Down to Earth with Zac Efron (2020) s01e04 Episode Script
Sardinia
1
[serious, contemplative music]
No, man. I gotta get out of Hollywood,
dude. I'm done.
It's just not a place
conducive to living a long, happy
uh mentally
sound life.
[birds singing]
[bucolic folk music playing]
[goats bleating]
[Zac] No, I'm not leaving Hollywood.
[Darin] Hey!
[trills] Hey!
Whoa!
[Zac] I would never do that.
[Darin] Hey!
[Zac] Oh, yeah, get it.
- [Darin] Whoa!
- [Zac] I'm doing research.
All right. You're an expert.
[Zac] Not to play a shepherd
I admire your work.
That was beautiful.
[Zac] but to find the secret
to living a long life.
It smells.
[goat bells ringing]
[Zac] Life.
The one thing we're guaranteed
when we're born
is that we will die.
We just don't know when.
The quest to extend life on Earth
is as old as the dawn of time.
From ancient,
mythological fountains of youth
to the modern-day,
scientifically-designed elixirs.
The topic of longevity brings us
to this European island
because it boasts one of the longest
human life expectancy rates.
What year were you born?
[speaking Italian] August 9, 1918.
[Zac] In fact,
they have ten times more centenarians,
people that live into their hundreds,
per capita than the United States.
So what do they do differently?
[female] Buon appetito.
I'm so happy that I'm eating carbs again.
What are they avoiding?
What did they feed the animals?
[speaking Italian] How beautiful, Zac!
Can we learn from this local lifestyle
in any way?
Low protein, high carbs, natural foods.
[Zac] Ciao. This is for you?
And apply it to our own lives.
This is Sardinia.
I hate you.
Let me start at the beginning.
A few years ago, I met Darin.
- Can't feel my feet or my hands.
- Proud of you, bro.
Yeah.
He's a guru of healthy living
and superfoods.
Yeah, it's great. Thank you so much.
Really appreciate it.
You could say he wrote the book
on the subject. Literally.
[Darin] A healthy lifestyle,
solid principles.
Darin and I are traveling around the world
to find some new perspectives
on some very old problems.
[Darin] That's Mother Earth, bro.
Searching for healthy, sustainable
living solutions for the planet
[Zac] Wow!
and all who live on it.
Woo-hoo!
Ignore the crazy white guy.
- And, hey you gotta eat, too, right?
- [Darin] You don't have to eat it.
- How does it move like that?
- [woman] Oh, my God.
It's time to get Down to Earth.
Trippy.
[Zac] Sardinia, Italy,
is a 9,300-square-mile island
in the Mediterranean Sea.
And while it's beautiful by any standard,
what makes the region so interesting
is that it's a Blue Zone.
Blue Zones are five regions in the world
with the highest concentration
of centenarians.
The original concept
of the phenomenon of Blue Zones
started right here,
in the village of Seulo.
Which brings us to this building,
the Ecomuseo,
where we're meeting biochemist
Dr. Valter Longo
and medical statistician Dr. Giovanni Pes,
two men dedicated
to studying the nutrition
and lifestyles associated with long life.
[man] Seulo.
It is very well known as one of the place
where the number of centenarians,
compared with the population,
is one of the highest in the world.
That's why we are actively studying
this village and we are collecting data.
What is it about this Blue Zone?
Like the diet, the eating
What are, like, the things
that you notice most consistently?
Little bit of meat, particularly lard,
that they use to put in the minestrones.
Lots of vegetables.
Mostly things that they could, uh
cultivate in the backyard.
And they had a low protein diet.
[Darin] You guys know that,
especially in the States,
high protein, high protein
there's some sort of weird connection
with health and strength.
But, in fact,
what you're finding
is a low protein for longevity
Yeah. Let's say you weigh 120 pounds.
That's probably about 50 grams of protein.
- That's enough. And past that
- For the entire day.
For the entire day.
Because there's people
that do that in one sitting.
But this certainly contributed
to what we showed,
which was the risk of cancer in those
that had the highest intake of protein
was four-fold higher.
And that turns on the Tor gene.
[Zac] "Tor," short for
Target of Rapamycin,
is a regulator of cellular growth
in the body.
When you're young and growing,
you need rapid cellular growth.
When you're past middle age,
it's best to slow
that cellular process down.
Otherwise, too many may lead
to mutated cells or cancer.
That's like pouring gasoline
on the potential of cancer, right?
- Not just cancer. I think it's really
- [Darin] More diseases.
pushing the accelerator
on almost every age-related disease.
Oh, my gosh.
I ate so much protein when I was
I just I had a diet completely based
around protein
for almost ten years of my life.
[laughing] It was
[Dr. Longo] The good news,
if you look at
If you look at smoking,
at some point your risk,
so many years after you quit,
it's the same as for people
that never smoked.
So the good news is,
what you did for ten years
[Zac] There's hope.
- Yeah.
- Yeah. I think there's more than hope.
Probably, you know, after a while,
it won't make that much of a difference.
If you keep a good diet, what you did,
you know, ten, 15 years ago.
'Cause that's the resiliency
of the body, right?
Well, thank you.
I literally just took a deep breath.
That makes me feel a lot better.
One question I have: why the Blue Zones?
Uh Almost 20 years ago,
I was working with a colleague.
At that time, I had no computer with me,
but only a map of Sardinia
and I had a blue marker.
So every time I visited this municipality,
and I found that the level
of, uh longevity,
based on the number of centenarians,
was higher than expected,
then I put a blue dot.
So after six months,
I had this cloud of blue dots,
and when we decided to write
the first articles, scientific articles,
my colleague asked me,
"How we can name this area?"
And I suggested the name of "Blue Zone,"
because it was created by the blue dots.
[Zac] Are you serious?
Wait, wait, so the term "Blue Zone"
you invented
because you only had a blue marker?
Yes. If I had a red marker,
this was the "Red Zone."
[Zac laughing]
Oh, my gosh.
That's too That's too good.
[Zac] That's amazing.
To find out how the term
"Blue Zone" came to be
is almost worth the trip alone.
So, we're interested in your studies.
Is there a way that we could potentially
see some of that work?
Yes, I suggest to go to see an old lady
that we are going to interview,
and you can see how we work
and how we collect the data.
- Awesome.
- We can We can go right now.
Straight to the source.
[Zac] As we continue to wonder
what it is about this area
that lends itself to a greater longevity,
we arrived at the home
of the doctors' next test subject.
- [Zac] Ciao.
- A 98-year-old woman named Liliana.
[Dr. Longo, in Italian] Tell us the year
you were born, the date you were born.
[speaking Italian] I was born
the 15th of April, 1920.
[speaking Italian] And your husband,
he lived to a big age?
[Liliana speaking Italian] My husband,
he lived to 103 years old.
So her husband got to 103 years of age
and, uh
[speaking Italian]
[Dr. Longo] One and a half years ago
he died.
Both of them made it
to such an extreme age
and, so, probably
the environmental factors here
are as important as the genetics,
when you have in the same household
two different people
making it to their ages.
Extremely, extremely rare.
[Zac] Dr. Pes and Longo study
so many aspects of aging.
Put simply,
how does aging affect the mind?
This is a standard cognitive test
to measure Liliana's brain functions.
How do most, uh
most people fare on these things?
One-third of centenarians
are not able at all to do the test.
[Dr. Longo] But keep in mind
that at 100 years of age,
you will expect about 60-70% of the people
to be demented.
So if it's only a third,
that is remarkable.
That means two-thirds
are cognitively fairly normal.
[reflective piano music]
You see that she understood
that the figures are overlapping.
[Zac] Mm-hmm.
[Dr. Pes] So one of the corners is
inside the other.
[Zac] Nailed it!
A simple test, like recreating the numbers
on the face of a blank clock,
can show how well the mind is working.
So, wait, just so I'm clear on the test,
she's just putting the numbers
on the clock dial?
[Dr. Pes] Mm-hmm.
[Zac] And while it seems
pretty straightforward and easy,
to those with dementia,
the numbers will be
a jumbled mess on the page.
If they're even written at all.
[Zac] So she's pretty much acing this.
[Zac] Liliana has lived over three times
as long as I have.
[chuckles] That's really hard
to wrap my head around.
[Dr. Pes] Brava, signora.
Beautiful.
- [Dr. Pes speaking Italian]
- [all cheering]
[Zac] We live in a world
where it's almost frowned upon to age.
Perfetto. Perfetto.
I guess I never like to think about
growing older.
Even though I'm constantly doing it.
We all are.
What a cool chick.
- That was amazing.
- She was awesome.
The way that she spoke and her energy
was so positive and so uplifting.
Like, she was like,
"Thank you for having us in." So cool.
- [goats bleating]
- [folk music playing]
[Zac] Our next stop is a place
where many stories end,
but this one actually began:
the local cemetery.
Because in this cemetery
lie the remains of 20 centenarians.
[Dr. Pes] This was the first hint
that the population of Seulo
is really exceptional.
[Dr. Pes] Ciao, Pino.
[Zac] This is Pino,
another doctor who has been studying
the longevity phenomenon here.
[speaking Italian]
[Dr. Longo] This is the genealogy tree
that he built.
[Zac] Oh, my gosh. Look at that.
[Zac] The common denominator is
that they were all residents of this area.
[Darin] Wow.
[Pino speaking Italian]
[Zac] But more importantly,
Dr. Pino discovered that,
going back all the way to the 1500s,
77% of people here can trace their lineage
back to just five names.
So this is 500 years ago.
- Four hundred and fifty years ago.
- Yeah.
[Pino speaking Italian]
- [Darin] Oh, my God.
- [imitates explosion]
[Zac] And that fact makes doctors believe
that a genetic mutation might be
a key factor
to the local trend in longevity.
Right, so, in fact, the suspicion
that we all have is that
there are genes they carry genes
that make it much more likely
to become centenarians.
But see, this is also interesting, right?
'Cause you can live to that
or twice as that
based on lots of the things you do,
you know?
Even though you might have the same genes.
[Darin] Right.
So the lifestyle factors are playing
- a massive role in this whole thing.
- There is no doubt.
[Zac] It's, like you said,
it's not a bad spot to rest.
[acoustic guitar playing]
[birds chirping]
- [Dr. Pes] 'Cause you had that hat on
- [Darin] 104 104, 102
[speaking Italian]
How many?
- [Dr. Longo] 105, right?
- [Darin] 105.
[Zac] I heard cinque.
[Dr. Longo] And she has a
He had a sister of 102.
[speaking Italian]
And three brothers above 95.
So this is the sister, 102 years old.
So, but see, the husband had 90 was 99,
and so, again, the environment now
is probably also as important.
[Darin] In the States,
the quality of a day-to-day life,
I think, is something missed
because when you say longevity,
it's hard for a young person
to understand,
"How does that affect me now?"
Absolutely.
[Zac] Living a long life is one thing.
But living it disease-free
is what the real goal should be.
I had a cousin lose a battle with cancer.
She was just older than me,
we were born on the same day,
a few years apart,
and, uh we were best friends.
She, uh She lived
Um
She didn't live the most healthy life.
Yeah, that's the thing
that people don't realize
that now I have
so many women in their 30s,
that, you know, were diagnosed
with some type of cancer.
Lots of them. Not just I heard of one.
I mean, a man and woman being
diagnosed with hypertension in their 30s.
So now this is becoming
more and more common
because of what you were saying.
Uh So we have to, essentially,
relearn and learn,
because now anybody, uh you know,
can have 20 million followers
and, you know,
give them some crazy idea, right?
Well, that's And that's exactly
what I didn't want to be.
But you'd be surprised
how many of your colleagues [laughing]
I know how many of my
I'm not surprised.
[Dr. Longo] don't have that view.
It's shocking to me.
It creates these trends
and all of these fads.
And that's why I'm so
I feel so blessed to be here.
And I think here
is a great overall lesson, you know?
Learn from the people
that've been successful
for hundreds of years in doing it.
And then, of course,
the science can make it easier,
can make it better, it can make it
Can do all kinds of things.
My mind's blown.
This has been a fantastic day.
Thank you for sharing
this wealth of knowledge.
I really appreciate it.
[Zac] The next step is to prove
that there's a genetic mutation,
isolate it, then find a way
to introduce it into test subjects.
The end result would eventually mean
we could extend human life.
[chuckles] That's incredible.
- Come si dice, "Let's go"?
- [male 1] Andiamo.
- Andiamo. Andiamo.
- [male 1] Andiamo.
[Darin] I'm gonna say that
for the rest of the time.
[all laughing]
[Darin] You know, just hearing
from Dr. Pes and Dr. Longo,
there's so many different factors, right?
And, it's like, uh, uh
you know, I too, I mean,
even though I'm living in Malibu
and under beautiful trees,
I s I'm not this relaxed.
[Zac] It's the same way when I visit
my grandfather and grandma
and, bless their hearts,
I still have them both.
- I love talking to my grandparents.
- [Darin] Yeah.
I just, like
They're some of the coolest people I know.
My grandpa might be the coolest guy
I've ever met.
He's like 89, I believe,
and he still skis.
- [Darin] Yeah.
- He completes the crossword puzzle
all the way up to Saturday.
Sunday gives him trouble.
You know,
they get harder throughout the week.
[Darin] Incredible.
- [birds singing]
- [insects buzzing]
[wind blowing]
[Zac] Today begins
in the neighboring town of Aritzo
[Zac] Race you to the top.
- Is that the right place?
- Yeah, 11.
where we're meeting
a local travel expert Mario!
Hey! Ciao, Mario.
- Mario.
- Mario. Zac.
[Zac] And Mario is taking us
to an authentic Sardinian cooking class.
[Darin] Oh, yeah.
[Zac] This is the kitchen
of Vittoria Murgia.
What better way for us to study
this Blue Zone phenomenon
than through the local diet?
One of the most essential foods
in every Sardinian diet
is pane carasau.
Traces of this thin,
almost cracker-like bread
go back to before 1000 B.C.
Here on this island,
it's been a favorite for shepherds
because it travels well
and stays good for up to a year.
Why does the bread taste
so much better here?
[speaking Italian]
[Mario] Flour is the key.
- [Zac] Ah
- [speaking Italian]
[Mario] And the people
that do it with love.
- [Darin] Ay
- [Vittoria] Ay!
That's right.
- Why do I want to throw this at you?
- I'm not sure.
[Vittoria] Prego.
- You've done this before.
- [Vittoria laughing]
[Zac] You know what you're doing.
[Zac] They start learning this tradition
around age six.
This is a lot harder than it looks.
I'm not joking at all.
[Zac] Hard to make it a circle.
- No.
- No?
[Zac] There's something very communal
about this experience.
To think that I'm learning a technique
that's been passed down
hundreds of years in this very kitchen.
No cell phones, televisions, or computers.
Just a large group of people, of all ages,
making bread together.
That they will later enjoy together,
as they've done
generation after generation.
[Zac] This is the part I always get wrong.
The right ratio of flour during the roll.
- [Vittoria] No.
- [Zac] No?
No. [Vittoria chuckles]
[chuckling]
[Darin] No, no.
