Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to page-level navigation Go to the Disability Resource Centre Website Go to the DRC Booking Accommodation Portal Go to the Inclusive Technology Lab Website
The University of British Columbia
UBC - A Place of Mind
The University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
UBC Okanagan News
  • Research
  • People
    • Student Profile
    • Faculty Profile
    • Alumni Spotlight
  • Campus Life
    • Campus News
    • Student Life
    • Teaching & Learning
  • Community Engagement
  • About the Collection
    • Stories for Media
  • UBCO Events
  • Search All Stories
Home / 2011 / October / 14 / Author gives Kelowna audience tips on how to live longer
Community Events, Health

Author gives Kelowna audience tips on how to live longer

October 14, 2011

Dan Buettner comes to Okanagan as part of Distinguished Speaker Series

National Geographic journalist and author Dan Buettner was in Kelowna as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series, sponsored by UBC's Okanagan campus. Buettner spoke at the RCA about Blue Zones where people live long, healthier lives.

National Geographic journalist and author Dan Buettner was in Kelowna as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series, sponsored by UBC's Okanagan campus. Buettner spoke at the RCA about Blue Zones where people live long, healthier lives.

In all of his travels, Dan Buettner has not located the fountain of youth, but he has picked up a few tips on how to live longer.

The author and National Geographic writer has been from one end of the planet to the other, and along the way he uncovered the best strategies for longevity.

Buettner has identified Blue Zones, where many people live to be 100 or older, and he brought those aging secrets to Kelowna Thursday as part of the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus Distinguished Speaker Series.

“There is no silver bullet to living longer. The secret to adding more years has nothing to do with pills, or supplements or diets,” says Buettner.

Buettner spent three years searching the world and found five Blue Zones where people live longer and have fewer ailments. In all of the zones, several common factors became apparent  including a plant-based diet, some form of religious belief, a sense of purpose and being physically active their entire lives, including well into the senior years.

“When you watch TV, your metabolism is actually lower than when you are sleeping,” he says, adding 60 per cent of the people in North America are either overweight or obese, both of which will reduce life expectancy.

Buettner’s National Geographic cover story on longevity, The Secrets of Living Longer was one of their top-selling issues in history and a made him a finalist for the prestigious National Magazine Award.

His books The Blue Zones:  Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest   and Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way appeared on many best-seller lists and were both featured on Oprah.

In 2009, Buettner and the American Association of Retired Persons (better known as the AARP) applied principles of The Blue Zones to the community of Albert Lea, Minn. and successfully raised life expectancy and lowered health-care costs by some 40 per cent.

Buettner is working on a similar program for the Beach Cities of Los Angeles, where the strategy focuses on optimizing the health environment instead of individual behaviour change.

— 30 —

Media Contact

Darren Handschuh
Assistant Communications Coordinator
University Relations

The University of British Columbia
Okanagan campus
Tel: 250-807-8463
E-mail: darren.handschuh@ubc.ca

Content type: Media Release
More content from: Uncategorized

Trending Stories

  • Pushing the boundaries of spinal cord research
  • Climate change is chasing away the salmon, so she’s ...
  • Work Study opens new doors for undergraduates
  • Strengthening Indigenous community through research
  • Safeguarding water quality
All Stories
Contact Media Relations

About UBC Okanagan

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territory the campus resides. The most established and influential global rankings all consistently place UBC in the top five per cent of universities in the world, and among the top three Canadian universities.

The Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

Discover more about UBC Okanagan

Find a Program Admissions Book a Tour UBCO Facts
UBC Okanagan Campus News, University Relations

Innovation Precinct Annexation 1 (IA1)
3505 Spectrum Court
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 2Z1

We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional, ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated.

 

Search all stories

Subscribe to receive news by email

Visit UBC's Vancouver news room

Global and Admin Messages

News

Okanagan Campus

TikTok icon Linkedin icon

UBC Okanagan News
Okanagan Campus
3333 University Way
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 1V7
Find us on
  
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility