European scientists have reported certain dietary changes may extend human life span by up to 10 years.
The study by Norwegian researchers at the University of Bergen and published in PLOS Medicine, found a diet rich in legumes and whole grains can add up to a decade to a person’s life if they start eating for longevity early enough.
The study (which used comprehensive global data from the Global Burden of Diseases project) included a free, interactive online calculator for exploring life expectancy benefits achievable by eating specific foods.
It concluded a sustained switch from a typical Western diet to the optimal diet from age 20 could increase life expectancy by 10.7 years for women and 13 years for men.
Lead author Professor Lars Thore Fadnes told medicalnewstoday.com: ‘Research until now has shown health benefits associated with separate food group or specific diet patterns, but given limited information on the health impact of other diet changes. Our modelling methodology has bridged this gap.’
Importantly, the study and calculator present both an ‘optimal diet’ and a ‘reasonable diet’ and Professor Fadnes emphasised’ as many would find it difficult to adhere to optimalisation of diet that might require larger changes, we have also presented a feasible diet approach that is closer to typical diets while also linked with substantial benefits.’
The researchers found the younger a person starts eating for longevity, the greater their predicted increase in life expectancy; but older adults can still extend their lives (even if to a lesser degree) by changing eating habits.They reported: ‘Changing from a typical diet to the optimised diet at age 60 would increase life expectancy by 8.0 years for women and 8.8 years for men; and 80-year-olds would gain 3.4 years’.
Professor Fadnes summed up: ‘Eating more legumes, whole grains and nuts, and eating less red meat and processed meats, were estimated to be the most effective ways to increase life expectancy for individuals with a typical diet.’
He also noted: ‘It might appear surprising that the benefit of further increasing fruits and vegetables is likely to be lower than the benefit of optimising legumes and whole grains, but this is due to most people having “harvested” some of the benefits from fruits and vegetables by already consuming more of these compared with, for example, legumes and whole grains.’