[Darin] There's a lot of "Nos" coming
from that station over there, Zac.
- [Vittoria] Ay, ay, ay
- [Zac] Ay, ay, ay?
- [Vittoria] Ay, ay, ay!
- [all laughing]
[Zac] Aw, Jesus.
[Zac] "Zac, you're messing it up"
is a phrase
that I understand in any language.
I had a good thing going,
now I'm covered in flour,
and this thing's just not working
Thank you.
Thank you. [speaking Italian]
[Vittoria speaking Italian]
- [Darin] Like this?
- [Zac] So that's just the transfer.
[in Italian] You have done a better job.
- Yeah?
- Sì.
- [all cheering]
- [Zac laughing]
I hate you.
[in Italian] Now we have to take the bread
to the oven.
In the old times, the ladies
will carry this and take it to the oven.
- [woman 2] Sure.
- I'll take it.
- [woman 2] Zac can take it.
- Zac!
- Sure.
- [in Italian] How beautiful, Zac!
Do I have to balance it,
or do I use my hands?
No, no balance.
OK, I'll just do it like this.
[accordion playing Italian tune]
- Ciao.
- [man] Ciao.
This is for you?
[Zac] The next step is
to bake it in the oven.
Oh, that's the oven?
That is awesome.
[Zac] Cool.
It just feels good.
[Zac] By the way,
that oven is about 900° Fahrenheit.
The bread only goes in for a few minutes.
Then it's pulled out
very carefully.
[Mario] That's the difficult part
because it's very hot.
[Zac] And then it's split,
and back into the oven it goes
for just another few minutes.
[Mario] And then it becomes crispy.
[Zac] And there we have
Sardinian flatbread:
pane carasau.
When I think "Italian food,"
I think pasta.
And Sardinia is no exception to that.
The raviolis are stuffed
with a perfect blend of potato,
sheep's cheese, and saffron.
Combined with an old family recipe
handed down for hundreds of years.
The carbs here are made of fresh, natural,
locally-grown ingredients.
No GMOs,
no processing, and no refining.
It goes against every conventional diet
I've ever followed.
But here it's working.
And, obviously, it's working really well.
[Vittoria speaking Italian]
[Zac] Wow, that's beautiful.
- OK.
- [Mario] Now, we make a difficult one.
[Zac] OK, now we
- [Darin] Oh, that part was easy.
- OK, cool.
[Zac] Now's the hard one.
[Mario] Now we got something
more challenging.
[Vittoria speaking Italian]
[Zac] Taco.
In America we call this a "taco."
[Darin] Whoa, whoa,
what was that little
- There's some wild moves in here.
- I see. I got it.
- [Vittoria speaking Italian]
- [Darin] Oy, oy, oy!
[Darin and girl laughing]
[Darin] Is mine a tumor?
[Zac laughing]
[Zac] Dude,
that's pretty damn close to it.
[Mario] Nice.
- [Mario] Oh!
- [Vittoria speaking Italian]
[Mario] Nice.
[Zac laughing] Redemption!
I feel like I have an
an enhanced sense of hunger
- and, like, pride because I made it.
- We made it.
- Yeah.
- [Mario speaking Italian]
- [Vittoria] Buon appetito.
- [Mario] Buon appetito.
[Zac] And now it's time to sit back
and taste our labor of love.
[Darin] OK.
[Darin] Here we go.
[Darin satisfied] Oh
So good.
[Zac] What'd she say?
I'm so happy that I'm eating carbs again.
[Darin laughing]
Like, I went, like, years
without eating carbs.
[Zac] When I shot Baywatch,
I didn't have a carb for
like, six months.
I almost lost my mind.
You You need this.
- Like, it's so good.
- [Darin] Absolutely.
[Zac] I still can't get over how this diet
of carbs and low protein
is the exact opposite of everything
any trainer has ever taught me.
I think the real secret is to find
a healthy, happy balance between the two.
This was amazing. Thank you so much, guys.
Grazie mille.
- [Vittoria] Grazie.
- [Darin] Grazie. Thank you.
[Mario speaking Italian]
- But before we're done
- [man] Thank you so much.
our last part of this experience is,
of course,
dessert.
We're gonna see how they make
an old, traditional favorite.
I'm talking 16th-century old.
- [Zac] Yeah, good.
- Bravo.
[Zac] Darin, where'd you get this stroke
down so well?
[Darin laughing]
[Darin] Lotta years of practice.
- Years of practice?
- Yeah.
- [Darin] How long do you do this?
- [in Italian]
- Two hours.
- [man] Two hours?
[Mario] Now that it's thicker,
he's gonna put the almonds.
[Mario speaking Italian]
[Darin] Wow, that's getting really thick.
- [Darin] Oh, wow!
- [speaking Italian]
- [Zac] Is that edible paper?
- [Mario] Yeah, it's edible paper.
[Darin] Delicious. I mean, I taste mostly
honey and almonds. It's amazing.
In the words of Owen Wilson, "Wow."
"Wow."
- "Wow."
- "Wow."
[as Owen Wilson] "Wow.
That's really nice. Wow."
[snickers]
Pretty good. Getting there.
[Zac] That was an amazing meal.
Grazie mille. Thank you.
Grazie. Thank you.
[Zac] As we're saying our goodbyes,
it's pretty clear that word got out
we're in town.
[female chef speaking Italian]
[male] We'll do one group photo.
Yeah, I'm good to go. OK.
[Zac] We've met some of the elders
in this community
now it's time to meet
a lot of the younger generation.
Everybody come down.
- [photographer] OK.
- A constant reminder
Yeah, sure.
never take people for granted.
- [Zac] Ciao, ciao! Grazie!
- [woman] Ciao!
[Zac] Always be grateful.
[birds chirping]
Darin and I split up to visit some other,
older members of the Sardinian community.
Mario introduced me
to a local legend
Francesco.
I'm very excited to meet him.
[Zac] Francesco is 97 years old.
He's lived here his whole life.
He served in World War II as a pilot.
And later, he was a shepherd.
[speaking Italian]
- [Mario] Nice beard you have.
- Thank you.
[Zac] Grazie.
[Mario speaking Italian]
[speaking Italian]
He has a son with a beard
that looks like you.
Oh, really? How old is your son?
[speaking Italian]
- Really, you son is more than 60?
- [Francesco] Sì, sì, sì.
What's your day look like?
What is a typical day?
[speaking Italian]
[Mario] He walks.
[speaking Italian]
[Mario] Walking. That's his main activity.
Well, should we take a walk?
- [Mario] Yeah.
- Are you up to take a walk?
[Mario speaking Italian]
[speaking Italian]
[Mario speaking Italian]
- He takes a jacket.
- [Francesco and Mario laughing]
Very, very dapper.
[Mario speaking Italian]
[speaking Italian, laughs]
[Mario speaking Italian]
[Zac] We're on the move.
Taking a walk that Francesco does
about three times a day.
[Zac] This is a fairly steep
- Yeah.
- walk.
I He's clearly in good shape.
[Mario] He is.
[Zac] Francesco enjoys the series of hills
and steps in his neighborhood.
In total, it's about
a quarter of a mile, round-trip.
Well, if there's one thing
that I'm gonna take away
- [Mario speaking Italian]
- and it's one of the simple things,
it's that I'm gonna take walks
for the rest of my life.
[Zac] And he brings us to here.
Which is
What is this?
Is this a bar?
[laughing] Every day, he walks to a bar.
[Mario in Italian] A wine.
[Zac] OK.
Café Americano. No sugar.
- Salute.
- Salute.
- Salute.
- [Mario laughing] Salute.
[Mario speaking Italian]
[Zac] It definitely seems like
a positive mental attitude is part
of Francesco's secret.
