LIVE LONGER, HEALTIER AND HAPPIER-GETOUT OF THE U.S.

Want To Live Longer, Healthier, and Happier? Get Out of the U.S., Says InternationalLiving.com


Posted on June 1, 2010 by Dan Prescher

June 1: Baltimore, Maryland — Want to live longer and healthier? You can increase your chances if you move out of the U.S.

So says InternationalLiving.com in a survey of its editors and writers from around the world. Read the story here: Feel Younger, Live Longer: The World’s Healthiest Places to Live in 2010.

Experts say that optimism and purpose, a low stress level, a natural diet and an active lifestyle are three times as important as your genetic makeup when it comes to enjoying a long and healthy life.

It’s much easier to embrace those elements when you’re living in a place where they come naturally, as they do in InternationalLiving.com editors’ top picks for the world’s healthiest places to live: Costa Rica, Ecuador, New Zealand, Panama, and Sardinia.

In these five top locations, people tend to put great value on personal interaction and friendship, and that involvement keeps people actively and positively engaged every day. A slower pace of life—often coupled with a much lower cost of living—relieves the pressure and anxiety so widespread in the U.S.

And while the “locavore” movement—which advocates eating foods grown near where you live—is just gaining momentum in the U.S., in the places profiled by InternationalLiving.com the foods you find at the markets have always been fresh, local and organic.

Also in these destinations, the air is clean and the sun shines—so you tend to be outside more and therefore more active.

The combination of all these factors can have an immediate positive impact on health and wellness… as well as on your bottom line.

As American Lee Carper reported after a few months in Ecuador, “I haven’t felt this good in so long I can’t remember. I used to take pain medication, but here I rarely take an aspirin.”

But Americans aren’t going abroad just for healthier lifestyle. When it comes to the basic economics of professional medical care, Americans are saving money and in many cases getting better care abroad.

Says Suzan Haskins, Latin American Editorial Director of InternationalLiving.com, “Americans distracted by the health-care debate at home probably didn’t notice when 400,000 of their fellow citizens picked up their passports and left the country to seek treatment abroad. That’s the number who travel for health care each year, and for good reason.”

Nearly every standard medical procedure is available overseas today, says Haskins. And—depending upon the country and the type of treatment—you can save up to 85% of the cost of the same treatment in the U.S. without sacrificing quality of care.

dprescher@internationalliving.com