Cutting back on red and processed meat and adopting a diet rich in legumes, nuts, and whole grains could increase our longevity by up to 10 years. Ideally, start as soon as possible.
Who would want to live forever? asked the mythical band Queen in their famous 80’s song Who wants to live forever? And surely, although we are not looking for eternal life, we are all concerned about living as many years as possible.
The typical advice to have a healthier life often resonates in our heads: play sports, stop smoking and the great classic “eat better”. But how much longer could we live eating better?
Well, a study published in February 2022 by researchers at the University of Bergen (Norway) suggests that a change in our diet could extend our life even more than a decade. But how do we do it?
Using innovative methods, the researchers have compiled and compared the results of dozens of previous studies related to diet and longevity in populations from the United States, China and Europe, including the prestigious “Global Burden of Disease Study (2019)”. With their model they have studied how certain food groups can affect our life expectancy with the aim of designing the optimal diet to live longer.
More legumes, whole grains and nuts, less red and processed meat
Taking the typical North American diet as a reference (with a high consumption of red meat, ultra-processed foods and foods rich in sugar), experts describe that the optimal diet would involve reducing the consumption of these products, replacing refined flour with whole grains and increasing portions of legumes and nuts.
And although it may be surprising that fruits, vegetables and fish are not at the top of this food classification, it is true that they still have a very positive effect on our health. However, their consumption in the typical diet is not as low as that of legumes or whole grains. Therefore, its effect on the model is less, according to experts.
Other food groups studied could have a rather neutral effect. This is the case of white meat, eggs and vegetable oils, which do not seem to have relevant effects on longevity. But we except olive oil that does have a protective role on our health.
The sooner we start, the longer we’ll live
According to this study, introducing these changes in diet at the age of 20 could extend our life between 10 and 13 years, while doing it at 60 would make us live up to eight more years. And although the benefits are greater the sooner we switch to the optimal diet, even people in their 80s can substantially increase their lifespan by around three and a half years. Of course, these changes must be maintained for at least 10 years to achieve the maximum effect.
Integrating new habits can be a challenge, but experts point out that even partial changes can extend our life by up to seven years if we start before 30.
Thanks to their data integration model, the researchers have developed the Food 4 Healthy Life application, an online calculator that estimates how many years we will live based on our diet, gender and age. With this simple tool we could discover, in an estimated way, how to increase our life expectancy according to the nutritional changes that we are capable of assuming.
Shortcomings of the proposed new model
However, in this model, possible previous diseases, genetic factors or other changes in lifestyle such as exercise, tobacco or alcohol consumption have not been taken into account.
Nor does it consider how the evolution of medical treatments or the lower calorie intake of the optimal diet would affect longevity. Let us remember that caloric restriction has been related to increased life expectancy and decreased cellular stress, as some studies point out.
The predictions, although general, are robust and relevant to the general population. Knowledge is power and, as the authors say, “knowing the protective potential of different foods can help us make affordable choices for the benefit of our health.”
The Mediterranean diet: the holy grail of youth
The optimal diet in this study shares many characteristics with the Mediterranean diet, especially in terms of the consumption of legumes, fruits and vegetables. Important studies such as PREDIMED point out that the great contribution of fiber and the presence of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory molecules in these foods could be the key to the anti-aging effect of the Mediterranean diet.
The benefits of this diet on health focus especially on the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer, which are causes of premature mortality in the population.
It is not surprising then that countries like Italy, France and Spain are among the longest-lived in the world. In fact, Spain is called to lead the world ranking by the year 2040, according to a study by the University of Washington. But we must not be overconfident, the influence of the North American diet, increasingly present in our daily lives, could end up destroying the life expectancy of our future generations.
Lamented the late Freddie Mercury in the famous song about our inability to escape fate and our own death. However, this study shows us that we can play an active role in our health through what we eat.
Although much remains to be studied in the relationship between diet and longevity, several reflections seem to be clear: as far as food is concerned, every small change counts and it is never too late if happiness is good.
Article published in ‘
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.