Diet Change Adds Years to Your Life – At Any Age
by Ashleigh Feltham,  Accredited Practising Dietitian and Accredited Nutritionist.

Most people know that eating well helps you live longer, but did you know that it is not limited to the younger years? You can reap the benefits and add years to your life in your later years, too. So it is never too late to change your eating habits to reap rewards.

A new study investigating the effects on lifespan shows the difference a change of diet makes. There were 467,354 participants who switched their eating patterns from unhealthy to healthy. Each participant completed a food frequency questionnaire and was allocated to one of 15 different food groups, such as vegetables, legumes, whole grains, dairy and processed meat.

Researchers then investigated the effects of all causes of death and whether switching from an unhealthy diet to a healthier diet was associated with higher life expectancy.

The food groups linked to the greatest impact on increased lifespan were wholegrains, legumes and nuts. The foods linked to the greatest risk of decreased life expectancy were processed meats and sugar-sweetened drinks.

It may surprise you that the benefits of switching from a less healthy to a healthier eating pattern had benefits both as a younger adult and later in life. It was estimated that switching from a less healthy eating pattern to a healthier eating pattern may add eight years to a 40-year-old’s lifespan. For a 70-year-old, a diet switch from less healthy to healthy adds an average of four years to life expectancy.

Specifically switching from a less healthy eating pattern to the UK’s Eatwell Guide diet adds six to seven years to a 40-year-old’s life expectancy and three years to an adult aged 70 years.

If you feel like your diet could use a spring clean, it is wise to make small changes that you can maintain. This way the change feels easy and maintainable helping you stick to it in the long term. If you are not sure how to achieve this, reach out to an Accredited practising dietitian who can provide you with individualised support to help you achieve and maintain your nutrition and health goals.

Take home message:

It is never too late to add years to your life. Switching to a balanced diet consisting of higher quantities of wholegrains, legumes and nuts and less processed meats and sugar-sweetened drinks is a smart strategy to potentially add more years to your life.

References:

1. Fadnes LT, Celis-Morales C, Økland JM, Parra-Soto S, Livingstone KM, Ho FK, Pell JP, Balakrishna R, Javadi Arjmand E, Johansson KA, Haaland ØA, Mathers JC. Life expectancy can increase by up to 10 years following sustained shifts towards healthier diets in the United Kingdom. Nat Food. 2023 Nov;4(11):961-965. doi: 10.1038/s43016-023-00868-w. Epub 2023 Nov 20. PMID: 37985698; PMCID: PMC10661734.
2. The Eatwell Guide. NHS. Food guidelines and food labels.