Your thoughts on living better

National Geographicexplorer, researcherand authorDan Buettnertraveled to five corners of the globe to report onso-called “Blue Zones,” home toclusters of centenarians.

Buettner chronicledtheir secrets to living longer and healthier in his New York Times’ bestseller, “The Blue Zones.” His follow-up book, “Thrive,” explored how individuals can maximizepersonal happiness,enhancevibrancy and increase longevity by adopting the Blue Zones’ principles.

Buettner is our guest on a specialTransforming Healthedition ofSmart Talk,Thursday May 16th at 8 p.m. onwitf-TV.

We asked you recently to share your own thoughts about what it takes to live a long and happy life and things that could improve Central PA. Thanks to all of you who responded, and we greatly appreciate your insight and feedback! We are excited to incorporate some of your thoughts, questions, and ideas into this exciting conversation with Buettner and a panel of experts from Central PA.

We’d like to share some of the responses with you that we gathered from our Public Insight Network (PIN), Facebook and Twitter below.

What do you think are the top 5 keys to living a longer, healthier life?

Barbara -Dauphin, PA said via PIN:

1. Chose your parents well
2. In childhood, develop an ability to think critically, so that you will be better at distinguishing truth, and not simply believe everything you hear from “Madison Avenue”
3. Get rid of your television
4. Share what you have with others. we are social animals and we all do better when… well, when we all do better
5. Remember what Leonardo Da Vinci said : Life well lived is long enough

Randall via Facebook said:
Living a longer heather life…..get out and enjoy nature. Hike and Bike. Learn how to play the Banjo or Guitar (or both).

Katie -Mount Gretna, PA via PIN said:

1. Strong social connections
2. Access to quiet places to connect with nature,
3. Access to fresh food
4. A sense of purpose at work and in the community
5. Active lifestyle outside- gardening, walking, playing!

James -Harrisburg, PA via PIN said:
1. Diet. Three elimination rules would include:1) Do not eat industrial seed oils,2) Reduce or eliminate refined sugars, and3) Reduce or eliminate refined grains. Industrial oils (often called “vegetable” oils) are typically made from soybeans, corn, canola, cottonseed, etc. and the majority of these raise flags for two reasons.First, they are very unstable polyunsaturated fats that wreak havoc with the endothelium, and second because the majority are made from GMOs with as-yet unrecognized dangers. Refined sugars and carbohydrates (what Dr. Weill calls “acellular” sugars and grains) damage the insulin response and are cause a variety of symptoms, from chronic inflammation to insulin insensitivity and atherosclerosis. Eliminating these oils, sugars (including high fructose corn syrup and other highly refined sugars like agave syrup), and grains, removes virtually all processed and fast foods. This leaves us primarily with selections involving meat, seafood, dairy, vegetables, fruits, and some whole grains. It is important to remember that “you are what you eat eats,” so the myriad conflicting nutritional studies with respect to dietary cholesterol, red meat consumption, and saturated fat intake comes down to eating the best possible quality foods.Eat meats and dairy from farms that raise their animals on pasture, and eating diets traditional to the animals. Animal feed with arsenic in it, and meat cleaned with chlorine, are the kinds of things to avoid. Animals treated with growth hormones and steady regimens of antibiotics are another.

Luckily, this area has dozens of farms that can provide pastured, healthful meat and dairy. Wild fish is more difficult to obtain than farmed, but is of superior quality.The area is also flush with small family farms that operate organic and sustainable vegetable and fruit farms. CSAs (both meat and vegetable) can be a convenient option.

2. Activity. This includes exercise, but more is not always better – overdoing exercise can lead to chronic inflammation and oxidative damage. While some level of exercise is generally beneficial, the greater emphasis is simply on moving in general. Walking, rather than driving. Spending less sedentary time (watching television, on computer or smart phones). Adults too often forget to have play time, which improves balance and core strength. The complement to activity is rest. Most people do not get sufficient sleep or good quality sleep, which is essential to health. Rest is needed to allow the body to heal from exercise. The sedentary activities listed above often encroach into rest hours.

3. Social interaction. There are often studies about how church-goers or pet owners lead longer, happier lives, but the common thread is social interaction. People who are plugged into seeing and being involved with friends, family, social organizations, or their pets and other pet owners, have a positive sphere of activity that correlates to longer and better quality life.

