Switch Diets In Middle-Age To Live Longer

If you know your diet could be better, here’s an incentive to help you focus on improvements. Research from King’s College, London, shows that switching to a healthier diet can reduce your risk of a heart attack or a stroke by almost a third – even when changes are made after middle-age.

The randomised controlled trial involved 165 healthy, non-smokers aged 40 plus. Half were assigned to an ideal diet that met all the major guidelines, and agreed to reduce their intake of sodium, total fat, saturated fatty acids and sugar, while increasing their intake of oily fish (at least one serving a week), fruit and vegetables (five a day) plus at least two daily servings of wholegrains (brown versions of bread and cereals). They chose low-fat dairy products, replaced cakes and cookies with fruit and nuts, selected lean cuts of meat, avoided processed ham, sausages and hamburgers, and also shunned sugar-sweetened drinks. To top their wholegrain toast, they were given a margarine low in saturated fats, plus a high-oleic sunflower oil for cooking.

The second group was given carte blanche to follow a traditional British diet with no restriction on salt and sugar intake. Their meals were based around refined cereals (white bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, white rice), potatoes and meat with only a limited intake of oily fish (less than once a month) and wholegrains. This group was given a butter-based spread to slather on their white bread, and an unhydrogenated vegetable oil for cooking their fry-ups. They were also asked to eat three servings of full-fat dairy (milk, yogurt, and cheese) and to eat at least one fruit and two servings of veg each day – the British norm.

Given that the healthy diet encompasses all the things we believe represent ideal eating, while the control diet represents all the things we suspect are nutritionally wrong, the results are no great surprise.

After 12 weeks, those following the healthy diet lost 1.3 kg (compared with a weight gain of 0.6kg in the control group) and lost 1.7 cm from around their waist. Their day-time blood pressure fell by 4.2/2.5 mmHg, cholesterol levels fell by 8% and triglycerides by 9% although – perhaps unusually – there were no changes in insulin sensitivity.

Overall, the metabolic improvements were enough to reduce their risk of experiencing a fatal heart disease or stroke over the next ten years by 15%, and their risk of a non-fatal cardiovascular event by 30%.

Given that these changes were made after middle-age, and based on just 12 weeks of healthier eating, the next question is – how much longer might you live if you adopted these desirable healthy eating changes long-term?

Thoughts?

Article courtesy of Dr Sarah brewer’s website : http://drsarahbrewer.com/

DrSarahBrewer
Dr Sarah Brewer qualified from Cambridge University with degrees in Natural Sciences, Medicine and Surgery. After working in general practice, she gained a master’s degree in nutritional medicine from the University of Surrey. Sarah is a licensed Medical Doctor, a Registered Nutritionist and a Registered Nutritional Therapist. She is an award winning author of over 60 popular self-help books and the editor of YourWellness magazine.

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