How to live longer: Two essential rules to keep heart healthy and lower cholesterol

28/11/2021

Centenarian reveals SURPRISE drink that helps her live longer

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Ensuring you are eating the best types of food to improve your overall health and reduce the risk of age-related diseases can sometimes feel like a minefield. With the latest and greatest diets claiming to be the answer it can often feel like an uphill battle ensuring you are doing what is best. When it comes to eating for longevity, however, there are two important rules to follow helping to reduce a multitude of health conditions and boost your longevity.

Eat more fibre

In a meta-analysis published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, people who consumed the most fibre were 19 percent less likely to die during study periods ranging up to a decade, compared with people who consumed the least amount of fibre.

Researchers analysed 17 studies comprised of more than 980,000 participants and found that every 10 grams of fibre consumed mortality risk were cut by 10 percent.

It was also found that fibre helps regulate cholesterol levels, lowers blood pressure, and control weight.

Another study published in the Journals of Gerontology found that older people who ate fibre-rich diets were 80 percent more likely to live longer and stay healthier than those who didn’t.

In the study over 1,600 healthy adults were followed for 10 years.

Researchers found those who had “aged successfully” after a decade (meaning they were free of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, and had good overall cognitive, physical, and cardiovascular function) consumed an average of 29 grams of fibre per day.

Fibre is a carbohydrate found in plant foods: beans, fruit, grains, nuts, and vegetables.

Avoid added sugar

Sugar-rich diets have a negative impact on health independent of obesity.

Researchers discovered that the shortened survival of fruit flies fed a sugar diet were more prone to an early death.

High sugar diets positively correlate with age-related diseases including diabetes and heart disease, so reducing sugar in the diet may delay ageing in humans by preventing metabolic diseases and improving general health.

Randomised clinical trials have shown that individuals who consume higher amounts of added sugar, especially sugar-sweetened beverages, tend to gain more weightand have a higher risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidaemias, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

Major sources of added sugar in adults’ diet included sugar-sweetened beverages (37.1 percent), grain-based desserts (13.7 percent), fruit drinks (8.9 percent), dairy desserts (6.1 percent), and candy (5.8 percent), according to a study published in BMJ.

The study added: “With the evidence of higher added sugar consumption and adverse health outcomes accumulating, the American Heart Association recommended that total calories from added sugar should be less than 100 calories/d for most women and less than 150 calories/d for most men.

“Our analysis suggests that participants who consumed greater than or equal to 10 percent but less than 25 percent of calories from added sugar, had a 30 percent higher risk of CVD mortality; for those who consumed 25 percent or more of calories from added sugar, the relative risk was nearly tripled.”

Excessive sugar consumption has links to several harmful health conditions, including:

Obesity and metabolic syndrome
Heart disease
Type 2 diabetes
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Chronic inflammation
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Dental plaque and cavities.

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