Longevity Rules: The Right Diet Can Boost Lifespan by 10 Years, Study Finds
For all the buzz around sauna and cold plunge, eating the right foods — and abstaining from others — may still be the best way to meaningfully improve health in the long run
It’s universally known that eating healthy is beneficial for many reasons, from experiencing an increased quality of life to maintaining a well-functioning cardiovascular system. According to a new study by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, an added benefit may include an increased life span of up to six to ten years, provided you’re eating the right types of foods.
Originally published in April, the study is titled, “Life expectancy gains from dietary modifications: a comparative modeling study in 7 countries,” and was included in the AJCN’s July issue.
The study’s researchers acknowledged that while they had done a previous similar study, it hadn’t taken subjects’ height, weight or physical activity into consideration. They adjusted this study in consideration of those factors and examined a range of participants from the United States, China, France, Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom.
Using publicly available data sources, the team studied individuals who had transitioned from typical country-specific dietary patterns to a “longevity-optimized” diet, a more “feasible dietary change” or an “optimized vegan” diet.
Specifically, the team examined the intake of fifteen food groups: whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, fish, eggs, milk/dairy, refined grains, red meat, processed meat, white meat, sugar-sweetened beverages, added sugar in foods and added oils.
What Is a ‘Longevity-Optimized’ Diet?
Unlike a typical Western diet, a longevity-optimized diet includes more whole grains, legumes, and nuts with decreased amounts of red or processed meats, sugars, and sugar-sweetened beverages, the researchers noted.
Specifically, a longevity-optimized diet incorporates seven whole grain servings, five vegetable servings, and five fruit servings per day.
Life expectancy gains, or the number of additional years added to a subject’s life, ranged among the study’s participants from 4 to 11.3 years, depending on their age and which of the three dietary change methods they undertook.
In the case of 40-year-old subjects who switched to a longevity-optimized diet, the estimated life expectancy gains ranged on average from 6.2 years to 9.7 years. For subjects of optimized vegan dietary changes, additional life expectancy ranged on average from 5.2 to 8.7 years.
A diet change even at age 60 can increase life expectancy gains, with data showing that in the United States and the United Kingdom, a longevity-optimized diet can add up to seven years for people in older age groups.
In the study, subjects who made the more “feasible” dietary changes ate a diet considered around halfway between a typical Western and a longevity-optimized diet. Even making these smaller changes affected life expectancy gains, adding up to five years for subjects at age 40.
Overall, the study made one thing clear: increasing the intake of whole grains and legumes and decreasing the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages is beneficial to life expectancy. Some individuals might even add an extra decade to their lives if such changes are sustained.