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At any age, a healthy diet can extend your life

 This is the news from scientists studying the impact of what we eat on life expectancy and disease risk. They found that people of all ages can achieve significant health benefits by reducing highly processed foods high in salt, sugar and other additives and replacing them with more nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, lentils, seafood and whole grains . . . Grain. 


The earlier you start, the better.Healthy nutrition from an early age leads to the greatest increase in life expectancy. But even people who wait until the age of 40 to improve their eating habits can extend their lives by several years. 

The search is successful for several reasons. This shows that you don't need to change your diet at all to reap the benefits. Even small changes like adding a handful of nuts to your daily diet for a lunchtime snack and cutting back on processed meats like ham and hot dogs can potentially add years to your life.This suggests that even if you're 60 or older, these relatively small changes in your diet can still have significant benefits.

A healthy food boost at any age
In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers followed about 74,000 people between the ages of 30 and 75 for more than two decades. During this time, they analyzed their diet and lifestyle habits and monitored changes in their diet. The researchers used several rating systems to assess the quality of their diets, including the Alternate Healthy Eating Index, developed by Harvard nutrition experts T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The index gives low scores to unhealthy foods and high scores to healthier foods. Top-scoring items included fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, whole grains, and foods high in unsaturated fats and heart-healthy omega-3s, such as fish, avocados, and olive oil. Some of the unhealthy foods that scored lower were red and processed meats, and foods high in sodium and added sugars, such as: B. Sugary drinks, pizza, fries and other junk foods.


The more nutritious foods people ate and the less junk food they ate, the higher their eating scores. The researchers found that those who consistently ate heavily were up to 14 percent less likely to die than those who ate consistently low during the study period. 

But perhaps more importantly, people who improved their eating habits saw tremendous benefits. The researchers found that those who increased their diet by as little as 20% during the study had at least an 8% reduction in mortality and a 7-15% reduction in the likelihood of dying from heart disease during the study period. For Mercedes Sotos-Pieto, the study's lead author, with a score of , replacing sugary drinks with soda and eating at least a handful of nuts or a serving of beans or lentils per day is enough to improve nutritional values ​​by 20%.
He pointed out that the majority of study participants were over 60 years old, proving that it's never too late to enjoy better eating habits. The reduction in mortality among those who have improved their dietary habits is largely due to a reduction in the incidence of cardiovascular disease, which is strongly influenced by diet. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide.



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