[Francesco speaking Italian]
Family is everything.
[Francesco speaking Italian]
[Mario] I miss my wife.
[Francesco speaking Italian]
[Mario] God took her away.
[Francesco speaking Italian]
[Mario] But I want to continue living.
[stammers, speaking Italian]
[Mario] And I stay here, in this world,
if they let me.
- [Francesco speaking Italian]
- A hundred more years if they let me.
Maybe not 100 more years,
but [laughing]
I can stay here for a while.
From the moment that we started talking,
- he's had
- [Mario speaking Italian]
He's been smiling and laughing
and positive
And How does he
How does he keep such energy?
- [speaking Italian]
- [Mario] That's the secret.
[all laughing]
- You got it in front of you.
- [all laughing]
[in Italian] The most simple thing.
[laughs]
[Francesco speaking Italian]
Yes. He's asking if you're OK
with the steps. [Mario laughs]
[Zac] Yeah They're not easy steps!
[Zac] I think we all fear aging
to some degree.
So it's inspiring to see someone
like Francesco living so well.
In fact, he makes it look like something
to look forward to.
If you live long enough,
you end up living several different lives.
Child, military man, shepherd
husband, father,
grandfather, great-grandfather,
and the list of titles grows longer
as you grow older.
[relaxed music]
We're meeting back up
with Dr. Pes and Longo
for a traditional, hearty Italian meal.
[Zac] I'm starving.
[Darin] Yeah, me too, man.
[acoustic guitar playing]
[Zac] Minestrone is a soup
usually made from seasonal vegetables,
beans, and pasta.
It was originally a humble,
blue-collar meal,
created as a way to combine
leftover ingredients from other dishes.
[oil sizzling]
But today,
it's a main staple in this Blue Zone diet,
which follows the tradition
of locally-sourced vegetables,
legumes, and grains.
- [woman speaking Italian]
- Mm-hmm.
[Zac] Finally
I'm getting to try this famous,
Blue Zone minestrone.
[sniffing] Oh!
[Dr. Pes chuckling]
Good food, like this, deserves to be eaten
with friends and family.
And there's something very therapeutic
about the tradition
- of gathering around a table for a meal.
- Buon appetito.
- Thank you. I'm excited to try this dish.
- Thank you. Enjoy this lunch.
[Zac] Beautiful.
The modern Western world
is so carb-phobic.
And they put things in categories
where protein is good
and carbohydrates are bad
and fats are good, now they're bad,
and now they're good again.
It's really about the quantities.
There's nothing wrong with pasta
and bread and even sugar.
It's the quantities. If you have ten grams
of sugar a day, that's OK.
If you have 100 grams of sugar a day,
that's not OK.
So I think it's really about all of it.
- Yeah.
- That's what people don't appreciate.
So many people are preaching
high protein diets.
Say, "OK, fine.
You think it's good for longevity,
well, let's go around the world
and find a group of people
that is long-lived for a long time,
and eats a high protein diet."
It doesn't exist.
[Dr. Pes] This is the reason
why it is not easy
- to transfer what we learn
- Right!
from the Blue Zone
to other populations,
like American population or Australians.
What we need is to, first, to filter
what we have learned
from the Blue Zone.
For example, more physical activity
Yeah, it's Physical activity
doesn't mean, uh going to the gym.
It means "do everything
like they used to do it."
Go up the hill, you know, or lift things.
That's OK.
[Dr. Pes] Staying mentally active.
After retirement, people stop to do things
and they become passive user
of the television, for example.
Of course, in Seulo, it's easier
because many generations
are living sometimes together.
So you can exchange ideas with your
uh children, with your grandchildren,
and so on.
- Yeah.
- I've
That's something I need
I could definitely work on, myself.
Is uh just the nature of
uh frankly, being an actor
or being in the public eye
sort of leads to isolation at times.
It's It's I mean,
I have, currently have, a roommate.
But, uh you know, it's
sometimes it's hard to go out.
The sense of camaraderie we've had
since we've been on this journey
We've become friends in a crew.
And I can feel myself
becoming healthier
and being happier every day.
So that sense of community
and being around people
is very, very important.
'Cause I'm very aware
of how I feel
when that is not a part of my life.
And it's isolated, it's slow,
it's a lot more
it's not quite as happy.
[Zac] I've learned so much here.
Including that the secret
to a long, healthy life
is not just one thing.
It's many.
One major takeaway from this experience
is that the locals maintain a low-stress,
yet active lifestyle well into old age.
I'm definitely looking at my life
a whole new way
after a short time here in Sardinia.
Yeah, I gotta get out of Hollywood, dude.
I'm done.
It's just not a place
conducive to living a long, happy
uh mentally
sound life.
I mean
I love California, I just
I think that that dense population
of of people and city life
is clearly
- not leading to many centenarians.
- Yeah.
[Zac] We're headed a little south
to study one of the oldest professions
here in Sardinia:
shepherding.
[goats and sheep bleating]
Sardinia is home to almost 44%
of Italy's entire population
of sheep and goats.
I feel like I'm in a real-life meme
right now. Like
[laughing] I know.
[bells ringing]
[Zac] Tending to these creatures
takes a lot of energy
and could quite possibly be another reason
for the longevity phenomenon.
[sheep bleating]
Shepherds walk, on average,
anywhere from five to 13 miles a day.
Not on a treadmill, like a giant hamster,
but out here, in the hilly countryside.
And with purpose
Whoa!
doing my favorite thing: milking.
Whoa! [Zac chuckles]
[man chuckling]
[Zac] Can I try?
[man] OK, OK.
Like this?
Wow.
I feel like I'm milking
a new thing every episode.
[Zac] Ah This reminds me
of Chimby in Puerto Rico.
I miss you.
Expert milker.
Look at him go, though.
- Oh, yeah. Get it.
- Whoa!
- [Zac] All right!
- [Andrea speaking Italian]
Professional.
I admire your work.
It smells.
[Zac gagging]
[sheep bleating]
[Zac] Dr. Pes and Dr. Longo, they
Everything they said made so much sense.
They weren't on any life hack,
there was no fad or pill,
not trying to expand
their Instagram platform and this is
- [Darin] Right.
- proven science,
hundreds of years old.
Thousands of years old.
[Darin] Yeah. And it's not just one thing,
- it's literally this combination.
- No. It's a full spectrum of a lifestyle.
A healthy lifestyle, solid principles
And that's it.
- Yeah, dude.
- Between inspiring people
to live healthfully now
and receive those benefits,
but also receive those benefits
so they live a long, healthy life,
- and the quality.
- And inspire them to constantly improve
and inspire them
to take on their own initiative.
- For sure.
- You know, and not just
be, you know, a follower.
Not just be one of the sheep.
[both chuckling]
- Exactly.
- I had to.
[Zac] Our visit to the Blue Zone
has made me rethink
everything I've ever thought
about nutrition, diet,
and really my whole lifestyle in general.
I never considered
how long I thought I would live.
But now I can imagine
what it would be like to make it to 100.
Or more.
And if I do live that long,
I want it to be a quality life.
When we're young,
we can't wait to get older.
And when we get older,
we do everything we can
to slow down the process of aging.
I think the real key
is living in the present.
As best you can.
Each and every day.
Grazie mille.
[Zac] Life is a gift.
And time is all we have.
How you treat it
and what you do with it,
well that's entirely up to you.
[sheep bleating]
["Auntie Earth" by Walter Mitty
and His Makeshift Orchestra plays]
Now as our poor young lungs deflate ♪
I'll admit I've gotten older ♪
Mellowed out
Chatted up those I used to hate ♪
The feeling that we're lost
Will always fade ♪
I present no explanation ♪
[serious, contemplative music]
No, man. I gotta get out of Hollywood,
dude. I'm done.
