In the ARD program, "Weltspiegel", on October 24, a report was made about the way of life of Adventists in Loma Linda/California (USA). This place is considered to be a so-called "Blue Zone" - a region where people grow significantly older and are healthier than the respective population average.
In its report for the program "Weltspiegel", which was broadcast at 7:20 p.m. on October 24, ARD's USA correspondent, Claudia Buckenmaier, reported on some members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the small Californian town of Loma Linda, in the greater Los Angeles area. About 9,000 Adventists live in this town. Three of them are briefly profiled in the article: 104-year-old Jane Piehl, and 82-year-old James Ho and his wife Christine (85). All of them consistently practice certain health principles: They eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly, abstain from tobacco and alcohol, and maintain social contacts through volunteer work in their church community. They also observe a weekly day of rest, the Sabbath, during which they do not work but attend a church service and maintain social relationships.
Longer life expectancy with better health
In a long-term study, scientist Gary Fraser and a team from Loma Linda University examined the life expectancy of Adventists. In the film clip, he summarizes one finding this way, "We found that men, unlike other Californians, live seven years longer, and women live four and a half years longer. That's quite a bit. That's how much the life expectancy of an entire population usually increases in one or two generations." At the same time, diseases such as metabolic syndrome, lung cancer and even mental illness are occurring much less frequently.
In the end, 104-year-old Jane Piel gives the simple advice, "Just do what nature, what God, wants us to do. He didn't want us to just sit around and watch TV. Get out in nature, enjoy life."
About Loma Linda University
Founded in 1905, Loma Linda University Health, an organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, includes eight Loma Linda University faculty (with more than 4,400 students from more than 80 countries), six LLU Medical Center hospitals, and more than 1,000 faculty physicians in Southern California. Loma Linda University Health says it offers more than 100 academic programs and serves more than 40,000 inpatients and 1.5 million outpatients annually.
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