According to a new study, adults can increase their life expectancy by more than a decade by changing their diet.
This is about changing from a typical Western diet to an optimized diet. It includes more legumes, whole grains and nuts, as well as less red and processed meat.
For older people, the expected increase in life expectancy from such dietary changes would be smaller but still significant.
Food is fundamental to health, and dietary factors are estimated to be responsible for 11 million deaths worldwide and 255 million disability-adjusted life years.
In the new study, researchers used available meta-analyses and data from the Global Burden of Diseases study to build a model that provides an instant estimate of the impact of a range of dietary changes on life expectancy (LE).
Who is the most beneficial change in diet
For young adults, the model estimates that a steady change from a typical Western diet to an optimal diet starting at age 20 will increase the LE by more than a decade for women (10.7 [uncertainty interval 5.9–14.1] years) and men ( 13.0 [6.9 – 17.3] years).
Switching from a typical to an optimized diet at age 60 can still increase LE by 8.0 (4.8 – 11.2) years for women and 8.8 (5.2 — 12.5) years for men, and 8-year-olds can increase LE by 3.4 years.
Which foods prolong life the most
The largest increase in years LE will be achieved by eating:
- more legumes (women: 2.2 [1.0 — 3.4]; men: 2.5 [1.1 — 3.9]) ,
- more whole grains (women: 2.0 [0.7 — 3.3]; men: 2.3 [0.8 — 3.8]),
- more nuts (women: 1.7 [0.8 — 2.7]; men: 2.0 [1.0 — 3.0]),
- less red meat (women: 1.6 [0.7 — 2.5]; men: 1.9 [0.8 — 3.0]),
- less processed meat (women: 1.6 [0.7 — 2.5 ] Men: 1.9 [0.8 – 3.0 ]).