Why Ramadan is the most sacred month in Islamic culture

Setting goals can change your life for the better. For example, goals can help you get in shape, improve your finances, or launch a business. But goal-setting can also make you feel miserable. Potential problems are disillusionment and burnout. The difference between success and burnout lies in how your goals are designed.

Goal setting: the good and bad

Psychologist Edwin Locke's research on goal-setting shows three important findings:<ul><li>Setting goals improves performance.</li><li>Hard goals improve performance better than easy ones.</li><li>Specific targets work better than "trying to do your best."</li></ul>Other research shows that easy goals lead to poor efforts, and too hard goals also lead to poor efforts. That means that goals should be challenging but not overly difficult.

Aim for hard, not impossible

We can motivate ourselves to pursue our goals using the 80% rule. Track your smaller goals (30 days goals) and track your success rate. If you're under 80%, try setting a more achievable target. If you're over 80%, try something more challenging.

Use the 80% rule

One exception to specific, challenging goals is creative problem-solving. Tasks that need deep thinking, such as learning or creative work, goal-setting can become problematic. These tasks require all your working memory. A stressful deadline can hurt your ability to generate a creative solution.  One solution is to set goals to work on a creative problem for a chunk of time without expecting results. This allows you to focus on the task.

Deadlines are poison for creative problem-solving

Visualise the difficulties that might come up when pursuing your goal and deciding in advance what you will do. You might get sick two weeks into an exercise program. Your exams get rescheduled. Your motivation is usually at its highest when setting the goals. Planning for difficulties can keep you from abandoning your goal when things get tough.

Visualize failure

You don't have to tell other people about your goals.  Peter Gollwitzer found that telling people about your goals can act as a substitute for actually taking action. Announcing our goals can make us feel like we have already done something and result in putting in less effort.

Keep it to yourself at first

Research shows that we procrastinate when we perceive tasks as unpleasant.When we set goals, our motivational hardwiring doesn't cope well with things in the future. We'll start to slack when the deadline is in the far future, and the immediate work isn't enjoyable.<ul><li>The key is to break down your goals into smaller, daily actions.</li><li>Try to create an incentive to stick to the daily plan.</li></ul>

Break it down and make yourself accountable

Much of the stress from setting goals comes from goals that are not truly your own.  External incentives, such as paying someone to complete an otherwise interesting puzzle, could dampen internal motivation. Too many outside goals make it harder to motivate ourselves consistently. However, life-affirming goals feel deeply meaningful and easier to achieve.

Set goals you want to achieve (not only those you feel you should)

The Science of Achievement: 7 Research-Backed Tips to Set Better Goals - Scott H Young

Burnout is a consequence of chronic workplace stress due to exhaustion, energy depletion, increased cynicism about the profile and professional unproductivity. It is not an individual problem, but an organizational concern.
An employee feels burnt out when there is constant pressure to perform more alongside chronic job insecurity. Personal needs take a backseat due to the fear of disappointing the boss or colleagues.

Burnout: The Definition

<ul><li>In 2019, WHO(the World Health Organization) recognized burnout as a bona fide occupational hazard.</li><li>In 2020, seven out of ten workers experienced burnout symptoms.</li></ul>If we choose our work demands over spending time with loved ones, self-care and meaningful breaks, we are neglecting ourselves and will suffer down the line.

Burnout: A Serious Problem

If we are pushed by our bosses or peers to give our time or energy beyond what’s acceptable, we need to make a decision based on the E.M.P.O.W.E.R. acronym, which distills the problem and makes us look at all angles and directions.

Burnout: E.M.P.O.W.E.R. Acronym

<ol><li>Evaluate: Objectively assess the facts of the request.</li><li>My Story: Remove false assumptions based on our own fears and anxieties.</li><li>Priorities: Consider how the task aligns with our responsibilities, the company’s goals and personal needs.</li><li>Opportunities: What we gain from the request, and how it advances our career.</li><li>Who: The status of the person asking for the favour/request/work.</li><li>Expectations: Clarifying the person’s expectations and align them with your own.</li><li>Real: We all get the same number of hours in a day, and need to get real about the implications of our decision.</li></ol>

Burnout: E.M.P.O.W.E.R. Defined

E.M.P.O.W.E.R. yourself to say “no” more often.

Health

Battle Burnout with This Acronym

The Keto diet, which is low on carbs and high on fats, is restrictive, especially when most people follow the processed food diet which is high on carbs. 
It requires the individual to throw away carbs, junk food, sauces, cold drinks, and starchy veggies while limiting fruit intake.

