2024-03-31 05:52:39
You are never too old to learn or eat differently. A recent study shows that you can do a lot to improve your health, even in middle age. Do you choose to eat healthier following the age of forty? Then you can easily add ten years to your life expectancy. Do you start working on it around age seventy? Then, you will see that you can add up to five years to your life expectancy. See here how to do it.
Step 1: More cereals, nuts and fruits
The people who can get the most out of this are people who are currently eating an “unhealthy” diet. If you already eat “normally”, you can still count on half the extra years. To achieve this, it is advisable to eat nuts, legumes, whole grains, fruits, fish, dairy products and white meat (chicken, turkey) more frequently. You can achieve the greatest benefits by choosing to eat more whole grains, nuts, and fruits.
Here’s how you approach it:
But what does it mean: more of this and less of that? How much more or less is enough? The research provides clear guidelines for what they define as the ‘longevity diet’:
- Fruit: eat at least 250 grams of fruit a day. This is, for example, 1 large apple and a handful of grapes, or 1 banana and 2 kiwis.
- Vegetables: consume at least 360 grams a day. Is 360 grams a lot? Nothing if you spread it throughout the day. Eat a handful of tomatoes (100 grams) in between, put cucumber, lettuce and avocado on bread (100 grams) and eat ½ eggplant and ½ zucchini on pasta in the evening (together 150 grams).
- Whole grains: eat at least 125 grams a day, such as whole wheat bread, oatmeal, muesli. 125 grams are equivalent to 4 small slices of bread or 8 large spoons of muesli. Whole wheat pasta, brown rice and quinoa also count.
- Fish: Eat fish at least twice a week or an average of 40 grams a day. This can also be done with a larger serving of regarding 140 grams twice a week. Canned tuna with pasta, sushi, salmon on bread or a piece of fish with mashed potatoes.
- Dairy: take two servings a day. For example, 40 grams of cheese or 250 milliliters of milk/yogurt (vegetable).
- Nuts: consume a serving of 21 grams per day. That’s regarding 8 Brazil nuts, 10 pecan or California walnut halves, 15 hazelnuts, cashews or almonds, and 20 pistachios.
- Legumes: consume at least 1 weekly serving of 150 grams. Edamame beans, chickpeas, hummus, lentils, kidney beans, and black beans also count.
Step 2: Less sugar
What should you eat less? Red meat, eggs, sugary drinks, processed grains, and processed meats. Sugary drinks and processed meat in particular are the main culprits. If you abandon them more frequently, you will increase your life expectancy.
Here’s how you approach it:
- Processed grains: Eat less than 2 servings a day. A serving is, for example, 1 white sandwich or 40 grams of (sugary) cereals.
- Processed meat: consume less than 1 weekly serving of 90 grams. Processed meat is any meat that contains additives. For example, all meat toppings for bread, but also prepared minced meat or ready-made burgers, all sausages, all fried snacks and also pâté. Is there still raw meat left? Ask for minced meat at the butcher shop or a steak/chop.
- Red meats: consume less than 2 servings of 120 grams per week. Red meat is all meat from: lamb, cow, bovine, horse, sheep, pork and goat.
- White meat: consume a maximum of 2 weekly servings of 130 grams, this refers to turkey and chicken meat. Remember: unprocessed white meat, such as chicken fillet or turkey fillet without additives.
- Sugary drinks: Do not drink them (as little as possible).
Sample menu
Do all the guidelines and rules make you dizzy? Check out this menu.
Breakfast
- Option 1: 4 tablespoons of oats with 1 tablespoon of walnuts and 250 milliliters of milk (vegetable).
- Option 2: 4 slices of whole wheat bread with hummus, avocado and cheese.
- Snack: 1 piece of fruit with 1 handful of nuts.
food
- Option 1: 75 grams of quinoa cooked with 1 handful of edamame beans, 50 grams of smoked salmon, 1 handful of almonds (smoked), 100 grams of tomatoes, 2 handfuls of arugula and 2 tablespoons of ricotta.
- Option 2: 75 grams of pasta cooked with 1 can of tuna, 1 handful of black olives, 2 handfuls of lamb’s lettuce and 1 mini can of chickpeas.
- Snack: 1 semi-skimmed yogurt with 2 tablespoons of sugar-free muesli.
Cena
- Option 1: 300 grams of sweet potato with 140 grams of cod (or other white fish) and 200 grams of boiled carrots.
- Option 2: 100 grams of brown rice with 200 grams of vegetables, 1 handful of peanuts, 100 grams of chicken and 1 fried egg.
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