What Religion and Blue Zones Teach Us About Longevity, Happiness, and Thriving

People who are religiously observant live between 2 and 6.5 years longer than nonreligious people. Those who regularly engage in religious practices also enjoy longer healthspans, showing that religion can significantly improve overall thriving. The question is: what exactly drives this effect?

🎥 Want the quick version? Watch this 1-minute video from Dr. Paul Zak, founder of Immersion, as he explains the surprising science behind religion, community, and living a longer, happier life.

One avenue of research to explain this explores what are known as Blue Zones. These are regions where people consistently live beyond 100 years. These include the Japanese island Okinawa, the Italian island Sardinia, the island of Ikaria in Greece, the Nicoya peninsula in Costa Rica, and the American city Loma Linda in California. These locations are frequently studied in longevity research and are often referenced in wellness and lifestyle conversations, and I just happen to live in the last of these. Many people living in blue zones are religiously active, attending church regularly and praying often. Loma Linda is a Blue Zone because it is a company town. The company is the Loma Linda University Medical Center, which is run by the Seventh Day Adventist church. Adherent Adventists do not drink, smoke, or eat meat, they exercise regularly, and take the sabbath (Saturday) seriously as a day of rest.  Most Adventists follow the dietary restrictions diligently. For example, it took several years before the Loma Linda city council allowed a McDonald's to open in the city. The council finally approved the application when the McDonald's franchisee agreed to sell veggie burgers along with burgers and chicken sandwiches.  

These findings have captured attention in the health and wellness space, especially among those interested in lifestyle optimization, holistic well-being, and biohacking. Blue Zones are now often referenced by longevity experts, wellness influencers, and researchers alike as blueprints for building a life of meaning and vitality.

Seeing these lifestyle patterns firsthand in Loma Linda made me curious: Was it just the clean living and community support that fueled longevity—or was something deeper happening in the brain?

To find out, my lab conducted a series of neuroscience studies—funded by the National Institutes of Health—focused on understanding how behaviors tied to thriving, like gratitude, ritual, and service, might affect brain activity and emotional well-being. 

Our first study showed for a sample of Seventh Day Adventist and non-Seventh Day Adventist adults aged 18-99 that oxytocin release, measured across two blood draws before and after an emotional video, increased with people's ages. Moreover, the change in oxytocin was positively associated with satisfaction with life, greater empathic concern about the people in an emotionally-charged fundraising video, a regular practice of gratitude, and religious commitment. People with a history of volunteering their time, money and donating goods to charity also had more oxytocin release than less altruistic people. Oxytocin strengthens social relationships, reduces cardiovascular stress, and improves immune function, offering a set of plausible ways that greater oxytocin release from a social-emotional experience contributes to longer lives.

This provided compelling evidence that oxytocin may be a crucial biomarker for emotional well-being and long-term health.

Next, we ran studies examining what rituals—both religious and nonreligious—did to the brain. We took repeated blood draws at churches as well as brought people into my lab to pray and sing. We also measured oxytocin during nonreligious rituals like playing board games and had ROTC cadets march as their ritual. The data showed that when a ritual done with one's group caused oxytocin release–whether with an existing group or one we formed in the lab–people shared the same amount of money with out-group members as with in-group members in a task designed to quantify group biases.  In-group bias is common around the world because people are more likely to interact with in-group members and thus gain the benefits of repeated cooperation than with members of an out-group. Yet, oxytocin extinguished this in-group bias causing people to treat everyone equally. This suggests that those who release oxytocin when doing activities with others are able to build a larger circle of acquaintances and friends, adding value to their social lives and thereby improving their ability to thrive as we previously discussed. 

Another study used Immersion's SIX app to continuously measure thriving neurophysiologically every second for a month for seniors living in a care facility. The data showed that those who had six or more peak Immersion moments a day were energetic and happy. Those who had three or fewer of these key moments had low energy and low mood. Key moments are typically provoked by social interactions and the data indicated that happy people interacted more with others than those who were unhappy. This makes sense since happy people are just more pleasant to be around and share their happiness with others. Subsequent research showed that Key Moments, measured by the SIX app are contagious. 

These studies did not show that people who had a strong belief in God, or an afterlife, or who prayed regularly, had more peak Immersion experiences than the nonreligious. Rather, it was the value of community and collaborating with people around a shared purpose that improved happiness and health. This is good news for the less religious or nonreligious. These people can gain longer lives and greater happiness conferred on the religious by being active members of communities, especially communities that serve others. For example, I recently signed up to volunteer to help keep hiking trails clear in my city. I met some very nice people, got thanked by hikers and bikers passing by, and enjoyed the exercise outdoors. This was an enjoyable social and physical activity for me that also serves others—and the SIX app showed I got several Key Moments while doing this work! Similar benefits can be obtained by volunteering at a local library, school, or humane society. 

With Immersion’s free SIX app, you can start measuring your own emotional fitness—passively, in real time. SIX continuously tracks the value your brain receives from social and emotional interactions and helps you reach one simple goal each day: six Key Moments.

By using SIX, you can begin to create your own “mini Blue Zone”—whether through volunteering, time with loved ones, or simply connecting with others in meaningful ways. It runs in the background, syncs with your wearable, and links to your calendar and location to help you see what’s working for your brain and body.

I can’t promise it’ll help you live to 100, but it might just help you live better—starting today.