20th June 2018

Why Islanders Live Longer

Of the many benefits of moving to an island we can discuss at length, the one which most noticeably jumps out at many people is that of the higher quality of life generally enjoyed by people who have made the transition into being islanders, so too those who were born on an island and have essentially grown up and lived there all their lives. Of course I’m talking about tropical islands in particular, such as those which are located in the Caribbean.

There are others in other parts of the world of course, such as the Seychelles and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, amongst many, many others.

So getting back to the generally higher quality of life enjoyed by islanders, relative to those of us who live on mainland continental countries, one of the most outstanding factors forming part of this higher quality of life is its manifestation in a longer life. In tropical islands such as Saint Kitts & Nevis, Dominica and others which expressly promote their higher quality of life through channels such as their citizenship by investment programmes, the rather high number of centenarians they have attests to this higher quality of life.

Recently though the growing number of centenarians has been reported in the likes of the Seychelles as well and mind you although these are definitely considered to be luxury holiday destinations, they are indeed classified as developing or so-called third-world countries. So the generally longer life expectancy as a conduit of a higher quality of life can be attributed to the environment and not necessarily to developmental factors such as advanced medical treatment and the likes.

The environment is just one of many things which contribute to the reason why islanders live longer, more of which I’ll get right into here.

The island life is slowed right down if you compare it with the typical life of someone who lives on a mainland continental country and this slow life is internalised by the body in the best way possible. You tend to age slower because of how slow;y life generally moves.

You will basically be forced to lead a much healthier lifestyle if you move to an island, both in terms of what you eat and the physical activity you’re encouraged to engage in, but the weather conditions also play an important role in keeping you healthier for longer. The great outdoors which await you have a magnetic pulling power which will have you enjoying some physical activity which is only good for your body, while the lack of availability (or the costliness thereof) of foods which aren’t good for you like processed foods will have you inevitably eating healthier, whole foods.

For example, you might have to take a slightly challenging walk in order to get your fill of fresh coconut water which you can enjoy for free instead of opening up a fridge full of fizzy drinks when you get a bit thirsty.

All of this comes together beautifully to make for what is a rather compound reason why islanders live longer.