Olive Oil, Anchovies & Lies: The Great Blue Zone Scam

It’s happened again.

Another glossy newspaper — this time The Daily Telegraph — has regurgitated the same tired myth about a remote Italian town where people allegedly live forever thanks to anchovies, steep hills, and good vibes. Their latest headline, “Six life lessons from the healthiest town in Italy,” could just as easily have read “Mediterranean marketing disguised as journalism.”

The article focuses on Cilento, a region just south of Naples, and suggests it should be granted official “Blue Zone” status — like Okinawa, Sardinia, or Nicoya. Apparently, a disproportionately high number of its residents live past 100, are mentally sharp, and suffer no cardiovascular issues. They claim the secret lies in their anchovy-heavy diet, daily gardening, spiritual outlook, and the complete absence of nursing homes.

You’ve heard all this before. And once again, it’s fiction — or at least, not the kind of fiction that should be influencing public health policy or international relocation trends.

Because here’s the truth: the Blue Zone narrative has been thoroughly debunked, and it's time we start calling it what it is — a carefully orchestrated scam designed to sell books, documentaries, housing developments, and government consulting packages.

The Origins of the Blue Zone Myth

The Blue Zone concept was first popularized by Dan Buettner, a journalist and National Geographic contributor who claimed to discover five places around the world with unusual longevity and remarkably low rates of disease. He turned it into a media empire: a bestselling book series, TED Talks, school programs, food lines, and even urban redesign consulting packages.

Buettner’s core argument was simple: these places — Sardinia, Okinawa, Loma Linda, Nicoya, and Ikaria — all shared certain lifestyle traits: a mostly plant-based diet, tight-knit communities, daily movement, spiritual or religious practice, and minimal processed food. Therefore, if the rest of us replicated those habits, we too might live to 100.

It sounded wonderful. It still does.

There’s just one problem: the evidence doesn’t hold up.

The British Scientist Who Investigated the Myth

After the release of the 2023 Netflix documentary Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, British gerontologist Dr. Colin Felton decided to dig deeper. A former NHS public health advisor and researcher at the University of Leeds, Felton had long been skeptical of Buettner’s claims — especially those related to Sardinia and Ikaria.

What he found was startling: inconsistent census data, falsified birth records, double-counted pensioners, and missing documents across multiple “Blue Zones.” In one Sardinian village, the number of living centenarians exceeded the number of birth certificates issued a hundred years prior.

In 2024, Felton published his findings in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, concluding that at least 30–50% of “super-aged” individuals in these zones were either incorrectly documented or part of long-standing pension fraud practices. Demographers in Denmark, Japan, and Canada echoed his warnings.

But the media didn’t care. Netflix didn’t care. Dan Buettner didn’t respond. Why? Because Blue Zones are no longer a scientific theory — they’re a brand. A product. A lifestyle empire now run through Blue Zones LLC, which sells city planning services, branded food, books, and wellness seminars.

Cilento: The Latest Fantasy

Now, it appears that Cilento is being lined up as the next commercial “discovery.” The Daily Telegraph gushes about 101-year-olds who self-medicate with olive oil, elders who bake cookies and sing, and villages where nobody is lonely because they listen to Catholic radio and live with family.

But let’s say it clearly: Cilento has all the hallmarks of the same Blue Zone formula — romantic village life, vague health data, no critical oversight, and a ready-made narrative about how the “old ways” are the key to eternal youth.

It’s not yet officially designated a Blue Zone — but if the researchers behind the CIAO study get their way, it will be. And just like its predecessors, it will become a magnet for longevity tourism, EU grants, and international coverage.

There is no solid epidemiological evidence that Cilento has an unusually high number of centenarians. Italy’s official statistics agency, ISTAT, doesn’t back up the “300 centenarians” claim. Most of the health data cited in these studies is self-reported or based on small local surveys. Pension fraud is a well-documented issue in southern Italy. And many younger people have left these towns — making the population disproportionately older by default.

This isn’t a miracle. It’s demographic attrition mixed with bureaucratic opacity, wrapped in a bow of rosemary and nostalgia.

It’s Not a Health Revolution. It’s a Business Model.

The Blue Zone myth is no longer just misleading — it’s lucrative. Entire real estate developments in the U.S. and Europe are now branded as “Blue Zone Communities.” Food manufacturers sell “Blue Zone-approved” products. Governments pay consulting firms millions to redesign cities along Blue Zone principles.

Cilento is being lined up for the same treatment: longevity tourism, EU health grants, medical research funding, and waves of dreamy-eyed expats buying fixer-uppers in hopes of finding the secret to eternal youth.

This isn’t science. It’s "Blue Zone Inc."

Here’s What Italy Actually Offers: Real Incentives

Forget the anchovies. If you're considering moving to Italy, there's only one truly compelling reason: Italy’s updated tax regimes for foreign residents.

The €200,000 Flat Tax Regime

As of August 2024, Italy has raised its famous flat tax regime from €100,000 to €200,000 per year. It allows new residents to pay a lump sum tax on all foreign income regardless of amount — dividends, capital gains, crypto, royalties, pensions. No need to declare foreign assets. No inheritance tax. No wealth tax.

You get 15 years of this treatment. Family members can opt in at €25,000 per person. And yes, it still makes financial sense for HNWIs even at the new rate.

The changes were confirmed in Withers Worldwide's 2024 update, and further details are available via Baker McKenzie.

The Revised “Impatriati” Regime

From January 2024, only 50% of your income is tax-exempt (down from 70%), and the benefit lasts just five years. You must not have been a tax resident in Italy for at least three of the last ten years, and you must remain for at least four years.

There is a special three-year extension if you moved in 2024 and bought property before the end of 2023.

Full details are outlined in Taxing.it and NexumStp.

To qualify, you now need to be “highly qualified” under Italian law — not just a freelancer with a laptop.

The 7% Flat Tax for Foreign Pensioners

Italy’s most underrated tax scheme has expanded beyond the South. Retirees who relocate to small municipalities in southern or earthquake‑affected central Italy can pay a flat 7% tax on all foreign income for up to 10 years.

To qualify, you must not have been an Italian tax resident for five of the past ten years, and you must move to a town with fewer than 20,000 residents.

Eligible earthquake zones include parts of Umbria, Lazio, Marche, and Abruzzo — a change confirmed on the official Sisma 2016 portal. And yes: it applies not just to pensions, but to all categories of foreign passive income (interest, capital gains, dividends, rent).

More details are summarized in PwC’s 2025 tax update.

Final Thoughts: Stop Chasing Longevity Fantasies

The idea that you can walk into a mountain village in Italy, drink olive oil, and live to 104 is seductive. But it’s also absurd. It infantilizes people. It romanticizes poverty. It ignores the real causes of longevity — genetics, public health infrastructure, wealth, and access to medicine — and replaces them with folklore.

Italy is a beautiful, diverse country. It has culture, climate, and yes, serious tax advantages for those who qualify.

So move to Italy if it makes sense for your finances, your lifestyle, and your family’s goals.

But don’t do it because Nicolina in Cilento eats anchovies and doesn’t wear glasses.

Do it because you’ve done the math.

Do it because Italy offers powerful, legal, strategic tax advantages.

And above all: don’t fall for another Netflix fairytale.