Though there is no short-term fix for longevity, there are several simple things people can implement into their lives to live longer, healthier lives.

That was the message Blue Zones founder and author Dan Buettner portrayed Thursday night as he talked about the people he’s met around the world who live the longest, most-fulfilling lives.

During a presentation before about 200 people in the Albert Lea High School auditorium, Buettner, a Minnesota native, shared what he’s learned from the world’s four Blue Zones — or places where people live the longest — and invited people to take part in his upcoming quest to discover the fifth Blue Zone in Icaria, Greece.

It was a presentation of inspiration and hope.

“I’m just excited,” said Karen Bell, site supervisor for Head Start. “It’s so basic and so down to earth.”

Bell, who has a 5-year-old grandson, said she wants to be around when he graduates college. Buettner’s presentation gave her hope to change so this could be possible, she said.

Buettner said he’s spent seven years studying the Blue Zones with a team of scientists. The four Blue Zones identified are Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Loma Linda, Calif.; and the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica.

He describes his encounters in these Blue Zones in a book titled “The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who Have Lived the Longest.”

In Sardinia, people’s longevity secrets date back to the time of Christ, he said. The men spend their days as shepherds, walking on average six miles a day.

Blue Zones founder Dan Buettner on Thursday shared three beliefs about longevity he said are incorrect.

Longevity myth No.1: “If I try really hard, I can live to be 100.”

Buettner said a person who is 40 right now has a one in 65 chance of reaching 100 if they’re a man and a one in 35 chance if they’re a woman.

The human body is made for procreative success — made to have children and to then make sure our children have children.

Longevity myth No. 2: “Treatment exists that can slow aging.”

Buettner said the human body has 35 trillion cells that turn themselves over about every eight years. Every time they’re turned over they’re damaged.

That’s why a 65-year-old woman ages at a rate more than 100 times greater than a 12-year-old girl.

Longevity myth No. 3: “I can’t do anything to extend my life.”

Buettner said the best scientists in the world have stated the average person should be able to reach age 90.

Their towns were walkable, and their diet consisted of a whole wheat unleavened bread, cheese from grass-fed animals and wine, Buettner said. Every night the people go to the town square to interact. They have a different attitude toward aging, and many times grandparents live with the families.

In Okinawa, the people there live seven good years longer than average Americans. They have one-fifth the rate of breast and colon cancers, he said.

The people eat a plant-based diet with lots of tofu and say three simple words before every meal to remind themselves to stop eating when they’re 80 percent full.

If the average American could stop eating when they’re 80 percent full, they could lose 17 pounds in their first year, Buettner said.

Okinawans also have close social networks that begin when they are children.

In Loma Linda, which is home to the highest percentage of Seventh-day Adventists in the world, the people place a strong focus on their Sabbath, when they take nature hikes, focus on their God and build their families, he said.

The people take their diet directly from the Bible, eating a plant-based diet and mostly avoiding meat.

Buettner talked of the importance of volunteering.

In the Nicoya Peninsula, he explained, he found eight simple secrets that the people there were implementing. Among these eight secrets include the secrets of a diet of fortified corn and beans, water with the highest calcium content in the world, having a family focus, eating a light dinner, living in a dry climate, have social networks, working, and having a strong sense of purpose.

Buettner said he’s been an explorer for 23 years, and he knows that in modern-day expeditions, explorers need to come back information people can actually use in their lives.

The lessons he learned from these Blue Zones can be summarized in four categories: Move naturally, right outlook, eat wisely and connect.

The people in each of the Blue Zones moved naturally, took time to downshift each day and had a sense of purpose, he said. They drank wine daily, eat a plant-based diet and stopped eating when they were 80 percent full. They also put their families first, belonged to a faith-based community and had friends who were positive impacts on their lives.

Buettner said if people picked five of the nine characteristics and implemented them into their lives, it would give the average person five extra years in life.

He explained that the idea is to take these principles and apply them to the people of Albert Lea during the next six months, with a goal of adding 10,000 years of life to the people.

As part of the City Health Makeover put on by Blue Zones and AARP — which is now being called the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project — he and other leaders from both of the organizations will unveil a plan May 14 of what some of the simple things people can implement into their life that will have long-term impacts.

On April 20 through May 1, Buettner will explore the longevity of the people of Icaria.

He said Icaria, which has been called the island of health, may be the greatest Blue Zone ever found.

Joel Spoonheim, Blue Zones health initiative director, asked people to consider getting involved in the vitality project, to try to recruit 5,000 people to participate in it.

He reminded people that Albert Lea has been chosen as the only city in America and in the world for the pilot project.

“Get involved so you, too, can live longer, better,” Spoonheim said.

Read about Buettner visiting with Albert Lea schoolchildren.