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Switching From Western Diet to Mediterranean Diet Could Add 10 Years to Life Expectancy Says New Study


One day we may live at 150 thanks to some evil new drug or biotechnological improvement. But until then, we must rely on improving our longevity the old-fashioned way: living healthy and eating right.

It turns out that diet may play a more important role than we thought. ONE New peer-reviewed study published in PLOS medicine showed on Tuesday that a young adult living in the US could extend 10 years more than their expected life expectancy simply by diverging from the typical Western diet and closer with the traditional Mediterranean diet. That means eating less red and processed meat; and eat a variety of beans, whole grains, and nuts.

Norwegian nutritionist and lead author of the study Lars Thore Fadnes told The Daily Beast: “Food is fundamental to health, and dietary risk factors are globally recognized. estimated to cause 11 million deaths and 255 million disability-adjusted life years. “Understanding the health potential of different food groups can enable people to generate viable and significant health benefits.” While previous studies have sought to describe how diet is associated with longevity, none have done so “with the same detail,” and this new study, Fadnes said. know.

For the new study, Fadnes and his colleagues performed an extensive analysis of data from Global Burden of Disease Study—A comprehensive 2019 survey measures trends and associations for hundreds of causes of death, disease, and risk factors around the world. They used that data to build a model that identified key associations between diet and longevity.

Through modeling, the team found that a typical 20-year-old American woman who switched to a more optimal diet saw her life expectancy increase by an average of 10.7 years; for American men, the median is 13 years. Even older adults would increase life expectancy with similar dietary changes, although the changes would be slightly more modest (about 8 years for a 60-year-old woman and 8.8 years for a 60-year-old woman). with 60-year-old men).

These benefits are strongly driven by an emphasis on legumes, which are known to have a beneficial “metabolic profile” and are high in fiber, protein, carbohydrates, and several vitamins, according to the researchers. B, copper, magnesium, manganese, zinc, and phosphorus. “The beans are practically free of saturated fat and cholesterol,” says Fadnes. Whole grains also have many of these characteristics. And nuts are known to be nutrient-dense, and rich in antioxidant and antibacterial compounds.

According to Fadnes, these three foods are staples of the diet in the so-called “blue zone“Around the world there are unusually high life expectancy rates, like Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; the Nicoya peninsula in Costa Rica; and Icaria, Greece.

The Western diet, on the other hand, is high in energy, has more saturated fat, and can create many unhealthy compounds during processing like frying and baking – neither of which are good for a long life. long. The authors defined the Western diet as a diet high in red and processed meat, high in sugar-sweetened beverages, containing about half the optimal amount of fruits and vegetables, and a relatively limited amount of whole grains. cup and fish.

Obviously the biggest takeaway is that people should move away from the Western diet and adopt something similar to the Mediterranean diet. And they should especially start doing so at a young age (that won’t sell easily in most colleges, but maybe someone can figure out a viral marketing campaign for Gen Z).

Fadnes and his colleagues even turned their model into an online public tool called Food4HealthyLife. Users can enter their information and calculate their lifespan and how changing their diet can help them age. However, Fadnes cautions that this should not be used to make individual predictions about when you will die; rather, it should be a useful way to understand how someone can improve their lifestyle.



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