Scientific validity of blue zones longevity research confirmed

New peer reviewed study, co-authored by AFAR Scientific Director Steven N. Austad, PhD, rebuts recent claims questioning the authenticity of the world’s longest-lived populations

American Federation for Aging Research

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New York, NY, Birmingham, AL, & Sassari, Italy — A new peer-reviewed paper published in The Gerontologist  provides the most comprehensive scientific response to date addressing recent critiques of the so-called “blue zones,” regions of the world known for unusually high concentrations of people living long, healthy lives.

In the article, “The validity of blue zones demography: a response to critiques,” authors Steven N. Austad, PhD (Scientific Director, American Federation for Aging Research/AFAR and Distinguished Professor, Protective Life Endowed Chair in Healthy Aging Research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham) and Giovanni M. Pes, MD (Professor of Medicine at the University of Sassari) detail decades of demographic research showing that ages in the original blue zones have been rigorously validated using the highest standards of modern gerontological demography. 

The researchers bring comprehensive global expertise in aging research: Dr. Pes is a discoverer of the original blue zone in Sardinia, Italy. In addition to serving as AFAR’s Scientific Director, Dr. Austad is the Co-Principal Investigator of the National Institute on Aging’s Nathan Shock Centers of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging Coordinating Center; his trade book, Why We Age (1997, 1999), has been translated into eight languages.

“Extraordinary claims about longevity demand extraordinary evidence,” said Dr. Austad. “What we show in this paper is that the original blue zones meet — and often exceed — the strict validation criteria used worldwide to confirm exceptional human longevity.”

Published on December 17, 2025, in The Gerontologist, a leading peer-reviewed journal of the Gerontological Society of America, the article is open access and available online here.

Addressing Recent Critiques
In recent years, some commentators outside the field of demographic gerontology have questioned whether reported ages in blue zones reflect errors, fraud, or poor record-keeping. Austad and Pes explain that such skepticism, while healthy in principle, often overlooks a century and a half of methodological advances designed specifically to detect and eliminate false age claims.

The authors outline how blue zones research relies on multiple independent documentary sources, including civil birth and death records, church archives, genealogical reconstruction, military and electoral registries, and in-person interviews. Cases that cannot be conclusively validated are systematically excluded.

“These methods were developed precisely because age exaggeration has been common throughout history,” said Dr. Pes. “Blue zones are not based on self-report. They are based on painstaking cross-checking of records, often going back more than a century.”

 

Four blue zones, independently validated
The paper reviews age-validation procedures in the four original and most widely studied blue zones:

• Sardinia, Italy
• Okinawa, Japan
• Ikaria, Greece
• Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica

Each region was shown to have an unusually high probability of survival to age 90 and beyond, confirmed through independent demographic systems and archival records. Importantly, the authors emphasize that blue zones were never defined by a handful of extreme outliers, but by population-level survival patterns that are statistically robust.

 

Blue zones are Not Static — and That Matters
The authors also note that blue zones are not permanent. Modernization, migration, and lifestyle changes can weaken or erase once-exceptional longevity patterns, as seen in Okinawa and parts of Nicoya. Conversely, new candidate blue zones have begun to emerge elsewhere in the world, underscoring the importance of continuous validation.

“The fact that blue zones can appear and disappear actually strengthens their scientific value,” said Austad. “It allows researchers to study how social, cultural, and lifestyle factors influence healthy aging over time.”

These global trends in longevity deceleration, and their implications for valuable public health interventions to extend healthspan, will be explored in forthcoming research co-authored by Austad and Pes with renowned biodemographer and gerontologist S. Jay Olshansky, PhD, to be published in 2026.

 

Implications for Global Health and Aging Research
By reaffirming the validity of blue zones demography, the authors argue that these regions remain among the most valuable natural laboratories for understanding healthy aging. While genetics may play a role, evidence increasingly points toward lifestyle, diet, physical activity, and social connection as central contributors to long life with low rates of chronic disease.

Beyond blue zones, long-lived individuals are inspiring a range of research studies. The AFAR SuperAgers Family Study at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, for example, aims to identify inherited and natural factors that slow aging and protect against age related disease by comparing traits in people aged 95+ across the United States and their adult children to traits in older adults whose parents were not SuperAgers; the data from this study will be used to create a large biorepository for future research about healthy aging.

Dan Buettner, National Geographic Fellow and creator of the worldwide blue zones concept, notes: “At a time when populations around the world are aging rapidly, it is essential that public discussion and promising interventions be grounded in sound science. Blue zones continue to offer real, validated insights into how we all can live healthier, longer. As Americans are making resolutions for the New Year, the lessons from the world’s longest-lived people might offer sound strategy for a healthier 2026.” 

 

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About AFAR — The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) is a national non-profit organization that supports and advances pioneering biomedical research that is revolutionizing how we live healthier and longer. For nearly half a century, AFAR has served as the field’s talent incubator, providing $225,316,000 to 4,539 investigators at premier research institutions to date—and growing. In 2025, AFAR expects to provide approximately $12,816,000 to 79 investigators through a range of programs. A trusted leader and strategist, AFAR also works with public and private funders to steer high quality grant programs and inter-disciplinary research networks. AFAR-funded researchers are finding that modifying basic cellular processes can delay—or even prevent—many chronic diseases, often at the same time. They are discovering that it is never too late—or too early—to improve health. This groundbreaking science is paving the way for innovative new therapies that promise to improve and extend our quality of life—at any age. Learn more at www.afar.org.

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Journal

The Gerontologist

DOI

10.1093/geront/gnaf246 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

The validity of Blue Zones demography: a response to critiques

 

As flu cases surge, why don’t more people vaccinate?

Cornell University

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ITHACA, N.Y. -- Flu infections are rising sharply across the United States, contributing to at least​ 81,000 hospitalizations and ​3,100 deaths so far this season, according to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.​ As flu outbreaks increase, why are people getting vaccinated at lower rates, seemingly against their self-interest?

A Cornell psychology professor argues in new research that scholars of rational decision-making and many public health professionals have misunderstood how people make such decisions: based less on raw facts than intuition about them, and how that “gist” aligns with their core values.

In a pair of studies testing competing theories, two general questions that elicited participants’ overall sense of risks and benefits explained vaccine hesitancy significantly better than the more precise, quantitative measures long favored by economists and psychologists. Categorizations of risks and benefits simply as none, low, medium or high significantly predicted whether people intended to get a vaccine or not. Study participants who perceived benefits as none or low, or risks as medium or high, tended to not vaccinate, for example.

“We make decisions based on the bottom-line gist of information: What does all this information boil down to? What’s the decision really about?” said Valerie Reyna, the Lois and Melvin Tukman Professor of Human Development in the Department of Psychology and College of Human Ecology. “If we know the essence of how someone feels about these ideas, we can explain and predict their intentions with respect to vaccination.”

Reyna, director of the Lab for Rational Decision Making, is the first author of “A New Look at Vaccination Behaviors and Intentions: The Case of Influenza,” published Nov. 29 in Behavioral Sciences. 

Classic decision theories – with names like “reasoned action” and “planned behavior” – emphasize tradeoffs between good or bad outcomes and their probabilities, assuming that rational mechanisms explain and predict behavior. Newer “dual process” theories contrast impulsive and deliberative systems, suggesting people make better decisions when engaging the latter.

“All of these modern models essentially augment that core idea of a rational person making a decision about vaccination,” Reyna said. “Somehow, that doesn’t seem to describe the current context we’re in for most people.”

As a developer of “fuzzy trace” theory, Reyna proposes that two key processes drive decision-making: encoding of literal facts, and creation of meaning about those facts based on one’s background and experiences.

The new research asked more than 700 college students and nearly 200 community members whether they had received a flu vaccine in the past year or intended to get one (substantial numbers in both samples were unvaccinated). Participants answered questions relevant to classic, dual process and fuzzy trace theories, including about their knowledge of and access to flu vaccines; their precise perception of risk on a scale from zero to 100; and their overall sense of the vaccine’s risks and benefits.

Among the younger adults, vaccine knowledge and accessibility explained only 14% of the variation in intentions to get flu vaccines. That total jumped to 58% when considering responses to the gist questions. In the community sample, similarly, gist questions improved the ability to predict vaccination intentions from 57% to 80%.

“Part of our mind looks at details and precise facts, but the other part of our mind looks at the bottom-line, qualitative gist – and that’s the more determinative part,” Reyna said.  “People form a global impression of what they are told and experience, for example, ‘Overall, I think the benefits from vaccination are high and the risks are nil.’ That would be a gist for people who get vaccinated, and that’s what we showed.”

The research suggests opportunities to reduce vaccine hesitancy through sustained communication that incorporates gist principles, in contrast to prevailing approaches that rely on lists of facts and trust in experts. Sharing basic background knowledge – such as the difference between viruses and bacteria, or how vaccines naturally enlist immune systems – is essential but not sufficient, Reyna said. Facts must be put into context to enable a conceptual, gist understanding. Then practitioners must explain how vaccine risks and benefits map onto core values – a desire to keep family and neighbors safe, for example, or to make free and informed choices.

“If you follow that recipe, you will be much more likely to make a difference with people, according to our research,” Reyna said. “You have to take the right approach, and it’s fundamentally different from what we’re currently doing.”

The research received support from the National Institute of Standards and Technology; the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and the Institute for Trustworthy AI and Society, where Reyna is a lead faculty member.

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Journal

Behavioral Sciences

DOI

10.3390/bs15121645 

Article Title

A New Look at Vaccination Behaviors and Intentions: The Case of Influenza

 

From pint to plate: scientists brew up a new way to grow meat

University College London

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Yeast left over from brewing beer can be transformed into edible ‘scaffolds’ for cultivated meat – sometimes known as lab-grown meat – which could offer a more sustainable, cost-effective alternative to current methods, according to a new study from UCL (University College London) researchers.

‘Nose to tail’ eating, which emphasises the use of the whole animal, has long been an ethos of sustainability-conscious chefs and diners. But as cultivated meat comes closer to supermarket shelves, a new innovation could see a ‘pint to plate’ approach to serving up burgers and steaks.

The new study, published in Frontiers in Nutrition, explores how bacterial cellulose grown from yeast left over from brewing beer can be used to grow cultivated meat, an emerging form of food production that grows animal cells on an edible scaffold in the lab.

In nature, cellulose is a hardy substance that gives structure to plant cells. Similarly, bacterial cellulose is created by microbes to create a protective layer around the organism’s cells.

Historically, bacterial cellulose has been used to make nata de coco, a jelly-like dessert from the Philippines. But in recent years, improvements in cultivating both plant and bacterial cellulose have seen their useful properties applied to everything from plant-based foods to 3D-printed bandages.

Now researchers believe that bacterial cellulose may be able to help solve the challenge of creating affordable, edible scaffolds that replicate the texture and structure of animal tissue to grow animal cells on, which has hampered the cultivated meat industry’s ability to scale up and bring products to market.

One untapped source of bacterial cellulose is brewer’s spent yeast, a by-product of beer fermentation that often ends up being thrown away.

Professor Richard Day, senior author of the study from UCL Division of Medicine, said: “Cultivated meat has the potential to revolutionise food production, but its success depends on overcoming key technical challenges.

“While it’s relatively easy to grow animal cells for mass food production you need to be able to grow them on something cheap, edible and that preferably provides a structure that resembles real meat.

“Our research shows that brewing waste, which is often discarded, can be repurposed to grow bacterial cellulose with properties suitable for meat scaffolding. This could significantly reduce costs and environmental impact.”

For the proof-of-concept study, researchers from UCL collected spent yeast from the Big Smoke Brewing Company in Esher, Surrey, and used it to culture Komagataeibacter xylinus, a bacterium known for producing high-quality cellulose.

The resulting cellulose was tested using a ‘chewing machine’ – a probe that repeatedly compresses a substance while measuring forces like chewiness, hardness and stickiness – to assess its structural and mechanical properties.

The team found that when used in place of a conventional nutrient broth used for growing the bacteria, the beer waste produced bacterial cellulose of equal quality, which was actually closer in texture to natural meat products, with lower hardness and chewiness than ‘standard’ cellulose.

Most importantly, when animal cells (fibroblasts, a cell type found in meat) were placed on the beer waste-derived scaffold they attached to it, indicating that the material can support cell growth for cultivated meat production – though the researchers stress that the project is at an early stage and further work is needed.

