There’s a relatively small but robust American religion that seems to keep people healthy and sharp well into advanced age. Like Okinawa and Iceland, a place called Loma Linda, California, where many of this religion live, is considered a “longevity hot spot.” It was featured in the film How to Live Forever, which I reviewed recently, and in the book The Blue Zones, a study of places where people live to 100 at 10 times the rate of people in the US.
That religion is Seventh Day Adventist, and a new study reiterates what others have learned in the past: That something about the way Seventh Day Adventists live results in long, happy lives. This most recent study looked at African-American Adventists and found that, despite the fact that African-Americans generally experience worse health than whites, African-American Adventists don’t experience these disparities. On the contrary, they report better physical and mental quality of life than non-Adventist white Americans.
“This difference is particularly pronounced in older age groups, who progressively demonstrate increased mental health — lower depression, more energy, feeling more calm and peaceful — relative to the general population,” said Dr. Jerry Lee, principal investigator for Loma Linda University’s Adventist Religion and Health Study in a statement. “This could be a result of the healthy lifestyle choices that are built into the Adventist faith.”
Seventh Day Adventists are traditionally vegetarians and avoid alcohol and tobacco, and are supposed to set aside Saturday for religion and restful family time. About 95% of the African-American Adventists studied attended church at least weekly. Nobody can say how much the various aspects of this lifestyle contribute to long, happy lives—is it the vegetarianism, the alcohol abstinence, the faith, the mental health benefits of a strong community? And it’s no doubt a combination of them all. For an intriguing list of things you can do to live longer, which (mostly) mirror the habits of the Seventh Day Adventists, check out the Power Nine, a set of habits that the authors of The Blue Zones have learned result in happy longevity.
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