Eating for Longevity

 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, what you eat has a significant effect not only on how healthy you are but on how long you live. A 2022 study published in PLOS Medicine concluded that a young adult in the U.S. could add more than a decade to their life expectancy by changing their diet from a typical Western diet to an optimized diet that includes more legumes, whole grains and nuts, and less red and processed meat. For older people, the anticipated gains to life expectancy from such dietary changes would be smaller but still substantial.

Here are the most important changes that you could consider to help you add more healthy years to your life.

Trim out some calories.
According to the Calerie clinical trial cutting out 12% - 14% of your usual daily calorie intake may help improve mood and even defend against age-related diseases that ravage the body. One study published in Cell Metabolism concluded that cutting calorie intake by 15 percent over two years can slow aging and protect against diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s. The diets work by helping slow the metabolic rate and reducing free radicals linked to chronic illnesses.

Eat more fiber.
Adults age 40 and older who ate at least 25 grams of fiber per day had a 21% lower risk of dying over a 12 year period according to a study from the University of West Virginia University School of Medicine. The average American consumes about 16 grams a day.

Get your fruits and veggies.
Eating 3 servings of vegetables and 2 of fruit every day lowers your risk of death from any cause according to a study that tracked over 100,000 men and women for over 30 years. The study did not show that eating more than 5 servings produced any additional benefit.

Saturated fat is still bad.
Despite confusing media reports to the contrary, saturated fat can lead to heart and vascular system problems and even small reductions can produce significant benefits. Major sources of saturated fats in the American diet include red and processed meats and butter.

Eat more plants.
Replacing animal protein with plant protein can add extra years. Swapping as little as 3% of daily calories may reduce the risk of early death by 10% according to a 2020 study by the National Institutes of Health.

Have fishy Fridays.
Compared to those who never or rarely at fish, those who ate it at least once every week had a 12% lower risk of death from any cause, according to a study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

You need not adopt all these changes (although that would be best) to experience benefits. But "we are what we eat". So consider that the next time you reach for fast food or processed garbage.