In 2004 Dan Buettner headed a team with National Geographic and researchers of longevity to find places around the world where people lived longer. They named these places the Blue Zones. Buettner identified five geographic areas where people live statistically the longest: Okinawa (Japan); Sardinia (Italy); Nicoya (Costa Rica); Icaria (Greece) and Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda, California. They learned that people in these locations reached the age 100 at rates much greater than the national average in the United States. In Loma Linda, CA, Seventh Day Adventists live 10 years longer than the average North American does. In Icaria, Greece, an April 2009 study on the island of Icaria uncovered the location with the highest percentage of 90-year-olds on the planet – nearly 1 out of 3 people make it to their 90s. Furthermore, Icarians “have about 20 percent lower rates of cancer, 50 percent lower rates of heart disease and almost no dementia.” quoted from:. The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest