The Adventist Church has been promoting a healthy lifestyle to anyone who would listen since its inception. Today members congregating in Adventist-saturated locales have generated Blue Zones, or longevity spots. Loma Linda is now known as one of five Blue Zones in the world and the only one in the United States.
“Studies have shown that Seventh-day Adventists, who have a broad range of ethnic backgrounds, live as much as a decade longer than the rest of us,” writes Marcy MacVean of the Los Angeles Times.
“Not only do Adventists live an average of 10 years longer, they also get less heart disease, cancer and disabilities,” says Lisa Sigell, a reporter for CBS 2 and KCAL 9. “A spin class at a local [Loma Linda] fitness center is as fierce as it gets and the regular riders are all over 60,” she remarks in surprise. Sigell also calls Adventists’ longevity the “Gift of Time.”
According to Juliette Steen, associate food editor of Huffington Post, Australia, “There are three key aspects to Blue Zones: diet, meaningful activity, and community and family engagement.”