Guernsey's Journey to 100

In the United Kingdom's channel islands, a new frontier of health and longevity is being sought: a life expectancy of at least 100, and better health to go with it. The ambitious island of Guernsey has begun their journey towards a much longer, better life, and hopes to be the first area of the world to break the 100-year barrier.

On Friday, the 30th of June, the small island held a "Journey to 100" conference, which kicked off a ten-year project aimed at breaking the 100-year barrier. All day, twenty leading health, lifestyle and longevity experts shared their ideas on how we can extend our lives and improve our health, without massive costs to the system.

A castle in Guernsey.

So, what did we learn? First, we know that longevity is possible but challenging, as a multitude of individual and community factors have to be addressed. Fortunately, Guernsey's small size and population of about 63,000 makes it a good testing ground for new ideas. Other good news is that the longest-lived communities are not all that technologically advanced or dependent on pharmaceuticals and other medical interventions. Sense of purpose and meaning; little to no processed foods; moderate physical activity as an inseparable part of life and strong social connections form the foundations for their health. This is why reliance on drugs and technology does not equal longevity. People need a wide range of plants available as both food and medicines, which also means removing the barriers to their access that have been imposed by pharmaceutical and chemical companies.

It's not just what we should do, but how we should do it. In the case of growing our plant foods and medicines, we need sustainable forms of agriculture that preserve and improve the soil microbiome in the same way that natural health practitioners now care for the gut microbiome. As for our health, prevention and dealing with the underlying causes of disease is far better than treating symptoms as they appear. Personal responsibility and helping children develop healthy habits for life are key.

Guernsey may be the most ambitious, but other communities have taken up the challenge to live longer, healthier lives, such as Albert Lea in Minnesota. Adopting principles from the world's "blue zones", where you have the greatest chance of living to 100, has greatly improved the future of its citizens. People are picking up old dreams or finding new ones, and according to one measure, life expectancy has risen by just under three years. Living longer has never looked so good.