In order to live as long and healthy as possible, there are a few things you may do to boost your chances of surviving.
As an example, there are specific practises and foods that can help you live longer that you can incorporate into your daily routine. If you want to live longer, there is a particular eating habit you can adopt: To limit one’s calorie intake.
It was recently reported in Science that more than 200 adults aged 21 to 50 participated in a clinical trial called the Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy
It was discovered throughout the two-year study that “moderate calorie restriction may promote human health,” while the “experiment had already demonstrated a reduction in cardiometabolic risk variables, involving cholesterol levels and blood pressure,”
A UCLA senior dietitian and assistant professor at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health tells Eat This, Not That! that the findings of this study don’t come as a surprise to her. Restricting calories by 20% can reduce the risk of certain chronic diseases (cancer, diabetes) and extend life in animal and human studies.
What is the mechanism by which a calorie-restricted diet provides these advantages? It’s all about how IGF1 and insulin are expressed in the body, says Hunnes, who notes that “lower levels are related with less inflammation, less cellular proliferation, and longer life.”
According to Hunnes, a plant-based, low-meat diet (at least in animal models that’s the case, and likely in humans as well) can achieve similar goals (at least in animal models that’s the case, and likely in humans as is likely seen in Blue Zones around the world where there is a much higher than expected population of people in their 80s, 90s, and 100s).
Hunnes advises Eat This, Not That! on how to effectively incorporate a calorie-restricted diet into one’s daily routine. Eat just during specific hours of the day to avoid the feeling or appearance of a calorie-restricted diet, according to “time-restricted eating.”
You can eat enough of food (whole and natural) without feeling restricted in calories because to the bulk, fibre, water, and anti-inflammatory characteristics found in plant-based diets. “Another good thing to do is a plant-based diet.”
Check out One Surprising Side Effect of Cutting Calories, New Study Finds to learn more about the health benefits of a calorie-restricted diet.