Until humanity cracks how to predict the future, life expectancy will remain fraught with uncertainty. Although you cannot predict with 100 percent accuracy how long you will live, research suggests you can boost your life expectancy by up to a decade by making simple dietary switches.
Gut health Doctor Megan Rossi extolled the benefits of eating six “super” ingredients.
She based her advice on a recent study, which found packing more plant-based items into your diet can increase lifespan by 10 years.
According to Doctor Rossi, these “super six” ingredients, which can add a “decade to your life”, are:
- Legumes
- Fruits
- Nuts
- Whole grains
- Vegetables
- Herbs and spices.
Drilling further down into the details, the doc said 20 grams of nuts were found to add up to two years to the participants’ life expectancy.
The study also found you can add three years to your life by making a simple switch to whole grains, Doctor Rossi said.
She also recommended trying to pack 30 different plants into your diet every week.
A simple way of making up the numbers is to try different types of beans, Doctor Rossi said.
How these ingredients help
According to the doc, it’s all about “feeding the gut bacteria”.
Among other things, feeding your gut bacteria can regulate your hormones and boost your defences against sickness, Doctor Rossi said.
What the study found
Researchers brought together data from many studies that looked at diet and longevity, alongside data from the Global Burden of Disease study, which provides a summary of population health from many countries.
Combining this data, the authors were then able to estimate how life expectancy varied with continuous changes in intake of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, refined grains, nuts, legumes, fish, eggs, dairy, red meat, processed meat, and sugary drinks.
The authors were then able to produce an optimal diet for longevity, which they then compared with the typical Western diet – which mostly contains high amounts of processed foods, red meat, high-fat dairy products, high-sugar foods, pre-packed foods and low fruit and vegetable intake.
But given it isn’t always possible to completely change your diet, the researchers also calculated what would happen if you changed from a Western diet to a diet that was halfway between the optimal diet and the typical western diet.
They found that even this kind of diet – which they called a “feasibility approach diet” – could still increase life expectancy for 20-year-olds by just over six years for women and just over seven years for men.
It’s also worth noting that the evidence for reducing consumption of eggs and white meat was of a lower quality than the evidence they had for whole grains, fish, processed meats, and nuts.
Exercise is also integral to longevity. To stay healthy, the UK Chief Medical Officers’ Physical Activity Guidelines state that adults should try to be active every day and aim to do at least 150 minutes of physical activity over a week, through a variety of activities.