A new study has revealed that switching to and sticking to a healthy diet can add nearly ten years to middle-aged people’s lives.
The study, published this week in the scientific journal Nature Food, examined the health data of nearly 500,000 British citizens whose eating habits were recorded by the UK Biobank. was
Researchers divided 467,354 participants into groups based on their eating habits and observed how these changed over time.
Participants were divided into groups of average or unhealthy eaters and those who ate according to the UK’s Eat Well Guide and those who were eating what the researchers called a ‘longevity diet’.
Currently, life expectancy in the UK population is approximately 84 years for women and 80 years for men.
After taking into account other contributing factors such as smoking, alcohol and physical activity, the study found that 40-year-old men and women who switched from unhealthy eating habits to healthy eating habits and stuck to it had a longer life expectancy. I grew by about nine to 10 years.
Scientists from the University of Bergen in Norway and others wrote in the study: ‘Here, using peer data from the UK Biobank, we demonstrate that unhealthy dietary patterns are linked to ‘Etwell For 40-year-old men who followed the guidelines’ dietary recommendations, life expectancy increased by 8.9 years for men and 8.6 years for women.
They added: ‘In the same population, a permanent shift from an unhealthy diet to a longevity diet increased life expectancy by 10.8 and 10.4 years for men and women, respectively.’
The longest life expectancy benefit was achieved by people who changed their diet to eat more whole grains, nuts and fruits and less sugary drinks and processed meats, the researchers said.
Those who initially ate an average diet and later adopted healthier eating habits were found to have a shorter life expectancy.
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The researchers explained that ‘the greater the changes made towards a healthier dietary pattern, the greater the benefits in terms of life expectancy.’
The scientists say that when dietary changes were introduced at an older age, the increase in life expectancy was smaller but still substantial.
For example, even 70-year-olds can extend their life by four or five years if they make consistent dietary changes, he said.
The latest findings could help the government take measures that could improve people’s health in the UK, such as introducing a health-based food tax, improving food environments in schools and workplaces and pricing healthy food. Subsidy to reduce
The researchers added: ‘This paper provides up-to-date estimates of the potential benefits of increased life expectancy so that policy measures can guide the use of resources to promote healthy eating patterns in the population. can be improved.’
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2024-09-27 11:12:15