It's just not a place
conducive to living a long, happy
uh mentally
sound life.
[birds singing]
[bucolic folk music playing]
[goats bleating]
[Zac] No, I'm not leaving Hollywood.
[Darin] Hey!
[trills] Hey!
Whoa!
[Zac] I would never do that.
[Darin] Hey!
[Zac] Oh, yeah, get it.
- [Darin] Whoa!
- [Zac] I'm doing research.
All right. You're an expert.
[Zac] Not to play a shepherd
I admire your work.
That was beautiful.
[Zac] but to find the secret
to living a long life.
It smells.
[goat bells ringing]
[Zac] Life.
The one thing we're guaranteed
when we're born
is that we will die.
We just don't know when.
The quest to extend life on Earth
is as old as the dawn of time.
From ancient,
mythological fountains of youth
to the modern-day,
scientifically-designed elixirs.
The topic of longevity brings us
to this European island
because it boasts one of the longest
human life expectancy rates.
What year were you born?
[speaking Italian] August 9, 1918.
[Zac] In fact,
they have ten times more centenarians,
people that live into their hundreds,
per capita than the United States.
So what do they do differently?
[female] Buon appetito.
I'm so happy that I'm eating carbs again.
What are they avoiding?
What did they feed the animals?
[speaking Italian] How beautiful, Zac!
Can we learn from this local lifestyle
in any way?
Low protein, high carbs, natural foods.
[Zac] Ciao. This is for you?
And apply it to our own lives.
This is Sardinia.
I hate you.
Let me start at the beginning.
A few years ago, I met Darin.
- Can't feel my feet or my hands.
- Proud of you, bro.
Yeah.
He's a guru of healthy living
and superfoods.
Yeah, it's great. Thank you so much.
Really appreciate it.
You could say he wrote the book
on the subject. Literally.
[Darin] A healthy lifestyle,
solid principles.
Darin and I are traveling around the world
to find some new perspectives
on some very old problems.
[Darin] That's Mother Earth, bro.
Searching for healthy, sustainable
living solutions for the planet
[Zac] Wow!
and all who live on it.
Woo-hoo!
Ignore the crazy white guy.
- And, hey you gotta eat, too, right?
- [Darin] You don't have to eat it.
- How does it move like that?
- [woman] Oh, my God.
It's time to get Down to Earth.
Trippy.
[Zac] Sardinia, Italy,
is a 9,300-square-mile island
in the Mediterranean Sea.
And while it's beautiful by any standard,
what makes the region so interesting
is that it's a Blue Zone.
Blue Zones are five regions in the world
with the highest concentration
of centenarians.
The original concept
of the phenomenon of Blue Zones
started right here,
in the village of Seulo.
Which brings us to this building,
the Ecomuseo,
where we're meeting biochemist
Dr. Valter Longo
and medical statistician Dr. Giovanni Pes,
two men dedicated
to studying the nutrition
and lifestyles associated with long life.
[man] Seulo.
It is very well known as one of the place
where the number of centenarians,
compared with the population,
is one of the highest in the world.
That's why we are actively studying
this village and we are collecting data.
What is it about this Blue Zone?
Like the diet, the eating
What are, like, the things
that you notice most consistently?
Little bit of meat, particularly lard,
that they use to put in the minestrones.
Lots of vegetables.
Mostly things that they could, uh
cultivate in the backyard.
And they had a low protein diet.
[Darin] You guys know that,
especially in the States,
high protein, high protein
there's some sort of weird connection
with health and strength.
But, in fact,
what you're finding
is a low protein for longevity
Yeah. Let's say you weigh 120 pounds.
That's probably about 50 grams of protein.
- That's enough. And past that
- For the entire day.
For the entire day.
Because there's people
that do that in one sitting.
But this certainly contributed
to what we showed,
which was the risk of cancer in those
that had the highest intake of protein
was four-fold higher.
And that turns on the Tor gene.
[Zac] "Tor," short for
Target of Rapamycin,
is a regulator of cellular growth
in the body.
When you're young and growing,
you need rapid cellular growth.
When you're past middle age,
it's best to slow
that cellular process down.
Otherwise, too many may lead
to mutated cells or cancer.
That's like pouring gasoline
on the potential of cancer, right?
- Not just cancer. I think it's really
- [Darin] More diseases.
pushing the accelerator
on almost every age-related disease.
Oh, my gosh.
I ate so much protein when I was
I just I had a diet completely based
around protein
for almost ten years of my life.
[laughing] It was
[Dr. Longo] The good news,
if you look at
If you look at smoking,
at some point your risk,
so many years after you quit,
it's the same as for people
that never smoked.
So the good news is,
what you did for ten years
[Zac] There's hope.
- Yeah.
- Yeah. I think there's more than hope.
Probably, you know, after a while,
it won't make that much of a difference.
If you keep a good diet, what you did,
you know, ten, 15 years ago.
'Cause that's the resiliency
of the body, right?
Well, thank you.
I literally just took a deep breath.
That makes me feel a lot better.
One question I have: why the Blue Zones?
Uh Almost 20 years ago,
I was working with a colleague.
At that time, I had no computer with me,
but only a map of Sardinia
and I had a blue marker.
So every time I visited this municipality,
and I found that the level
of, uh longevity,
based on the number of centenarians,
was higher than expected,
then I put a blue dot.
So after six months,
I had this cloud of blue dots,
and when we decided to write
the first articles, scientific articles,
my colleague asked me,
"How we can name this area?"
And I suggested the name of "Blue Zone,"
because it was created by the blue dots.
[Zac] Are you serious?
Wait, wait, so the term "Blue Zone"
you invented
because you only had a blue marker?
Yes. If I had a red marker,
this was the "Red Zone."
[Zac laughing]
Oh, my gosh.
That's too That's too good.
[Zac] That's amazing.
To find out how the term
"Blue Zone" came to be
is almost worth the trip alone.
So, we're interested in your studies.
Is there a way that we could potentially
see some of that work?
Yes, I suggest to go to see an old lady
that we are going to interview,
and you can see how we work
and how we collect the data.
- Awesome.
- We can We can go right now.
Straight to the source.
[Zac] As we continue to wonder
what it is about this area
that lends itself to a greater longevity,
we arrived at the home
of the doctors' next test subject.
- [Zac] Ciao.
- A 98-year-old woman named Liliana.
[Dr. Longo, in Italian] Tell us the year
you were born, the date you were born.
[speaking Italian] I was born
the 15th of April, 1920.
[speaking Italian] And your husband,
he lived to a big age?
[Liliana speaking Italian] My husband,
he lived to 103 years old.
So her husband got to 103 years of age
and, uh
[speaking Italian]
[Dr. Longo] One and a half years ago
he died.
Both of them made it
to such an extreme age
and, so, probably
the environmental factors here
are as important as the genetics,
when you have in the same household
two different people
making it to their ages.
Extremely, extremely rare.
[Zac] Dr. Pes and Longo study
so many aspects of aging.
Put simply,
how does aging affect the mind?
This is a standard cognitive test
to measure Liliana's brain functions.
How do most, uh
most people fare on these things?
One-third of centenarians
are not able at all to do the test.
[Dr. Longo] But keep in mind
that at 100 years of age,
you will expect about 60-70% of the people
to be demented.
So if it's only a third,
that is remarkable.
That means two-thirds
are cognitively fairly normal.
[reflective piano music]
You see that she understood
that the figures are overlapping.
[Zac] Mm-hmm.
[Dr. Pes] So one of the corners is
inside the other.
[Zac] Nailed it!
A simple test, like recreating the numbers
on the face of a blank clock,
can show how well the mind is working.
So, wait, just so I'm clear on the test,
she's just putting the numbers
on the clock dial?
[Dr. Pes] Mm-hmm.
[Zac] And while it seems
pretty straightforward and easy,
to those with dementia,
the numbers will be
a jumbled mess on the page.
If they're even written at all.
[Zac] So she's pretty much acing this.
[Zac] Liliana has lived over three times
as long as I have.
[chuckles] That's really hard
to wrap my head around.
[Dr. Pes] Brava, signora.
Beautiful.
- [Dr. Pes speaking Italian]
- [all cheering]
[Zac] We live in a world
where it's almost frowned upon to age.
Perfetto. Perfetto.
I guess I never like to think about
growing older.
Even though I'm constantly doing it.
We all are.
What a cool chick.
- That was amazing.
- She was awesome.
The way that she spoke and her energy
was so positive and so uplifting.
Like, she was like,
"Thank you for having us in." So cool.
- [goats bleating]
- [folk music playing]
[Zac] Our next stop is a place
where many stories end,
but this one actually began:
the local cemetery.
Because in this cemetery
lie the remains of 20 centenarians.
[Dr. Pes] This was the first hint
that the population of Seulo
is really exceptional.
[Dr. Pes] Ciao, Pino.
[Zac] This is Pino,
another doctor who has been studying
the longevity phenomenon here.
[speaking Italian]
[Dr. Longo] This is the genealogy tree
that he built.
[Zac] Oh, my gosh. Look at that.
[Zac] The common denominator is
that they were all residents of this area.
[Darin] Wow.
[Pino speaking Italian]
[Zac] But more importantly,
Dr. Pino discovered that,
going back all the way to the 1500s,
77% of people here can trace their lineage
back to just five names.
So this is 500 years ago.
- Four hundred and fifty years ago.
- Yeah.
[Pino speaking Italian]
- [Darin] Oh, my God.
- [imitates explosion]
[Zac] And that fact makes doctors believe
that a genetic mutation might be
a key factor
to the local trend in longevity.
Right, so, in fact, the suspicion
that we all have is that
there are genes they carry genes
that make it much more likely
to become centenarians.
But see, this is also interesting, right?
'Cause you can live to that
or twice as that
based on lots of the things you do,
you know?
Even though you might have the same genes.
[Darin] Right.
So the lifestyle factors are playing
- a massive role in this whole thing.
- There is no doubt.
[Zac] It's, like you said,
it's not a bad spot to rest.
[acoustic guitar playing]
[birds chirping]
- [Dr. Pes] 'Cause you had that hat on
- [Darin] 104 104, 102
[speaking Italian]
How many?
- [Dr. Longo] 105, right?
- [Darin] 105.
[Zac] I heard cinque.
[Dr. Longo] And she has a
He had a sister of 102.
[speaking Italian]
And three brothers above 95.
So this is the sister, 102 years old.
So, but see, the husband had 90 was 99,
and so, again, the environment now
is probably also as important.
[Darin] In the States,
the quality of a day-to-day life,
I think, is something missed
because when you say longevity,
it's hard for a young person
to understand,
"How does that affect me now?"
Absolutely.
[Zac] Living a long life is one thing.
But living it disease-free
is what the real goal should be.
I had a cousin lose a battle with cancer.
She was just older than me,
we were born on the same day,
a few years apart,
and, uh we were best friends.
She, uh She lived
Um
She didn't live the most healthy life.
Yeah, that's the thing
that people don't realize
that now I have
so many women in their 30s,
that, you know, were diagnosed
with some type of cancer.
Lots of them. Not just I heard of one.
I mean, a man and woman being
diagnosed with hypertension in their 30s.
So now this is becoming
more and more common
because of what you were saying.
Uh So we have to, essentially,
relearn and learn,
because now anybody, uh you know,
can have 20 million followers
and, you know,
give them some crazy idea, right?
Well, that's And that's exactly
what I didn't want to be.
But you'd be surprised
how many of your colleagues [laughing]
I know how many of my
I'm not surprised.
[Dr. Longo] don't have that view.
It's shocking to me.
It creates these trends
and all of these fads.
And that's why I'm so
I feel so blessed to be here.
And I think here
is a great overall lesson, you know?
Learn from the people
that've been successful
for hundreds of years in doing it.
And then, of course,
the science can make it easier,
can make it better, it can make it
Can do all kinds of things.
My mind's blown.
This has been a fantastic day.
Thank you for sharing
this wealth of knowledge.
I really appreciate it.
[Zac] The next step is to prove
that there's a genetic mutation,
isolate it, then find a way
to introduce it into test subjects.
The end result would eventually mean
we could extend human life.
[chuckles] That's incredible.
- Come si dice, "Let's go"?
- [male 1] Andiamo.
- Andiamo. Andiamo.
- [male 1] Andiamo.
[Darin] I'm gonna say that
for the rest of the time.
[all laughing]
[Darin] You know, just hearing
from Dr. Pes and Dr. Longo,
there's so many different factors, right?
And, it's like, uh, uh
you know, I too, I mean,
even though I'm living in Malibu
and under beautiful trees,
I s I'm not this relaxed.
[Zac] It's the same way when I visit
my grandfather and grandma
and, bless their hearts,
I still have them both.
- I love talking to my grandparents.
- [Darin] Yeah.
I just, like
They're some of the coolest people I know.
My grandpa might be the coolest guy
I've ever met.
He's like 89, I believe,
and he still skis.
- [Darin] Yeah.
- He completes the crossword puzzle
all the way up to Saturday.
Sunday gives him trouble.
You know,
they get harder throughout the week.
[Darin] Incredible.
- [birds singing]
- [insects buzzing]
[wind blowing]
[Zac] Today begins
in the neighboring town of Aritzo
[Zac] Race you to the top.
- Is that the right place?
- Yeah, 11.
where we're meeting
a local travel expert Mario!
Hey! Ciao, Mario.
- Mario.
- Mario. Zac.
[Zac] And Mario is taking us
to an authentic Sardinian cooking class.
[Darin] Oh, yeah.
[Zac] This is the kitchen
of Vittoria Murgia.
What better way for us to study
this Blue Zone phenomenon
than through the local diet?
One of the most essential foods
in every Sardinian diet
is pane carasau.
Traces of this thin,
almost cracker-like bread
go back to before 1000 B.C.
Here on this island,
it's been a favorite for shepherds
because it travels well
and stays good for up to a year.
Why does the bread taste
so much better here?
[speaking Italian]
[Mario] Flour is the key.
- [Zac] Ah
- [speaking Italian]
[Mario] And the people
that do it with love.
- [Darin] Ay
- [Vittoria] Ay!
That's right.
- Why do I want to throw this at you?
- I'm not sure.
[Vittoria] Prego.
- You've done this before.
- [Vittoria laughing]
[Zac] You know what you're doing.
[Zac] They start learning this tradition
around age six.
This is a lot harder than it looks.
I'm not joking at all.
[Zac] Hard to make it a circle.
- No.
- No?
[Zac] There's something very communal
about this experience.
To think that I'm learning a technique
that's been passed down
hundreds of years in this very kitchen.
No cell phones, televisions, or computers.
Just a large group of people, of all ages,
making bread together.
That they will later enjoy together,
as they've done
generation after generation.
[Zac] This is the part I always get wrong.
The right ratio of flour during the roll.
- [Vittoria] No.
- [Zac] No?
No. [Vittoria chuckles]
[chuckling]
[Darin] No, no.
[Darin] There's a lot of "Nos" coming
from that station over there, Zac.
- [Vittoria] Ay, ay, ay
- [Zac] Ay, ay, ay?
- [Vittoria] Ay, ay, ay!
- [all laughing]
[Zac] Aw, Jesus.
[Zac] "Zac, you're messing it up"
is a phrase
that I understand in any language.
I had a good thing going,
now I'm covered in flour,
and this thing's just not working
Thank you.
Thank you. [speaking Italian]
[Vittoria speaking Italian]
- [Darin] Like this?
- [Zac] So that's just the transfer.
[in Italian] You have done a better job.
- Yeah?
- Sì.
- [all cheering]
- [Zac laughing]
I hate you.
[in Italian] Now we have to take the bread
to the oven.
In the old times, the ladies
will carry this and take it to the oven.
- [woman 2] Sure.
- I'll take it.
- [woman 2] Zac can take it.
- Zac!
- Sure.
- [in Italian] How beautiful, Zac!
Do I have to balance it,
or do I use my hands?
No, no balance.
OK, I'll just do it like this.
[accordion playing Italian tune]
- Ciao.
- [man] Ciao.
This is for you?
[Zac] The next step is
to bake it in the oven.
Oh, that's the oven?
That is awesome.
[Zac] Cool.
It just feels good.
[Zac] By the way,
that oven is about 900° Fahrenheit.
The bread only goes in for a few minutes.
Then it's pulled out
very carefully.
[Mario] That's the difficult part
because it's very hot.
[Zac] And then it's split,
and back into the oven it goes
for just another few minutes.
[Mario] And then it becomes crispy.
[Zac] And there we have
Sardinian flatbread:
pane carasau.
When I think "Italian food,"
I think pasta.
And Sardinia is no exception to that.
The raviolis are stuffed
with a perfect blend of potato,
sheep's cheese, and saffron.
Combined with an old family recipe
handed down for hundreds of years.
The carbs here are made of fresh, natural,
locally-grown ingredients.
No GMOs,
no processing, and no refining.
It goes against every conventional diet
I've ever followed.
But here it's working.
And, obviously, it's working really well.
[Vittoria speaking Italian]
[Zac] Wow, that's beautiful.
- OK.
- [Mario] Now, we make a difficult one.
[Zac] OK, now we
- [Darin] Oh, that part was easy.
- OK, cool.
[Zac] Now's the hard one.
[Mario] Now we got something
more challenging.
[Vittoria speaking Italian]
[Zac] Taco.
In America we call this a "taco."
[Darin] Whoa, whoa,
what was that little
- There's some wild moves in here.
- I see. I got it.
- [Vittoria speaking Italian]
- [Darin] Oy, oy, oy!
[Darin and girl laughing]
[Darin] Is mine a tumor?
[Zac laughing]
[Zac] Dude,
that's pretty damn close to it.
[Mario] Nice.
- [Mario] Oh!
- [Vittoria speaking Italian]
[Mario] Nice.
[Zac laughing] Redemption!
I feel like I have an
an enhanced sense of hunger
- and, like, pride because I made it.
- We made it.
- Yeah.
- [Mario speaking Italian]
- [Vittoria] Buon appetito.
- [Mario] Buon appetito.
[Zac] And now it's time to sit back
and taste our labor of love.
[Darin] OK.
[Darin] Here we go.
[Darin satisfied] Oh
So good.
[Zac] What'd she say?
I'm so happy that I'm eating carbs again.
[Darin laughing]
Like, I went, like, years
without eating carbs.
[Zac] When I shot Baywatch,
I didn't have a carb for
like, six months.
I almost lost my mind.
You You need this.
- Like, it's so good.
- [Darin] Absolutely.
[Zac] I still can't get over how this diet
of carbs and low protein
is the exact opposite of everything
any trainer has ever taught me.
I think the real secret is to find
a healthy, happy balance between the two.
This was amazing. Thank you so much, guys.
Grazie mille.
- [Vittoria] Grazie.
- [Darin] Grazie. Thank you.
[Mario speaking Italian]
- But before we're done
- [man] Thank you so much.
our last part of this experience is,
of course,
dessert.
We're gonna see how they make
an old, traditional favorite.
I'm talking 16th-century old.
- [Zac] Yeah, good.
- Bravo.
[Zac] Darin, where'd you get this stroke
down so well?
[Darin laughing]
[Darin] Lotta years of practice.
- Years of practice?
- Yeah.
- [Darin] How long do you do this?
- [in Italian]
- Two hours.
- [man] Two hours?
[Mario] Now that it's thicker,
he's gonna put the almonds.
[Mario speaking Italian]
[Darin] Wow, that's getting really thick.
- [Darin] Oh, wow!
- [speaking Italian]
- [Zac] Is that edible paper?
- [Mario] Yeah, it's edible paper.
[Darin] Delicious. I mean, I taste mostly
honey and almonds. It's amazing.
In the words of Owen Wilson, "Wow."
"Wow."
- "Wow."
- "Wow."
[as Owen Wilson] "Wow.
That's really nice. Wow."
[snickers]
Pretty good. Getting there.
[Zac] That was an amazing meal.
Grazie mille. Thank you.
Grazie. Thank you.
[Zac] As we're saying our goodbyes,
it's pretty clear that word got out
we're in town.
[female chef speaking Italian]
[male] We'll do one group photo.
Yeah, I'm good to go. OK.
[Zac] We've met some of the elders
in this community
now it's time to meet
a lot of the younger generation.
Everybody come down.
- [photographer] OK.
- A constant reminder
Yeah, sure.
never take people for granted.
- [Zac] Ciao, ciao! Grazie!
- [woman] Ciao!
[Zac] Always be grateful.
[birds chirping]
Darin and I split up to visit some other,
older members of the Sardinian community.
Mario introduced me
to a local legend
Francesco.
I'm very excited to meet him.
[Zac] Francesco is 97 years old.
He's lived here his whole life.
He served in World War II as a pilot.
And later, he was a shepherd.
[speaking Italian]
- [Mario] Nice beard you have.
- Thank you.
[Zac] Grazie.
[Mario speaking Italian]
[speaking Italian]
He has a son with a beard
that looks like you.
Oh, really? How old is your son?
[speaking Italian]
- Really, you son is more than 60?
- [Francesco] Sì, sì, sì.
What's your day look like?
What is a typical day?
[speaking Italian]
[Mario] He walks.
[speaking Italian]
[Mario] Walking. That's his main activity.
Well, should we take a walk?
- [Mario] Yeah.
- Are you up to take a walk?
[Mario speaking Italian]
[speaking Italian]
[Mario speaking Italian]
- He takes a jacket.
- [Francesco and Mario laughing]
Very, very dapper.
[Mario speaking Italian]
[speaking Italian, laughs]
[Mario speaking Italian]
[Zac] We're on the move.
Taking a walk that Francesco does
about three times a day.
[Zac] This is a fairly steep
- Yeah.
- walk.
I He's clearly in good shape.
[Mario] He is.
[Zac] Francesco enjoys the series of hills
and steps in his neighborhood.
In total, it's about
a quarter of a mile, round-trip.
Well, if there's one thing
that I'm gonna take away
- [Mario speaking Italian]
- and it's one of the simple things,
it's that I'm gonna take walks
for the rest of my life.
[Zac] And he brings us to here.
Which is
What is this?
Is this a bar?
[laughing] Every day, he walks to a bar.
[Mario in Italian] A wine.
[Zac] OK.
Café Americano. No sugar.
- Salute.
- Salute.
- Salute.
- [Mario laughing] Salute.
[Mario speaking Italian]
[Zac] It definitely seems like
a positive mental attitude is part
of Francesco's secret.
[Francesco speaking Italian]
Family is everything.
[Francesco speaking Italian]
[Mario] I miss my wife.
[Francesco speaking Italian]
[Mario] God took her away.
[Francesco speaking Italian]
[Mario] But I want to continue living.
[stammers, speaking Italian]
[Mario] And I stay here, in this world,
if they let me.
- [Francesco speaking Italian]
- A hundred more years if they let me.
Maybe not 100 more years,
but [laughing]
I can stay here for a while.
From the moment that we started talking,
- he's had
- [Mario speaking Italian]
He's been smiling and laughing
and positive
And How does he
How does he keep such energy?
- [speaking Italian]
- [Mario] That's the secret.
[all laughing]
- You got it in front of you.
- [all laughing]
[in Italian] The most simple thing.
[laughs]
[Francesco speaking Italian]
Yes. He's asking if you're OK
with the steps. [Mario laughs]
[Zac] Yeah They're not easy steps!
[Zac] I think we all fear aging
to some degree.
So it's inspiring to see someone
like Francesco living so well.
In fact, he makes it look like something
to look forward to.
If you live long enough,
you end up living several different lives.
Child, military man, shepherd
husband, father,
grandfather, great-grandfather,
and the list of titles grows longer
as you grow older.
[relaxed music]
We're meeting back up
with Dr. Pes and Longo
for a traditional, hearty Italian meal.
[Zac] I'm starving.
[Darin] Yeah, me too, man.
[acoustic guitar playing]
[Zac] Minestrone is a soup
usually made from seasonal vegetables,
beans, and pasta.
It was originally a humble,
blue-collar meal,
created as a way to combine
leftover ingredients from other dishes.
[oil sizzling]
But today,
it's a main staple in this Blue Zone diet,
which follows the tradition
of locally-sourced vegetables,
legumes, and grains.
- [woman speaking Italian]
- Mm-hmm.
[Zac] Finally
I'm getting to try this famous,
Blue Zone minestrone.
[sniffing] Oh!
[Dr. Pes chuckling]
Good food, like this, deserves to be eaten
with friends and family.
And there's something very therapeutic
about the tradition
- of gathering around a table for a meal.
- Buon appetito.
- Thank you. I'm excited to try this dish.
- Thank you. Enjoy this lunch.
[Zac] Beautiful.
The modern Western world
is so carb-phobic.
And they put things in categories
where protein is good
and carbohydrates are bad
and fats are good, now they're bad,
and now they're good again.
It's really about the quantities.
There's nothing wrong with pasta
and bread and even sugar.
It's the quantities. If you have ten grams
of sugar a day, that's OK.
If you have 100 grams of sugar a day,
that's not OK.
So I think it's really about all of it.
- Yeah.
- That's what people don't appreciate.
So many people are preaching
high protein diets.
Say, "OK, fine.
You think it's good for longevity,
well, let's go around the world
and find a group of people
that is long-lived for a long time,
and eats a high protein diet."
It doesn't exist.
[Dr. Pes] This is the reason
why it is not easy
- to transfer what we learn
- Right!
from the Blue Zone
to other populations,
like American population or Australians.
What we need is to, first, to filter
what we have learned
from the Blue Zone.
For example, more physical activity
Yeah, it's Physical activity
doesn't mean, uh going to the gym.
It means "do everything
like they used to do it."
Go up the hill, you know, or lift things.
That's OK.
[Dr. Pes] Staying mentally active.
After retirement, people stop to do things
and they become passive user
of the television, for example.
Of course, in Seulo, it's easier
because many generations
are living sometimes together.
So you can exchange ideas with your
uh children, with your grandchildren,
and so on.
- Yeah.
- I've
That's something I need
I could definitely work on, myself.
Is uh just the nature of
uh frankly, being an actor
or being in the public eye
sort of leads to isolation at times.
It's It's I mean,
I have, currently have, a roommate.
But, uh you know, it's
sometimes it's hard to go out.
The sense of camaraderie we've had
since we've been on this journey
We've become friends in a crew.
And I can feel myself
becoming healthier
and being happier every day.
So that sense of community
and being around people
is very, very important.
'Cause I'm very aware
of how I feel
when that is not a part of my life.
And it's isolated, it's slow,
it's a lot more
it's not quite as happy.
[Zac] I've learned so much here.
Including that the secret
to a long, healthy life
is not just one thing.
It's many.
One major takeaway from this experience
is that the locals maintain a low-stress,
yet active lifestyle well into old age.
I'm definitely looking at my life
a whole new way
after a short time here in Sardinia.
Yeah, I gotta get out of Hollywood, dude.
I'm done.
It's just not a place
conducive to living a long, happy
uh mentally
sound life.
I mean
I love California, I just
I think that that dense population
of of people and city life
is clearly
- not leading to many centenarians.
- Yeah.
[Zac] We're headed a little south
to study one of the oldest professions
here in Sardinia:
shepherding.
[goats and sheep bleating]
Sardinia is home to almost 44%
of Italy's entire population
of sheep and goats.
I feel like I'm in a real-life meme
right now. Like
[laughing] I know.
[bells ringing]
[Zac] Tending to these creatures
takes a lot of energy
and could quite possibly be another reason
for the longevity phenomenon.
[sheep bleating]
Shepherds walk, on average,
anywhere from five to 13 miles a day.
Not on a treadmill, like a giant hamster,
but out here, in the hilly countryside.
And with purpose
Whoa!
doing my favorite thing: milking.
Whoa! [Zac chuckles]
[man chuckling]
[Zac] Can I try?
[man] OK, OK.
Like this?
Wow.
I feel like I'm milking
a new thing every episode.
[Zac] Ah This reminds me
of Chimby in Puerto Rico.
I miss you.
Expert milker.
Look at him go, though.
- Oh, yeah. Get it.
- Whoa!
- [Zac] All right!
- [Andrea speaking Italian]
Professional.
I admire your work.
It smells.
[Zac gagging]
[sheep bleating]
[Zac] Dr. Pes and Dr. Longo, they
Everything they said made so much sense.
They weren't on any life hack,
there was no fad or pill,
not trying to expand
their Instagram platform and this is
- [Darin] Right.
- proven science,
hundreds of years old.
Thousands of years old.
[Darin] Yeah. And it's not just one thing,
- it's literally this combination.
- No. It's a full spectrum of a lifestyle.
A healthy lifestyle, solid principles
And that's it.
- Yeah, dude.
- Between inspiring people
to live healthfully now
and receive those benefits,
but also receive those benefits
so they live a long, healthy life,
- and the quality.
- And inspire them to constantly improve
and inspire them
to take on their own initiative.
- For sure.
- You know, and not just
be, you know, a follower.
Not just be one of the sheep.
[both chuckling]
- Exactly.
- I had to.
[Zac] Our visit to the Blue Zone
has made me rethink
everything I've ever thought
about nutrition, diet,
and really my whole lifestyle in general.
I never considered
how long I thought I would live.
But now I can imagine
what it would be like to make it to 100.
Or more.
And if I do live that long,
I want it to be a quality life.
When we're young,
we can't wait to get older.
And when we get older,
we do everything we can
to slow down the process of aging.
I think the real key
is living in the present.
As best you can.
Each and every day.
Grazie mille.
[Zac] Life is a gift.
And time is all we have.
How you treat it
and what you do with it,
well that's entirely up to you.
[sheep bleating]
["Auntie Earth" by Walter Mitty
and His Makeshift Orchestra plays]
Now as our poor young lungs deflate ♪
I'll admit I've gotten older ♪
Mellowed out
Chatted up those I used to hate ♪
The feeling that we're lost
Will always fade ♪
I present no explanation ♪