Does a Peasant Lifestyle Increase Longevity?

I've recently finished reading Dan Buettner's book, "The Blue Zones". You may have heard about it or seen it profiled on TV programs such as Oprah. The Blue Zones are areas in the world where there is a much higher than average proportion of the population that live beyond the age of 100. There numbers are quite astonishing, and the author spent time researching these elderly residents and tried to find out what contributes to their longevity and good health.

These identified "Blue Zones" are mainly located in smaller communities in Japan, Italy, Costa Rica and even the US (Loma Linda, California to be specific). While certain aspects differed, what was common among all of these communities was leading a simple lifestyle, eating healthy (with little or no meat in their diets), maintaining strong connections with family and friends and regular exercise.

For some (especially in the poorer communities) regular exercise was a function of their livelihood, i.e. if they were farmers or herdsmen, they spent time in the fields or walking up and down the hills. Even the women who may not toil in the fields, did spend part of the day making meals from scratch, including grinding grains by hand in order to make bread. In wealthier areas such as Loma Linda, there was regular exercise like walking or going to the gym.

The absence of stress was also a common denominator. While there was some stress regarding money and maintaining a livelihood, it was not the same stress that most of us might associate with having a high pressure job, sitting in traffic, trying to make money to maintain a consumer-oriented lifestyle, etc. In fact, when interviewed, there was little to no mention of materialism.

Diets were simple, and while they did indulge during special occasions, generally their diets were simple, yet very healthy. The Italians would drink a glass of wine every day, the Californians were mainly vegetarians who ate a lot of nuts, while the Japanese ate many root vegetables.

Instead of the western disdian for the aged, in these communities elderly people are revered for their wisdom, and treated with respect, rather than shipped to an old age home. They sit at the head of the table, as the matriarch or patriarch of an extended family across many generations, and showered with love and respect. In all these communities, the social network means human contact, not Facebook or Twitter. Meals are important gatherings that bring the family together.

Aside from the residents on Loma Linda, the residents of the other "Blue Zone" communities live an extremely simple life, almost a peasant-like existance. Yet, they all apear to be healthy and content. Perhaps living a peasant lifestyle is the key to longevity?