From the keto diet to the Mediterranean diet, we are constantly being bombarded with new ways of eating which promise to make us fitter, healthier, smarter or skinnier. But now a new calculator, created by researchers from the University Of Bergen in Norway, claims to be able to reveal how following an ‘optimal’ diet could grant you an extra decade of life.
Using data gleaned from the 2018 Global Burden of Disease study, the researchers have used algorithms to create a calculator that can estimate how eating whole grains, fish, nuts, meat, legumes, dairy, vegetables, fruit and various other foodstuffs affect a person’s longevity.
After a person puts their current diet into the calculator, as well as the changes they hope to make (for example, cutting out meat) the system uses algorithms to calculate how those changes might affect how long they live for. According to the calculator, if a 20-year-old ate the ‘optimal’ diet for the rest of their lives, they could live more than 12.5 years longer than those who ate a typical Western diet.
While the benefits would be less apparent for older dieters, even a 60-year-old who made the change to an optimal diet could stand to gain around 8.5 years.
Recognising that the ‘optimal’ diet – which includes stripping out red meat, processed meats and sugary drinks entirely and substituting them with more whole grains, fish, legumes, fruit and vegetables – isn’t practical for everyone, the researchers have also included a ‘feasible’ diet, halfway between the average diet and the optimal diet.
But living longer, even with a good diet, doesn’t necessarily equal living better. There’s plenty of other research out there indicating easy ways to optimise your life now so you can reap the benefits later…
1. Potter about the house
Everyone knows that hard exercise like running, swimming or cycling is good for you, but even a little bit of movement can do wonders. A recent study from the University of California of 5,000 women aged between 63 and 97 found that those who pottered about the house were healthier and less at risk of death.
The study found those who spent at least four hours per day on their feet had a 62 per cent lower chance of dying from heart disease, a 43 per cent lower chance of getting cardiovascular disease, and a 30 per cent lower risk of suffering a stroke over the next six to seven years than those who spent less than two hours doing so.
The women spending time moving weren’t doing hard exercise either – they were doing activities that got them up and moving including things as simple as cooking, washing up, gardening, showering and housework. It just goes to show, any movement is better than no movement at all.
2. Eat just a little bit less
It isn’t rocket science to say that stuffing your face isn’t going to do wonders for your health, but a study from the Yale Research Centre for Ageing found that reducing your calorie intake by as little as 14 per cent could boost your immune system.
The study was based on previous research in flies, worms and mice, which has shown that lab animals tend to live longer on calorie restricted diets, but this is the first time the effect has been seen in humans.
The researchers looked at the thymus, a gland which produces T-cells, an essential part of the immune system. In healthy adults, this gland is already 70 per cent non-functional by the age of 40, producing fewer T-cells as a result. However, this new research found that the participants in the study who reduced their calorie intake by 14 per cent had a greater function volume in the thymus than those who didn’t, meaning that they produced more T-cells and potentially had a stronger immune system.
