For a quarter-century, researchers and the general public have sought to understand why people in so-called "Blue Zones" live to 100 at far greater rates than anywhere else.
Saul Newman, a researcher at the University College London (UCL), believes he has the answer: actually, they don't.
Rather than lifestyle factors such as diet or social connections, he says, the apparent longevity of people in five regions -- Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California -- can be explained by pension fraud, clerical errors, and a lack of reliable birth and death records.
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