WEBVTT

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Here's an intriguing fact.

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In the developed world,

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everywhere, women live an average
of six to eight years longer than men do.

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Six to eight years longer.

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That's, like, a huge gap.

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In 2015, the Lancet published an article

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showing that men in rich countries

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are twice as likely to die as women are

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at any age.

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But there is one place in the world

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where men live as long as women.

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It's a remote, mountainous zone,

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a blue zone,

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where super longevity

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is common to both sexes.

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This is the blue zone in Sardinia,

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an Italian island in the Mediterranean,

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between Corsica and Tunisia,

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where there are six times
as many centenarians

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as on the Italian mainland,

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less than 200 miles away.

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There are 10 times as many centenarians

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as there are in North America.

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It's the only place where men
live as long as women.

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But why?

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My curiosity was piqued.

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I decided to research the science
and the habits of the place,

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and I started with the genetic profile.

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I discovered soon enough

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that genes account for just
25 percent of their longevity.

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The other 75 percent is lifestyle.

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So what does it take to live
to 100 or beyond?

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What are they doing right?

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What you're looking at
is an aerial view of Villagrande.

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It's a village at the epicenter
of the blue zone

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where I went to investigate this,

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and as you can see, architectural beauty

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is not its main virtue,

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density is:

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tightly spaced houses,

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interwoven alleys and streets.

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It means that the villagers' lives
constantly intersect.

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And as I walked through the village,

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I could feel hundreds
of pairs of eyes watching me

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from behind doorways and curtains,

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from behind shutters.

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Because like all ancient villages,

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Villagrande couldn't have survived

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without this structure,
without its walls, without its cathedral,

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without its village square,

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because defense and social cohesion
defined its design.