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We’re all frequently (and often painfully) reminded about all the things that can shorten our life expectancy: too many processed foods; not enough exercise, to name but two. But now, a new Netflix documentary, created by bestselling author Dan Buettner, explores not what destroys us, but what can help us live to a ripe old age. Buettner has spent the past 20 years locating and then researching five communities across the world which he identified as having the highest rates of longevity and good health. These areas – located in Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece, and Loma Linda, California – are now known as “Blue Zones”, and are the subject of his fascinating four-part series. Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zonesof the Blue Zones, which premieres on 30 August, follows the award-winning journalist as he gets to know the people who hold the secrets to living well into their 100s. Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones | Official Trailer | Netflix www.youtube.com After years of studying these Blue Zone inhabitants, Buettner and his team of demographers, anthropoligists, medics and epidemiologists managed to pinpoint nine lifestyle habits that are consistent across all five populations. They have dubbed these the “Power 9”, and they form the heart of the new docu-series. So what are these nine habits? And can anyone adopt them, regardless of their postcode? 1. Move Naturally We all know the importance of keeping fit but, according to Buettner, the world’s longest-lived people “don’t pump iron, run marathons or join gyms”. “Instead, they live in environments that constantly nudge them into moving without thinking about it,” he and his colleagues state on the website for their Blue Zones organisation. These groups don’t rely on machines to do their housework, they grow gardens and tend to all their chores by hand. 2. Have a sense of purpose Having a sense of purpose is worth up to seven years of extra life expectancy, the Blue Zones team has concluded. Knowing why you wake up in the morning is crucial to making the most of your life. 3. Eliminate stress Everyone suffers from stress, even the people who live in Blue Zones, and stress leads to chronic inflammation which is associated with every major age-related disease. However, the difference between how many of us cope with stress and how these communities do is that they take active steps to “shed” it. “Okinawans take a few moments each day to remember their ancestors, Adventists (who live in Loma Linda, California) pray, Ikarians take a nap and Sardinians do happy hour,” Buettner says. 4. Eat till you're 80 per cent full Okinawans understand the importance of not overeating. Indeed, they constantly remind themselves to stop eating when they’re 80 per cent full. The 20 per cent gap between not being hungry and feeling full could be the difference between losing weight or gaining it, according to the Blue Zones team. They note that people in the five communities eat their smallest meal in the late afternoon or early evening and then don’t eat anymore for the rest of the day. 5. Go plant-based Sorry, meat lovers, but if you want to live longer, you need to cut back. Beans, including fava, black, soy and lentils, are the cornerstone of most centenarian diets and meat (mostly pork) is eaten on average only five times per month. Serving sizes are 85g-115g, which is definitely a lot less than most of us get through in one sitting. 6. Enjoy your evening wine Good news for those of us who enjoy an evening tipple: People in all Blue Zones (except the Californian Adventists) drink alcohol moderately and regularly. Moderate drinkers outlive non-drinkers, Buettner claims, however, he states: “The trick is to drink 1-2 glasses per day (preferably Sardinian Cannonau wine), with friends and/or with food. “And no, you can’t save up all week and have 14 drinks on Saturday.” 7. Belong to a community Buettner and his team have interviewed 263 centenarians over the years and all but five of them belonged to some faith-based community. The denomination doesn’t seem to matter, however, attending faith-based services four times per month will add between four and 14 years to your life, research suggests. 8. Put your loved ones first “You do you” may be the mantra for many Western communities in particular, but Blue Zoners put their families first. “This means keeping ageing parents and grandparents nearby or in the home ([which] lowers disease and mortality rates of children in the home too.)” Buettner states, as well as committing to a life partner. It also means investing time and love in your kids, who are then more likely to care for you later on. 9. Surround yourself with good friends Social networks are key. And no, we don’t mean Facebook. The world’s longest-living people are part of friendship groups that commit to each other and encourage each other to follow healthy behaviours. Studies suggest that smoking, obesity, happiness, and even loneliness are contagious, so if you surround yourself with happy and healthy people, you’re more likely to enjoy the same benefits. Conclusion So if we follow these “Power 9” habits, we’ll all live to 100? Not necessarily. Buettner has conceded that “to make it to age 100, you have to have won the genetic lottery”. However, he also stresses that “most of us have the capacity to make it well into our early 90s and largely without chronic disease” if we adopt a Blue Zones lifestyle. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Millions of people fly on airplanes each year, so it's easy to imagine how germs and bacteria can grow in certain places - and why passengers bring anti-bacterial wipes with them. Now, one Master of Science student (@The_lab_life1) decided to see for herself by swabbing different areas of the airplane - and the results are interesting. As part of her TikTok series "What Will Grow?" the TikToker boarded a flight and then filmed herself swabbing a head rest, a tray table, the bathroom lock and handle. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter (With safety gloves on, of course). She then brought those swab samples back to the lab where she had to "make a lawn" as she swiped each of the samples across different petri dishes and then stored them away to wait for the results. After an undisclosed amount of time, the TikToker got the petri dishes out to see what happened to them. First up, the head rest sample had white spots all around it, as it contained: "M. luteus," "Streptococcus sp." and "N.subflava," as well as "M.Smegmatis." @the_lab_life1 Much better than expected, all pretty normal flora bacteria ?? #fyp #science #lab #whatwillgrow While the tray table sample had some tiny spots along with lighter shapes around the edges, and listed it as "B.subtilis," and bathroom lock and handle had yellow and white spots in it's petri dish also, which turned out to be "M. luteus," "Staphylococcus sp." and "Streptococcus sp." In the caption, the scientist gave her verdict: "Much better than expected, all pretty normal flora bacteria." The video has since gone viral with 1.3m views as people left their thoughts in the comment section. One person wrote: "Be right back, need to go wash my hair …. Again." Though when another asked if this was all bad bacteria, the TikTok replied: "No actually most of it is very normal and not harmful!" Someone else questioned: "How scared did that make the people sitting next you?" To which she replied: "I waited till they were asleep, didn’t wanna freak them out." Others made their fear of bacteria and germs known after watching the video. "This is why I bring my wipes everywhere better than nothing," one person said. Another wrote: "This made me not wanna ever go on an airplane." "I will never be embarrassed about wiping down my area on the flight ever again," someone else commented. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Dylan Jones had one condition when he came out of retirement to edit the London Evening Standard: don’t