How to Eat Like You Live in a Blue Zone

Growing up in the Midwest during the 1970s, there wasn’t fresh seafood on the dinner table and heart-healthy vegetables like kale and Brussels sprouts weren’t yet trending. Even so, once I went off to college, a meatless diet, with occasional seafood, became my mantra.

It’s a diet I still follow today, despite living in Wisconsin where beer, cheese and bratwurst are staples. I was searching for cookbooks, beyond my beloved, old Moosewood and Forks Over Knives cookbooks that would feature easy, meat-free and protein-rich recipes.

Blue Zone Kitchen’s One Pot Meals: 100 Recipes to Live to 100 by Dan Buettner pushed me further on the right path along with my other culinary bibles.

I had been long curious about Blue Zones, five spots around the world (Ikaria, Greece; Loma Linda, California; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; Okinawa, Japan; and Sardinia, Italy) where people live longer and embrace healthier lives. When I began reading about Blue Zoners that often climb healthily through their 90s into three-digit birthdays, I was so excited to find I didn’t have to fly to California or across an ocean for lessons on how to eat like they eat.

According to research from Harvard University’s Harvard Health Publishing, most Blue Zone residents live seven to 10 years longer than the average American. They also experience lower rates of chronic diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and dementia. A big part of this is the diet, which is best described as plant-based, whole, unprocessed foods rich in nutrients, along with following the 80 percent rule: eat until you’re 80 percent full.

Last fall, I visited Hilton Head Health in coastal South Carolina for a week of programming focused on Blue Zones, eager to learn how to bring those longevity principles home to Wisconsin. I immersed myself, devouring every morsel of information as a participant in cooking demos, workshops and healthy, delicious meals. Each day began with a beach walk and ended after dinner (without dessert), with a “thermal walk” to help the body digest.

Just like learning a musical instrument or a foreign language, immersion in a diet or new lifestyle is key. You have to live it to love it — and that includes low-calorie dining. Because if you’d told me that the best slice of tiramisu I’ve ever eaten would be less than 200 calories — a splurge one evening — I’d never have believed it.

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Aside from Hilton Head Health, there are Blue Zones retreats at iLa Spa at the Lotte New York Palace in New York City and at Andaz Peninsula Papagayo (near Nicoya, an actual Blue Zone).

According to the Danish Twin Study, only about 20 percent of longevity is determined by genes. The remaining 80 percent — what we can control through diet and exercise — has the most impact. Like the Blue Zones, these retreats focus on diet as well as intentional community. In 2025, a study from the University of Florida revealed that loneliness can raise one’s risk of dementia, heart disease, premature death and stroke. These retreats provide strategies on how to create community and increase social engagement when you are back home.