Make these six changes to your diet now to live '13 years longer'

Daily Mirror

26-04-2025

Even making these changes in your 80s could help extend your life, a study said.
Making six specific changes to your diet could extend your life expectancy, research has shown. Purposefully adding and removing certain foods from your meals could help you live an extra 13 years.
We are all well aware of the impact diet has on our health. But a study has found that what we eat could significantly boost longevity.
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Speaking in a video uploaded to social media platform TikTok, plastic surgeon and anti-ageing expert Dr Anthony Youn, discussed the results of a scientific study from 2022. The study, which was published in PLOS Medicine, examined the effect of specific foods on life expectancy.
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Speaking to his 8.5 million followers, Dr Youn said: 'This is how you can live up to 13 years longer. A new study found that this can be done by making simple dietary changes and here are the top six.'
In reverse order, he discussed the six best, and worst, foods for a long life. 'Number six is to eat more fish, which contains healthy omega-3 fats,' he said.
'Number five is to drink less sugar-sweetened beverages like soda pop. Number four is to eat more nuts and seeds, which are healthy sources of fat and proteins.
'Number three is to eat less red meat and processed meat, like bacon and sausage. Number two is to eat more legumes like beans, peas and lentils.
'These are great sources of plant-based protein and fibre.' The most effective change found by the study authors was to make a simple swap.
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Dr Youn added: 'The number one change that could potentially add years to your life is to eat more whole grains like buckwheat, oatmeal, and brown rice. This is instead of refined grains like white rice and white pasta.'
Study authors acknowledged that making these changes from a typical Western diet to the 'optimal diet' mentioned above would have a bigger impact on men compared to women. Altering your diet in this way at the age of 20 could extend your life expectancy by 10.7 years if you're a woman and 13 years if you're a man.
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Incorporating these changes when you reach the age of 60 was still significant, adding on eight years for women and 8.8 for men. Study authors said: 'A sustained change from a typical Western diet to the optimal diet from age 20 years would increase life expectancy by more than a decade for women from the United States and men.
'The largest gains would be made by eating more legumes, whole grains, and nuts, and less red meat and processed meat. Changing from a typical diet to the optimised diet at age 60 years would increase life expectancy by 8.0 years for women and 8.8 years for men, and 80-year-olds would gain 3.4 years.'
The food changes listed here are similar to the components of a Mediterranean diet, which is often considered the healthiest diet in the world. This focuses on plant-based foods, whole foods and healthy fats, while minimising processed foods and red meat intake.