Topics: Health, World News, Food and Drink, US News, Science, Podcast, Books
A nutritionist has revealed just one simple change to your diet can prolong your life expectancy by 10 years.
According to health buffs, the American diet is considered one of the worst in the world.
A combination of highly processed foods, excessive sugar, saturated fat, and refined grains, as well as a stark lack of fruit and vegetables, is proving deadly, and it's contributing to the obesity epidemic and leads to other chronic diseases, like heart disease and diabetes.
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Life expectancy in the US falls behind its peers, sitting at an average of 77.43 years compared to the UK's 82.06 years and Canada's 81.30.
It's certainly concerning, but luckily Dr Federica Amati, a nutritional scientist, has revealed one simple lifestyle hack that can improve your health, and even potentially add an extra decade to your life.
The author of Every Body Should Know This and head nutritionist at the health science company, Zoe spoke on the Middleman Podcast about the importance of assessing dietary choices from a young age.
The doctor pointed out that while advancements in healthcare have extended our lifespan, our food choices have been somewhat neglected, and urged those over the age of 40 to make changes which could add 10 years to their lives.
Dr Federica said: "We're now at a place where modern medicine and hygiene practices mean we live longer. And the missing piece now is our nutrition, so unfortunately, as our hygiene and medicine have evolved, actually our food environment has got worse, so the majority of us are going to die from diet-related chronic diseases now."
She continued that a poor diet 'is the biggest risk factor' when considering early death - a stark statement, considering smoking was historically the lead factor just some 30 years ago.
"Now, thankfully, that has started to change, but it's left us wide open to notice just the fact that dire related diseases are what's killing most of us. So it's a really urgent time for nutrition to take centre stage," she added.
So, what's the secret life-lengthening ingredient?
The doctor said a Mediterranean-style diet is the best route and advised adding more fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds into our daily diets.
Dr Federica added: "If you've been eating a poor diet and you switch it up in your 40s, 50s or 60s, you can gain a decade on your life! That's a huge amount!"
She went on to say while people could add on a decade at age 40, the range differs as we get older as our bodies become less efficient at absorbing nutrients.
She explained: "You could add up to 11 years to your life at age 40 but you can add up to six years to your life at age 70."
"Typically, we become more insulin resistant," she continued, "And insulin is this hormone, which is really important for the uptake of all nutrients into cells, which is why there's a recommendation for more protein for older adults. Now, what I will say is this increase is minimal. We're talking about from 0.83 g per kilogram of body weight, maybe up to 1 g per kilogram with older people."
To keep our elderly loved ones fighting fit, the health pro advises to incorporate a 'good source of plant protein' or eggs or oily fish into 'every meal opportunity'.
She concluded that by 'embracing nutrient-dense foods', you can 'really help someone's quality of life.'
