The Island Where People Can Extend Their Lives

What if I told you there was a place on Earth whose population constantly reaches old age without most of the health issues that afflict some of our youngest friends and family?

No, it’s not the fabled fountain of youth long rumored to be hidden in some Florida backwater or the grail of immortality.

It’s just a simple island community located in the Mediterranean known as Ikaria. No creepy sacrificial rituals or mysteries. Just a community living happily together.

What does this island have that our grand metropolitan cities can’t offer?

Better yet, let’s start with what this island does not have compared to a mega city like New York or Los Angeles. This island does not have a perpetual haze of pollution that fills our lungs with toxic chemicals and heavy metals.

Nor is this island specifically built to support the infrastructure of a food industry dedicated to maximizing its profits at the expense of your health. You won’t find junk food readily available at every corner.

Finally, and finally most importantly, this island does not have that driving communal mentality that commits everything (even our health and happiness) in the pursuit of material gains and advancing our careers.

There is a story about a man, who when diagnosed with cancer, came back to the island of Ikaria to die with his family only to find himself living to the age of ninety-three, completely cancer free.

A Greek veteran of the Second World War, Stamatis Moraitis found himself abandoning the American dream in 1976. Why? He was diagnosed with an advanced form of lung cancer. He was given only six months to live.

Instead of burdening his family with a sizeable debt to treat the cancer with costly traditional Western medicine, he opted to return to his home island to die with his parents.

As he was waiting to die, he found himself planting a garden with full knowledge that he would never live to see it bloom and enjoy the fruits of his labor. Despite the diagnosis, he found himself feeling more energized and stronger.

Six months were gone in a blink of an eye and Moraitis was soon celebrating his ninety-third birthday. More importantly, he was able to see that garden go into full bloom.

As for the diagnosis? Moraitis is officially cancer free. And no, he did not use any chemotherapy or radiation to eliminate the tumor.

If Moraitis was the only person on the island to naturally rid himself of cancer and live almost a hundred years with a clean bill of health, the island Ikaria would have not appeared on our radars.

Instead, studies on the local population show that a significant portion of the community is actually reaching old age without any serious complications. In fact, some of these octogenarians are even enjoying the feeling of purpose that a full time job brings.

So what is making this population so resilient? Besides the air and the beautiful backdrop of the Mediterranean, the population of Ikaria has gradually perfected a communal holistic lifestyle and diet.

Their traditional diet incorporates all the benefits of probiotic yogurt, raw organic honey, and by having sleeping schedules prioritize their bodies’ needs instead of business schedules.