The Business Insider story “Long-Lived Loma Linda” has been nominated for the James Beard 2024 Media award in the health and wellness category! For this story, I photographed the only “Blue Zone” longevity hotspot in the United States. “Blue Zones” are areas of the world where people live longer than average, maintain good health, and have a high number of centenarians. Loma Linda, California – just an hour’s drive from Los Angeles – is one of only five longevity hotspots in the world and the only one in the United States!

Photo editor: Trenton Almgren-Davis
Reporter: Hilary Brueck

Over the course of two days, I photographed residents in their day-to-day activities to glean this community’s secrets to living long, healthy lives. The first day I worked solo; the second day my colleague Alisha Jucevic assisted. We had to work quickly and with minimal gear to keep up with the busy schedules of these active seniors! We brought a lighting kit and supplemented natural light as needed.

Fitness in Community

As many as 1,600 locals pass through the town’s health and wellness center, a part of Loma Linda University, on any given day. The emphasis here is on emotional and mental health as much as physical health. Group activities that allow for social time are a big focus.

The moment I saw Tom Farley, 73, (above) walking up the steps to the water slide, I ran behind him to try and catch up with him at the top of the slide (top image). He shared that he rides the slide every time he goes to the gym, which is at least once a week.

Above, Ernesto "Ernie" Medina coaches pickleball at the center, a sport that’s taken over Loma Linda as much as the rest of the country.

Brueck writes that the focus on team sports is no accident: “A large, long-term Danish study that was published in 2018 showed that team sports like pickleball, tennis, and soccer were linked to longer lifespans than solo endeavors like running and swimming — an extra boost that could, perhaps, be driven by the communal aspect of the games.”

Purpose and Support

Above, Retired pastor Roger McQuistan and his wife and Jan Webb McQuistan pose for a portrait in their backyard. (This scene reminded me of Larry Sultan’s parents in Pictures from Home, a body of work I adore.)

“One in every four people you meet in Loma Linda is a Seventh-Day Adventist Christian. If you include the surrounding suburbs, there are around 21,000 practicing Adventists in this region… In one oft-cited 2001 study…vegetarian Adventist men lived 10 extra years beyond other Californians. For women, the same advantage was an additional six years.”

A faith-based vegetarian diet as at the core of Loma Lindans’ lifestyle, and they have their community’s support in adhering to this diet.

“Loma Lindans believe in the power of their weekly reset [Sabbath]; a day of rest every Saturday to pause and reflect. You won't find much of anything in Loma Linda open on Saturdays when Adventists worship. Some businesses start winding down on Friday, with reduced hours in the afternoon. It's a sharp contrast to the American hustle-and-grind culture, which is ripe for burnout.“

Seventh-Day Adventists place a huge emphasis on health. It goes beyond a vegetarian diet and exercise. Many in the faith also work in the medical field, including at Loma Linda University Medical Center. “Dr. David Baylink (pictured above)…at 92 years old, still wakes up every weekday morning, mounts his ‘crotch rocket’ style Kawasaki, and rides for 10 minutes over to the university hospital, where he conducts clinical research. Afterwards, he plays tennis.”

Mary Reynolds, who was our guide on the second day of photography, is a retired nurse who used to work at the hospital and “still mentors patients with heart disease, high cholesterol, and other chronic health issues.”

(Above) Mary Reynolds, 73, and her husband Lee, 81, adhere to a vegan diet. They got married four years ago and run 5 1/2 miles together every Sunday.

I learned that Loma Linda is a community that puts health front and center because it’s at the core of its beliefs. This shifted my own perspective.

Meeting these active seniors who support each other in pursuing a healthy lifestyle made me feel empowered to invest effort into my own health, and to do so in community. Recently, I started hiking with my local chapter of the Sierra Club. There, I met many retirees roughly the same ages as the Loma Lindas in the story, who are far more fit than I am! Each week that I hike with them, I feel stronger and faster, and that’s hugely rewarding.

I hope you are finding ways to enjoy the outdoors as the days start to get shorter and back to school season arrives. ‘Til next time!

Thank you for looking and reading!

Catch up on my previous newsletter here.