BLUE ZONE - LOMA LINDA

When one thinks of California, many things come to mind, but certainly not health, long life, and mental acuity past the age of 100. Yet, only 94 kilometers from Los Angeles, in a small town called Loma Linda, lies the world's fourth Blue Zone.

It all seems quite surreal, because while we can imagine a Blue Zone anywhere in Japan. While most people don't even know where Costa Rica is, making it an instant Blue Zone experience. We even say the Italians are a Blue Zone, fine, no problem, thank you for the caprese and Amalfi.  Greece has seas, strong historical vibes, we believe in the Blue Zone, but a Blue Zone in the darn United States, seriously? A fairly universal part of humanity views the US as one of the world's most obese and superficial nations, not to mention cognitive abilities.

The point is that the city of Loma Linda in California is a Blue Zone, with an exceptionally high life expectancy relative to its population, and much healthier indicators than the average. When I first studied the Loma Linda lifestyle and sought to understand how this area became a Blue Zone, the Seventh-day Adventist Church immediately came up as the answer. Adventists not only take healthy living seriously but consider it an integral and expected part of their daily lives. Like prayer beads for Krishnas. They might not feel like chanting 108 times, but if their community requires it, they do it because they chose this path. Adventists chose a healthy lifestyle, and they outlined these in points, which they adhere to under all circumstances.

1. No smoking.

2. Regular exercise. I also read something to the effect that Adventists believe Jesus lives in them, and if so, then their bodies should be kept in a state worthy of this. 

3. Following a vegetarian diet, but not within strict limits. This is more of a recommendation than a strict rule for them, but the essence is that Adventists should strive to consume as many vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and seeds as possible.

4. Water. They love it. At least 2.5 liters/day.

5. Rest and sleep are extremely important to them, for which they also have a pretty good saying, which goes something like: without a rested brain, there is no mental freshness; without adequate sleep, not only the organs but also the soul cannot recharge.

6. Faith and trust in God, which provide structure and steadfastness in their daily lives.

At this point, I want to state that I have always kept TILT, and will continue to keep Tiian, away from any religion. Not because I don't believe in anything, but because I consider it, quite literally, everyone's most sacred private matter, if I may play with that word a little. I am writing about the Adventist church now because in the Loma Linda Blue Zone, followers of the Adventist church are the only ones who have achieved the privilege of being among the 5 locations out of millions worldwide where people live the longest on Earth. So there is no proselytizing here, just a simple factual account, an introduction to the Adventist lifestyle, which may be one condition for explaining the extension of biological age.

Let's move on, as I have moved on, because something here didn't sit right with me. This Adventist story sounded familiar. I was sure that the Adventist church didn't consist solely of Loma Linda's 24,791 inhabitants, and I was also sure that we were talking about a world religion, so I looked it up and found this:

“The Seventh-day Adventist Church is one of the fastest-growing Protestant churches in the world, with a unified global organization. It has nearly 20 million active, baptized members, who live their faith in an organized manner in 216 out of 237 countries worldwide.”

I don't know if my concern here is clear. If the Adventist lifestyle is so superior, why don't all 20 million members live to a higher-than-average age? And even more importantly, if Adventists in Loma Linda are Blue Zoners, then in all 217 countries where they are present, there should be at least 217 Blue Zones, but arguably many more, because for example, in the United States alone, there are almost 900 towns with 1,200 Adventist churches, meaning there should be at least that many Adventist locations. 

Why are only Adventists living in Loma Linda considered Blue Zoners? And indeed, does the Adventist religion play any role in the high life expectancy in the Blue Zones? I would say no, but I'm leaning towards yes. To understand this, we need to know why Adventists in Loma Linda are Blue Zoners, and why, for instance, Adventists living 2,500 kilometers away in Texas are not. Following the Adventist lifestyle is an important factor in achieving old age, as we can see in other Blue Zones, but in this case, religion is important more for the cohesive power of the community.

But then, what makes people live so long in Loma Linda? 

It's because Loma Linda is home to one of the world's most advanced and excellent research hospitals, which has been involved in numerous pioneering developments and historically significant research, and coincidentally, this hospital, founded in 1905, is owned by the Adventist church. That's fine, but just because there's a star prison in Szeged doesn't mean everyone in the city is a convict. With this excellent example, I sought a new answer as to why the incidence of ovarian cancer is 65% lower, or why there are 40% fewer heart diseases in a small town with a world-class hospital. No one in Soroksár lived 20 years longer just because they lived next to the Jahn Ferenc Hospital. 

But in Loma Linda, they do. 

In Loma Linda, there was first a hospital, and the city grew up around the hospital, not the other way around. Thus, the entire population of Loma Linda was 100% connected to the hospital, and the city itself was founded by the hospital staff and their relatives, all of whom happened to be Adventists.

Imagine a hospital that, over the years, becomes a leading medical center in the world, attracting highly knowledgeable doctors from various parts of the globe, accumulating material and medical knowledge, and evolving with a population where every resident is somehow connected to the city's medical center. Loma Linda is very important to the Adventist church because, although the Adventist church was founded in 1863, the connection between Adventism and a healthy lifestyle is often dated to 1905, which we can link to nothing else but the Loma Linda Medical Center in San Bernardino County. This city is the Mecca, or if you prefer, the Jerusalem, of Adventists.

The secret to long life in Loma Linda is therefore nothing other than a consciously created lifestyle within one of the most excellent medical institutions, validated with the participation of 34,000 Adventists over the age of 25. While in the secluded mountains of Nicoya and Sardinia, where the nearest light bulb was 150 kilometers away and people lived and ate instinctively whatever they found, living according to what life brought them, Loma Linda is a Gattaca-level, quasi-social experiment, involving the highest level of medical science at all times. In Loma Linda, everything was created on a medical basis and validated by research. The diet, the quality of rest, the intensity and form of exercise, all the way to the beneficial effect of community on the mind. The role of family is not as important in Loma Linda, because for them, the religious denomination itself is family. Although I don't necessarily consider it essential, I have summarized why this particular hospital became the IL Capo dei Capi of the world's hospitals.

NASA has a dedicated section at Loma Linda Hospital and regularly conducts medical research.  This hospital performed the first successful heart surgery on infants, and it houses the world's only hospital-operated proton beam center, located in the children's clinic. The American Cancer Society's premier research hospital is LLUMC, and it is also one of the world's most respected research universities; many believe it is harder to get into than Columbia or the Mayo Clinic. 

So much for the background, now to the essence. The lifestyle, and primarily the components of the Loma Linda lifestyle that allowed this small town, among other things, to become the world's fourth Blue Zone.

Adventists believe in a form of alternative intermittent fasting, where they eat within a 10-hour window, consuming most of their food during the first hours of this window (breakfast). To put it more simply, eat more in the morning and, if possible, not much at all in the evening. The Loma Linda diet, in contrast to other Blue Zones, uses many ingredients, especially fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Additionally, they have many dessert ideas, obviously from the healthy range, which seems a bit strange to me at first, but they are surely right. On the one hand, because it is a scientifically formulated diet, and on the other hand, because very few obese Adventists are seen. Though I've never seen a pregnant Chinese person in my life either, so perhaps that's not a good starting point.

The ingredient list

Banana, blueberry, peach, cantaloupe, mango, apple, pineapple, coconut, strawberry, oatmeal, chia seeds, spinach, flaxseed, almond, cashew, walnut, pecan, granola, turmeric, onion, garlic, olive oil, paprika, beans, rice, brown rice, quinoa, chickpeas, potato, green beans, tomato, avocado, cucumber, olives, cornflakes, lentils, hummus, tofu, carrots, yellow peas, chickpeas, milk, oat milk, coconut milk, tuna, beef, chicken, salmon

In Loma Linda, there is no romance, no hidden landscapes, no people living in mountains emerging from behind waterfalls. Loma Linda looks like a perfectly average American small town, barely 45 km from Los Angeles. The secret of Loma Linda is infinitely simple. The residents of Loma Linda live more consciously in terms of lifestyle and more disciplined in a medical sense than most of the most developed countries. In Loma Linda, showing up for screening tests is natural, and they immediately respond to their body's faulty signals by seeking medical help. 

Despite everything I've listed here, a strange feeling of unanswered questions lingered in me, which I didn't feel in the other Blue Zones. In Okinawa, the thought never arose: are they living so long because of this? Somehow, regarding Loma Linda, I still don't feel that yes, this is certainly why there is longevity here. Maybe it's just because Loma Linda is almost a suburb of Los Angeles, and somehow we don't associate any health or a long, happy, conscious life with city life, especially not with Los Angeles. I think this might be something like how everyone can easily look within themselves and delve into their thoughts in the forest, but if I say that there are spaces in Józsefváros (a district in Budapest) where this could also be done, no one would believe me. Yet Loma Linda is the example that a long life, even past 85, with a sound mind, can exist even in urban conditions.

Loma Linda is the bridge between the insane world we know and the healthy life dreamed of in rainforests, on mountain slopes, or on tourist-free beaches. Personally, Loma Linda is my favorite Blue Zone. Maybe it's just because it seems so attainable. 

The complete Loma Linda lifestyle will be available for download from September 16th on the Tiian Store.