The Keto Diet

<ul>
<li>While preparing for this kind of diet, the first step is to go through the kitchen and pantry to get rid of the non-keto stuff, just to avoid any impulsive eating.</li>
<li>Then we need to make a meal plan for the week, including snack items. </li>
<li>Keep a lot of almonds, pumpkin seeds, coconut/olive oils, eggs, canned food and powdered protein.</li>
<li>Stock some veggies, frozen berries and broccoli in the fridge, along with coconut milk.</li>
</ul>

Starting With The Keto Diet

<ul>
<li>Keep reminding yourself that this new diet that is being followed is not a challenge, but a healthy lifestyle choice.</li>
<li>Understand that following this diet will start the body’s metabolic transition towards Ketosis, where the body burns fat instead of blood sugar.</li>
<li>You can have the occasional keto dessert and the glass of wine, avoiding the all-or-nothing mindset.</li>
</ul>

The Keto Diet Mindset

Burning of stored body fat instead of blood sugar (Ketosis) has the following claimed benefits:
<ol>
<li>Anti-ageing and anti-inflammatory benefits</li>
<li>Lower risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes, if done with Doctor’s supervision.</li>
<li>Reducing seizures in people with epilepsy.</li>
</ol>
The initial days of ‘Keto Flu’, where one can get cramps, constipation, low energy, fatigue and nausea, are to be expected. One needs to stay hydrated by consuming electrolytes.

Benefits Of Keto Diet

While making any big change in our lives, we have to deal with the reactions of other people, especially when they are not following this kind of diet and have to eat with you. Ideally, non-keto options should be available for them.
If friends poke into your diet choice, tell them you are satisfied with what you are eating, or have figured out what works best for your body.

Keto Diet: Dealing With Friends And Family

The keto diet has gained popularity as way to burn fat fast, but what's the best way to start? We asked a nutritionist how to prepare meals, and your mindset, for a keto way of eating, and what obstacles you might encounter.

How to Start the Keto Diet-and Ways to Stick With It

Many people think that pain is the result of injury or damage to tissue. The reason for that is that pain warns us whenever we're experiencing tissue damage or are about to.
But there is more to pain. Our perception of pain is constructed from sensory information and context - our circumstance, needs, motivations, who we're with, and our expectations. This means that pain is more malleable and manageable than we think.

There is more to pain than just injury

Pain is an indicator of injury, but not always. Some things like sunburn initially don't hurt. It only starts to hurt when our skin cells begin to die.
A more dramatic example is radiation exposure. It doesn't hurt while a person is exposed because they can only feel what the sensory nervous system can sense. But later on, the radiation poisoning may cause severe damage to the skin and soft tissue.

Pain is not the same as injury

Activity in the neurons that responds to injury is called nociception. It allows us to recognise and label different kinds of damaging stimuli, such as slamming your hand in the door or burning it on a stove.
Researchers wanted to observe what happens in the brain when we're exposed to damaging stimuli. They reported a pattern of neural activation across a network of brain regions that tracked nociceptive activity. Surprisingly, neuroscientists also observed this signature in the brain, and patients can report intense pain, without any tissue damage.

Pain can be felt without tissue damage

Nociception is often a part of the experience of pain, but it is not pain. It is not sufficient nor necessary for pain, for example, when we consider the pain of depression or grief.
So tissue damage can happen without pain, and pain can occur without tissue damage, and nociception that seems like pain isn't pain. This is because our experience of our bodies, perceptions, and explanations of the perceptions is part of a complex network of our nervous system.

Our perception of pain is complex

Our complex nervous systems continually process and integrate information about the body, regulating and balancing the resources. We respond and adapt to what is happening to us or is expected to happen to us.
We do this by running simulations of information we gathered and stored from past experiences. We can feel the signals of these simulations just as intensely as the signals we get from actual injury. This can be useful as the body can kickstart the circulation of our endogenous painkillers just before the injury happens.

We respond to what we expect to happen

Placebo can be a powerful treatment as it can cause pain relief or therapeutic benefit on the expectation of treatment rather than 'real' treatment.
<ul>
<li>Studies show patients expecting morphine increase the circulation of their own endogenous opioids in advance of getting morphine.</li>
<li>Patients who had undergone amputation can overcome phantom limb pain with mirror therapy. The brain is tricked into thinking their limb is restored and able to move, loosening up the discomfort.</li>
</ul>

If we can imagine pain, we can imagine pain relief

If we received a real injury, it wouldn't disappear because we use the power of positive thinking. Paracetamol does work for pain, and surgical and pharmacological interventions are life-saving and can reduce suffering.
But pain is complex. It is often caused more by what we think and fear, and that means we have more tools at our disposal to deal with it.

Limits to reconstructing reality in our favour

Margee Kerr and Linda Rodriguez McRobbie, authors of Ouch!, explain what pain is and how we can trick the brain into creating its own pain relief.

How your brain creates pain – and what we can do about it

Dopamine is an important chemical messenger that plays several important roles in the brain and body:<ul><li>It influences moods and feelings of reward and motivation: When  released in large amounts, it creates feelings of pleasure and reward, which motivates you to repeat a specific behavior.</li><li>It helps regulate body movements as well. </li></ul>

Dopamine Functions

They are generally well regulated by the body, but there are a few diet and lifestyle changes you can make to boost your levels naturally:<ul><li>Eat lots of protein</li><li>Eat less saturated fat</li><li>Consume probiotics</li><li>Exercise often</li><li>Get enough sleep</li><li>Listen to music</li><li>Meditate</li><li>Get enough sunlight</li></ul>

Increase dopamine levels naturally

Dopamine is an important chemical messenger in the brain that has many functions. It's involved in reward, motivation, memory, attention and even regulating body movements ( 1, 2, 3). When dopamine is released in large amounts, it creates feelings of pleasure and reward, which motivates you to repeat a specific behavior ( 4, 5).

10 Best Ways to Increase Dopamine Levels Naturally

Often we hear crashing waves, swirling synths, and chirping birds in the background of our guided meditation voice projects to help us get comfortable and notice our breathing. However, there are many kinds of meditation and if background music isn&#39;t your preference, then there isn&#39;t a need to continue using ones that have them.
Just like sports, there are also many different types of meditation practices where some involve music while others don&#39;t.

Music For Meditation Is Not A Necessity, It's A Preference

There is no singular definition for meditative music. Whatever meditation practice you choose to exercise, your background music is entirely up to your ideal.
Moreover, since meditative music does not have a single definition, the importance of it is so that you'll be able to hold your intention and lead you into a frame of mind that's calm and steady, so while some prefer none or minimalist orchestra, others prefer loud banging of drums.

Meditative Music

Here's a guide to what we know about music and meditation. It's especially great for those stuck inside due to the coronavirus pandemic and need to relax.

Can you even meditate without music?

The main thought process that we have when drinking milk is that it's going to strengthen our bones because of the calcium.
Studies suggest that drinking milk could help bone density but only in the span of two years. Moreover, there is a correlation between drinking milk with higher bone fractures and early deaths.

Drinking milk and strong bones

There are different researches where the problem or causation and correlation are brought up with drinking milk. The current weight of evidence suggests that it is still OK to continue to drink milk if you like it. It most likely has benefits that attribute to bone health but it may just be short lived rather than what we expected.
We can also keep our bones strong by taking in vitamin D - either through the sunlight or supplements - and getting the right amount of exercise.

Why we shouldn't worry about drinking milk

Should we drink milk to strengthen bones?

It's the cycle where you indulge but then regret what you've done but you keep going back for more. Your brain tries to justifies the actions you take by saying "Hey, you've already done it so why not just finish the entire thing?" 
The phrase was coined by dieting researchers but it can affect one's willpower during setbacks or challenges.

The What-The-Hell Effect

When we enter in the cycle of the What The Hell effect, we often put blame on ourselves and act harshly towards ourselves which makes us feel guilty, ashamed, and embarrassed during our relapse stages. If this is you, then it has been suggested that instead of getting angry at yourself try to show compassion instead. 
More self-criticism helps no one. Indulging is not a crime and it is important to forgive yourself so that you won't completely be consumed by guilt.

From Guilt to Compassion

<ol>
<li>Slow down and check-in with yourself. Are you angry at yourself? Why? Try to be more understanding of yourself instead of spiraling into negativity. </li>
<li>Normalize taking a step backward. Setbacks are a part of life.</li>
<li>Think about what you would do if your friend came to you with the same problem you have. Would you throw criticism onto your friend? Would you approach them the same way you treat yourself?</li>
</ol>

What You Should Do During Setbacks

An important thing to keep in mind to build up resilience against stress is to remember the places or things you have control and influence upon. It will help lessen the pain of hopelessness.

The Can-Control Mindset

The what-the-hell effect describes the cycle you feel when you indulge, regret what you’ve done, and then go back for more.

Why People in "Blue Zones" Live Longer Than the Rest of the World

Why Ramadan is the most sacred month in Islamic culture

The Science of Achievement: 7 Research-Backed Tips to Set Better Goals - Scott H Young

Battle Burnout with This Acronym

How to Start the Keto Diet-and Ways to Stick With It

Emily Q.