Loma Linda is a ‘Blue Zone,’ noted for health and long life
Alice Robbins is not about to tell anyone how to live their life, but it wouldn’t hurt anyone to take note.
On Saturday, the Cincinnati-born vegetarian Seventh-day Adventist will turn 100.
The centenarian, who lives in Linda Valley Villa in Loma Linda, credits her longevity to a healthy lifestyle: She doesn’t drink, eats fruits and vegetables, limits her sugar intake and exercises daily.
“I walk up and down the halls and there’s a man that says, ‘Hey, there’s a speed limit here,’” Robbins said laughing vibrantly at the thought of moving fast.
While lifestyle and luck certainly have played a role, Robbins as a Loma Linda resident also lives in one of five places in the world identified as Blue Zone Areas — places where people are particularly healthy and tend to live longer. The other four Blue Zones Areas are Karia, Greece; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Okinawa, Japan; and Sardinia, Italy.
In 2004, Dan Buettner, a self-styled explorer, educator and author, teamed with National Geographic to identify places where people lived significantly longer, according to BlueZones.com. Buettner published the book “Blue Zones: Lessons for living longer from the people who’ve lived the longest,” which includes recipes, lifestyle formulas and details nine specific characteristic that helped in prolonging life in these areas.
Experts say the secret in Loma Linda is the high concentration of Seventh-day Adventists, and their tendency toward healthier eating and lifestyles.
“Looking at the implications of a vegetarian diet on longevity, there is data that suggests vegetarians of various types live longer than non-vegetarians,” said Paul Lyons, senior associate dean for education at UC Riverside’s School of Medicine.
According to a study published last summer in JAMA Internal Medicine, vegetarian dietary patterns may be associated with longer lifespans.
In the study, titled Vegetarian Dietary Patterns and Mortality in Adventist Health, Dr. Michael J. Orlich, of Loma Linda University and colleagues examined mortality in a group of 73,308 Seventh-day Adventist men and women. They found that the vegetarian groups tended to be older, more highly educated and more likely to be married. They also drank less alcohol, smoked less, exercised more and were thinner.
And they lived longer.
“I’m not a vegetarian, but the amount of vegetables you put on your plate is more important, and it keeps us healthy,” said Dr. Sylvie Wellausen, an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Preventative Medicine at Loma Linda. “I think humans, looking at our diets and looking at our DNA, what we require is more vegetables.”
Lyons said we don’t need Blue Zone information to tell us that being active, not smoking and eating better is “good solid medical advice.”
“That doesn’t make it any less challenging for people to adopt those life style changes,” he said.
Not to mention eating healthier is also more expensive and those in a low economic status tend to eat less healthier foods because they are cheaper, said Dr. Patricia Shakhshir is an assistant professor and clinical instructor in the College of Graduate Nursing at Western University of Health Sciences.
“And especially in crime-ridden areas it would be difficult for them to go out and be active because they’re afraid of drive by shooting,” she said.
Wellausen helped start the Loma Linda Health Coalition in the summer of 2011 to protect their Blue Zone community and help their local government become more sensitive to public health.
The group has started farmers markets and opposed the McDonald’s on Barton Road in 2011.
Though the coalition lost the battle for the restaurant to be built, the Loma Linda City Council passed an ordinance on Sept. 24, 2011, banning any more drive-through or fast-food restaurants.
“The ratio of healthy foods versus unhealthy foods is important, and in California that’s 4 to 1,” Wellausen said. “And Japan may lose its Blue Zone status because of the amount of food that is entering into that area.”
Residents of Linda Valley Villa will find no fast food in their dining options. On Thursday the home’s lunch menu included veggie burger, french fries, baked beans and a pistachio torte, and for dinner, celery soup, pizza, green salad and pears for dessert.
“At Linda Valley Villa, we are proud to support a community that represents the Blue Zone at its finest. Last year three of our centenarians served as the grand marshals for the Loma Linda Holiday Parade,” said Joanne Lapointe, the home’s spokeswoman in an email. “Our residents are great examples that a vegetarian diet, exercise and strong spiritual support result not only in longevity, but in a life lived with vibrancy.”
To help celebrate Robbins’ 100th birthday next week the staff at Valley Villa have planned a little party for her.
Her wish?
“My wish is to live a little bit longer,” she said.
By Canan Tasci, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Reach the author at canan.tasci@langnews.com or follow Canan on Twitter: @JournoCanan.