4. Danger avoidance. This seems obvious, but given the number of people driving the highways looking down at smart phones, rather than watching the road, it bears repeating. Danger avoidance would also comprise avoidance of toxins, many of which can be found in our food supply, health and beauty products, and cleaning products. Again, there is a Babel of conflicting information about pthalenes and BPA, for example, but erring on the side of avoidance is the safest policy.

5. Stress reduction.Job stress, road rage, short tempers with those we interact with, all have a strong negative physical effect (cortisol response) with lasting health impacts. Stress reduction and social interaction seem to have synchronistic effects, similar to diet and activity.

What suggestions do you have for making Central PA a healthier place to LIVE?

Molly via Facebook said:
Air quality is a real public health issue felt keenly here in the midstate, yet the 18 wheelers that clog our interstates 24/7 are exempt from the emissions standards we are bound to maintain in our personal vehicles. That needs to change, and perhaps then we’ll see reductions in asthma, cancer, and other lung diseases and allergies.

BrandonPeach viaTwitter said:
@WITF Mandatory vegetarianism. If Bloomberg can ban large soft drinks, anything is possible!

Barbara -Dauphin, PA via PIN:
The biggest threat to human health in Pa and everywhere is human population growth. no species does well when over-crowded and humans are definitely over crowded already. and world population is growing at 200,000 additional people every day. (that’s net growth and it takes into account the people who die.) everyone deserves a life with enough water, food, shelter, and meaningful activities and there simply is not enough planet to go around. Educating people about the situation (population growth and resource depletion), and encouraging people to limit family size voluntarily, is the best way to make Central PA and the world a healthier place to live, not just for humans but for the other living things that our health depends on. Honey bees, fish, trees, etc. to put it another way, we can’t be healthy or live long if the oceans amd forests of the world stop procuding oxygen, which could happen if we keep going like we are.

Katie -Mount Gretna, PA via PIN said:
More access to fresh food for rural communities/decrease food desserts, more transportation options that reduce air pollution, more walkable communities, more places to exercise for free, more ways to reduce stress, like yoga and meditation.

James -Harrisburg, PA via PIN said:
More stringent environmental standards to protect our air, soil, and water; limits on usage of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and other pollutants.

Steve via Facebook said:
Legalize cannabis, plant hemp all across the State, creating jobs. Get the cops out of the business of extorting money from people and have them actually help people. Eliminate the life long loads in positions where they accomplish nothing and replace them with people filled with vision. End the free handouts by making those people do work/community service for the towns. “Free” teaches nothing but laziness and dependency. End the corporate bribes and remove those that take them. Where do you want to start????


Kelly via Facebook said:
maybe stop the energy companies from poisoning us?

Dan via Facebook said:
Term limits… getting these career folks out would lead to people coming in who would make decisions to benefit aspects of constituents lives instead of ones to further line their pockets.

How can employers make Central PA a healthier place to WORK?

Barbara -Dauphin, PA said via PIN:
Stop giving incentives for people to have 2 or more children, and instead, give incentives for people to have one or no children. Today, it is irresponsible to have more than one child and our attitue should be that we can FORGIVE people for having 2 children but we can’t admire them for it or applaud their thoughtlessness.

Katie -Mount Gretna, PA via PIN said:
Provide more opportunities to work from home, if the employee has a long commute. Provide incentives to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle, such as increasing bonus days for personal use- like shopping for and preparing healthy foods, exercising, re-connecting with family & nature.

James -Harrisburg, PA via PIN said:
The profusion of dietary evils in the workplace is astounding, from vending machines to business lunch catering. Exercise facilities would be positive, as would any steps to minimize stress.

How can communities make Central PA a healthier place to PLAY (i.e. healthy recreational improvements)?

Ian via Facebook said:
I would love if we had more access to healthy restaurants. Central PA seems to be a culture of wings and beer.

Barbara, Dauphin PA via PIN said:
More green (trees, grass, parks) would be a good start but it won’t stay green long if there are more people than trees.

Ri Ta via Facebook said:
Bike lanes.

How about you? What are the keys to a long and healthy life? What can be done in Central PA to improve health? Tell us your own thoughts in a comment below!

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