Blue Zones, Ep. 7

Thriving on the Prairie

Jan Stankiewicz: Welcome to thriving on the prairie, a podcast exploring issues concerning families and communities and inspires North Dakota movers, shakers and community difference makers to engage in lifelong learning. I'm Jan Stankiewicz, Community health and nutrition specialist and tribal liaison with NDSU Extension. And today I'm with Katie Johnke, who is who works for Bismarck Burleigh Public Health, and we will be diving into blue zones work, all that's going on in the state and around Bismarck. So Katie, welcome.

Katie: Thank you for having me today.

Jan Stankiewicz: Yeah, so why don't you tell us a little bit about your role with Bismarck Burleigh Public Health?

Katie: So I am the nutrition services coordinator at Bismarck Burleigh Public Health. And what that entails is just focusing on community livability, health and wellness for the entire city of Bismarck and our residents and just looking to make our community a healthier place to live.

Jan Stankiewicz: Yeah and that's a really nice partnership, so too, full disclosure, Katie and I work together on many projects, so Extension and public health has a really strong partnership in the Bismarck community so, this is a really, what we're going to be talking about today, is just a really great tie-in for the that kind of a partnership. Which brings us to the topic of blue zones, which people might be wondering what blue zones are, maybe they've heard of it. But I think in North Dakota it might be a little bit of a new topic, Katie what what what is a blue zone or what are we talking about when we, when we reference blue zones.

Katie: So blue zones are areas of the world that share and benefit from a set of habits that they call the power nine and we can get into those in a little bit. But that help that those practices together help increase longevity, health, and happiness. And individuals that live in these pockets across the world are living well into their 90s, 100s, with little or no chronic disease, which is huge because in the United States, what we see is, for sure as we age, chronic disease increases, but we're also seeing that in younger ages too and based off some of maybe our behaviors or habits that we take on individually and maybe even as a nation. And so these pockets of blue zones really have kind of the the if you would the perfect way of living and are great role models for other communities to pick up on some of their their habits and practices.

Jan Stankiewicz: yeah and it really is astonishing, so I think it's, is it five areas across the globe that have these like little pockets of people who live very long in life, have really good quality of life too, so that's something, that it's not just about living to be 100 or more years old. It's that they can live well for that long. And so it is kind of, you know, lots of people when we talk about health and wellness or food and nutrition people always want to know what the magic pill is or what's one thing that they can do, but blue zones is kind of like, it's just, it's more about a culture it's more about just the way things are done and it is kind of astonishing to see the impacts of those kinds of things that's evident in in you know, like the longevity and low rates of chronic disease like you mentioned.

Katie: Yeah I think you said it perfectly, it is more about the culture and the whole, the whole way of living, not just the physical aspect, and not just trying to reach a magic number, to say you you live to 100, but you did so in great in a great way and in a good quality of life.

Jan Stankiewicz: Yeah, so in your introduction you mentioned the power nine, so let's tell folks what that is and what that kind of means in you know, health and wellness and blue zones conversations.

Katie: So the power nine are broken down into different areas of healthy living. So there's the the move section, the right outlook session section, eat wisely and connect. And so I'll go through each of those and kind of break them down a little bit more, to start with the move and the move, naturally. And what that really comes down to is that the environments, the blue zone environments and what blue zones tried to tries to do is create environments that constantly nudge people into moving without thinking about it. So it's just a natural fit to encourage movement and walking, versus forceful forceful things that are maybe right in your face, it's just things that are done without having you really realize it. Residents in the blue zones, they move all day because that's how their environments are set up and so it's just a natural way to do so. And their sedentary lifestyle, or a sedentary lifestyle of sitting throughout the day. won't necessarily be fixed by going to the gym but you need that constant movement throughout the day and so these people in the blue zones, it's not like they're going to the gym every day and i'm not saying that we don't want you to go to the gym if that's what you like to do, but that's not what they're doing. They're just moving naturally throughout the day at a consistent, consistent times and they're finding that that movement is enough to improve their physical health.

Jan Stankiewicz: Yeah and so when we, you know when we hear, in the United States, adults should move you know 60 minutes most days of the week, you know those kinds of things and a lot of the times. We do think “go to the gym” or do some sort of “sport” or engage in those kinds of things, whereas what they found in these blue zones is that they don't have to even like follow those, that 60 minute guideline, because the impact of them moving all the time, throughout their day, in a natural way like it makes up for those kinds of things. Is that right, like is that?

Katie: Absolutely yeah they don't have the necessarily it's not a number, they're not fixated, on all these rules and examples will go through aren't necessarily fixed on an exact number. While those are guidelines and recommendations that are helpful for people, it is just more of that natural way of living and just engaging in, in those movements, and so I think if that's something we think about in our communities here, how can you continue to move naturally throughout your day that just encourages more steps, or just more movement up and down versus the constant sitting that many of us are familiar with. Not, not just here in the Bismarck Community or North Dakota but across the United States.

Jan Stankiewicz: Yeah and I think too, it comes down to you know, like walking to go get some groceries or walking to the library or to school and those kinds of things, I think that those are all ways that, you know, where it gets bigger and beyond our own individual choices, so yeah.

Katie: So the next one that we have is the right outlook section and this talks about having a purpose and downshifting. And so, thinking of having a purpose is, why do you wake up in the morning? What is your what, what is your sense? And this has shown to have significant impact on life expectancy and blue zones has shared that it can, having a sense of purpose can add up to seven years of life expectancy. Which I think is really significant, just by waking up and knowing your your worth for that day. And I think that's really something that's internal for people, but something maybe to consider if you're looking to add more wellness components to your your own life and really finding value and understanding to your day to day.

Jan Stankiewicz: Yeah and going back to you know have it not having like a specific number to meet. So if, and if you kind of reverse it and say you know if we don't have a purpose, it can take seven year...