被死神遗忘的小岛

You know, making it to 90 years old is pretty impressive in much of the world. But on a tiny Greek island in the North Aegean Sea called Icaria, 1)nonagenarians barely merit a second glance. Icaria could be the newest of the worlds so-called *Blue Zones. Theyre places where the people have unusually long life spans.

Dan Buettner has crossed the globe many times over the years in search of these Blue Zones, and he recently teamed up with the 2)AARP and National Geographic to study Icaria. He is joining us now from Athens, Greece.

你们知道吗，在世界上的大多数地方，能活到九十岁是一件让人刮目相看的事，但在北爱琴海一个叫伊卡里亚的希腊小岛上，人们并不把九十来岁的人当回事儿。伊卡里亚有可能成为世界上最新的蓝区地区，蓝区里的人通常寿命都很长。

这些年，丹·比特纳多次遍访世界各地，寻找蓝区。最近，他和美国退休人员协会和《国家地理》杂志一起对伊卡里亚进行研究。他在希腊的雅典连线参加我们的节目。

Host: Mr. Buettner, how are you?

Dan: Phenomenal. Good to hear from you.

Host: So how exactly did you pinpoint this little island?

Dan: Well, I work with a team of demographers in Europe who basically look at census data throughout the globe. And we brought a team there and we found out that this has the highest percentage of 90-year-olds of any place else in the world. About one out of three people hit 90 here. And they have 20% lower rates of cancer, 50% lower rate of heart disease, and almost no 3)dementia.

Host: And just kind of learning about your work now, I mean Im imagining people doing like 15 4)jumping jacks at age 90 in the morning drinking a lot of fruit shakes. I mean is that whats going on or not really?

Dan: No. You know, about 20% of how long we live is dictated by our genes. The other 80% is lifestyle. They live in these mountain villages that nudge them into everyday physical activity. They have gardens. If they go to the church or they go to their friends house, it always occasions a small walk. But that adds up burning much more calories than going to a gym for 20 minutes a day.

They also have a diet thats very interesting. Its very high in olive oil. Its very high in fruits and vegetables. Its very high in this type of green. About 150 greens grow wild there and these greens have somewhere around 10 times the level of 5)antioxidants of red wine. And also, interestingly, they dont eat fish very much. Pirates had pushed this culture up into the highlands of Icaria. They couldnt depend on the sea as much as you might think.

Host: The fish industry is probably going to be very angry that we just said that. So anything different or surprising here compared to your other work?

Dan: Yes. What you see among these people is theyre drinking herbal teas every single day, morning and night. We had five of these herbal teas sent to Athens and analyzed for their chemical composition, and we found out that most of them were 6)diuretics. It turns out that diuretics actually lower blood pressure. So when youre chronically lowering blood pressure every day with these herbal teas, that does help explain why theres lower rates of heart disease. And thats something we havent seen in Okinawa or Costa Rica or Sardinia or any of the other Blue Zones.

Host: Dan, thank you for being with us.

Dan: Live large.

Host: You too, man.

主持人：比特纳先生，你好吗？丹：很好。听到你的声音很愉快。

主持人：你究竟是如何找到这个小岛的？

丹：呃，我通常在欧洲与一群人口学家一起工作，他们主要是研究全球的人口普查数据。我们带了一组人去伊卡里亚岛，发现那里九十岁以上的人占当地人口比例是全世界最高的，大概每三人中就有一人会活到九十岁。他们患上癌症的几率要低20%，心脏病低50%，而且几乎没有人患上老人痴呆。

主持人：我也只是现在才知晓你的工作，我是说，在我的想象中，那些人九十岁了会在早上做15个跳跃运动，喝很多水果饮料。事实是这样的吗，还是说这些都不准确？

丹：不对。你知道吗，我们寿命的长短有20%是由我们的基因决定的，另外那80%的决定因素则是我们的生活方式。岛上的人在山村里生活，这促使他们每天都需要做些体力活动。他们有自己的花园。如果他们想去教堂或者是拜访朋友，他们都需要走一小段路。这些活动加起来所消耗的热量比你每天在健身房做20分钟运动消耗的还要多。

他们的饮食也很有意思。他们食用大量的橄榄油，大量的水果和蔬菜，很多这类绿色食物。那里有大约一百五十种野生绿色食物，这些绿色食物所含的抗氧化剂是红酒的十倍。还有，有意思的是，他们不怎么吃鱼，因为海盗当年把这些人都赶到伊卡里亚的高地上去了，他们并不像大家想象的那般依赖海里的食物。

主持人：我们刚才的话大概会惹渔业人士不高兴了。那与你其他的研究相比，岛上有没有什么不同寻常的现象，或者有什么惊喜吗？

丹：有。你会看到岛上的人每天都在喝凉茶，不分白天黑夜地喝。我们把其中的五样送到雅典去做化验，分析他们的化学成份，发现它们的主要成份是利尿剂。结果表明利尿剂确实能够降血压。也就是说，他们长期利用这些凉茶来降血压，这也正好说明他们心脏病发病率低的原因。这一点是我们在像冲绳、哥斯达黎加和撒丁岛等其他蓝区都没有发现的。

主持人：丹，谢谢你参与我们的节目。

丹：好好生活。

主持人：彼此彼此，伙计。翻译：丁一

文化交流站

Blue Zone 蓝区。这是美国人丹·比特纳首创的概念，他把世界上一些人均寿命很长的地区称为Blue Zone。目前，被列入蓝区的地方有意大利的撒丁岛、日本的冲绳县和美国加利福尼亚州的蒙特雷和罗马琳达等。