BREWSTER -- Eating an iguana may help you stay young and live longer.
Then again, it may not.
Students at Brewster Elementary School are determined to find out through Blue Zones Challenge, an interactive online project dedicated to exploring the reasons for longevity.
"We get to get out of class, and we learn something new," said fifth-grader Cole Bosma.
According to the National Geographic, people from Okinawa, Japan, Sardinia, and Loma Linda, Calif., live longer and healthier lives than anyone else on earth. A National Geographic expedition found several factors people in all three locations shared: family connections, no smoking, a plant-based diet, constant moderate physical activity, social engagement and eating legumes.
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Now, through the Blue Zones Web site, students are helping direct the exploration of another long-living location, Nicoya, Costa Rica. Lizard seems to be a relatively tiny part of the typical Nicoya diet.
Every day, students across the nation tune in online to watch interviews with people from Nicoya. They then vote on the next Nicoya destination scientists will investigate to find the secret of living a long life.
"They eat a lot of fruit and stuff," said sixth-grader Laura Williams, who said she would not eat an iguana. "They have strong faith, and they have a lot of family. ... They can work all day, and they're not bored when they do."
"Their main courses are usually beans and tortilla," fifth-grader Logan Ellenbecker added. Ellenbecker would not eat an iguana either, but he will get a chance to sample beans and tortillas at the end of the project.
The "challenge" part of Blue Zones is a challenge to the students -- improve their diets by eating more fruit and vegetables, exercise more, spend less time watching TV and on other sedentary activities and cut down on sweetened drinks like soda.
Paraprofessional Karen Obermoller, the project organizer in Brewster, would taste an iguana, though she's not entirely sure she'd come back for a second bite.
"I have learned ... how important a healthy diet is," Obermoller said.
According to the Blue Zones project findings so far, a healthy diet consists mostly of plants, has a healthy portion of legumes -- and may or may not feature an iguana.