The team plan to further develop the approach by incorporating other cell types found in natural meat, such as fat and muscle cells. They also plan to test spent yeast from different types of beer to assess bacterial cellulose yields and the quality of the resulting scaffolds.

Christian Harrison, the study’s first author and a PhD student from UCL Division of Medicine, said: “One of the biggest hurdles in cultivated meat is replicating the ‘mouthfeel’ and texture of real meat. Our findings suggest that bacterial cellulose grown on brewing waste not only supports cell growth but also mimics the mechanical properties of meat more closely than other scaffolds.

“This opens up exciting possibilities for scalable, sustainable meat alternatives. In this study we collected a relatively small amount of raw material from one craft brewery, that would otherwise have gone to waste. But huge volumes of brewing waste are generated each year that could have a valuable use.”

This research was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

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Journal

Frontiers in Nutrition

DOI

10.3389/fnut.2025.1656960 

 

Womens Orgasm-related laughing, crying, nosebleeds and more are normal, albeit rare

First study to break down how frequently, consistently women experience unusual responses and when

Northwestern University

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video: 

A total of 3,800 women viewed this short video, which was posted on social media, in which lead study author Dr. Lauren Streicher explains peri-orgasmic phenomena. The women could then answer a six-question, anonymous survey about unusual physical or emotional symptoms/responses they experience when they have an orgasm.

view more 

Credit: Lauren Streicher, Northwestern University

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• Anonymous survey found 2.3% of respondents self-identified as experiencing emotional, physical responses during orgasm
• While responses are rare, raising awareness of them can help reassure women the responses are within the realm of a normal sexual response
• ‘Women need to know that if they have uncontrollable peals of laughter every time they orgasm (and nothing was funny), they are not alone’

CHICAGO --- When some women orgasm, they experience unusual physical and emotional responses such as laughing, crying, headaches, tingling, foot pain, nosebleeds and more. Known as peri-orgasmic phenomena, the responses are not related to the normal physiology of an orgasm.

A new survey-based Northwestern University study is the first to break down how frequently and consistently women experience these responses, and when they’re more likely to occur (i.e. with a partner or during masturbation). 

While the study found these responses are rare — only 2.3% of the sample — the findings are necessary to raise awareness and help reassure women these responses are within the realm of a normal sexual response, said lead study author Dr. Lauren Streicher, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The findings also warrant further study to help women address their sexual health and well-being, she said. 

“While there have been case reports of women laughing, crying or having unusual physical symptoms during orgasm, this is the first study to characterize what these phenomena are, and when they are most likely to occur,” said Streicher, who also is the creator of COME AGAIN, a new science-based guide to sexual function for both health care professionals and non-health care professionals. “Women need to know that if they have uncontrollable peals of laughter every time they orgasm (and nothing was funny), they are not alone.”

The findings were published Dec. 29 in the Journal of Women’s Health. 

A total of 3,800 women viewed a short video posted on social media that explained peri-orgasmic phenomena. They could then answer a six-question, anonymous survey about unusual physical or emotional symptoms/responses they experience when they have an orgasm.

Of the 86 women (18 years old and up) who self-identified as experiencing peri-orgasmic phenomena, 61% reported experiencing physical symptoms, 88% reported experiencing emotional responses, more than half of respondents (52%) experienced more than one symptom and 21% experienced both physical and emotional symptoms. While most (69%) women experienced these symptoms only sometimes with orgasm, 17% experienced them consistently with orgasm. The majority of respondents (51%) experienced symptoms exclusively with partnered sexual activity, 9% during masturbation and 14% with use of a vibrator. 

Breakdown of the physical symptoms among the 86 survey respondents:

• Headache (33%) 
• Muscle weakness (24%) 
• Foot pain/tingling (19%) 
• Facial pain/itching/tingling (6%) 
• Sneezing (4%) 
• Yawning (3%) 
• Ear pain/other ear sensation (2%) 
• Nosebleed (2%)

Breakdown of the emotional symptoms among the 86 survey respondents:

• Crying (63%)
• Sadness or urge to cry with a positive sexual experience (43%)
• Laughing (43%)
• Hallucinations (4%)

Dr. James Simon, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at The George Washington University, is a study co-author.

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Journal

Journal of Women s Health

Article Title

Emotional and Physical Symptoms in Women with Peri-Orgasmic Phenomena