{"id":7201,"date":"2017-04-25T15:26:47","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T15:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nutrishield.com\/?p=7201"},"modified":"2017-06-06T12:41:45","modified_gmt":"2017-06-06T12:41:45","slug":"7-food-choices-for-years-of-healthy-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.nutrishield.com\/?p=7201","title":{"rendered":"7 food choices to add years of healthy life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Healthier longer with better dietary choices<\/h1>\n

We are living longer \u2013 but we are NOT living healthier<\/em> longer.<\/p>\n

In fact, the average person will live their last 12 years in poor health and at some level of disability and dependency (UK<\/em> Office of National Statistics<\/em>). [See see data here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

Who wouldn\u2019t want to avoid that?<\/p>\n

Yet 7 simple tweaks in your lifestyle \u2013 changes that are totally in your control \u2013 can help you avoid that outcome, adding over 10 years of active, healthy life<\/em> to your lifespan.<\/p>\n

Top risk factors for loss of healthy life years<\/h3>\n

A fascinating report from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation called “The State of US Health”, <\/em>published in 2013 and based on data from the 2010 “Global Burden of Disease Study”, showed that the top ten risk factors for losing good health were as follows. UK figures are likely to follow the same pattern. They show the number of years of healthy life lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Risk factor<\/th>\nYears of healthy life lost<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Dietary risk factors<\/td>\n678,282<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Smoking<\/td>\n465,651<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
High blood pressure<\/td>\n442,656<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
High BMI (overweight)<\/td>\n363,991<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Physical inactivity<\/td>\n234,022<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
High blood sugar<\/td>\n213,669<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
High cholesterol<\/td>\n158,431<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Air pollution<\/td>\n103,027<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alcohol use<\/td>\n88,587<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Drug use<\/td>\n25,430<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

You can see that dietary risk factors from poor food choices are by far <\/u>the biggest factor in contributing to ill health in later years, and thence to frailty and dependency. Indeed, almost three times the risk posed by physical inactivity \u2013 although that\u2019s not an excuse for lack of exercise!<\/p>\n

Assuming you don\u2019t smoke, then 5 of the remaining 6 top reasons for losing your health can be modified by better dietary choices! Because, of course, high blood pressure, overweight, high blood sugar and high cholesterol are all strongly affected by diet.<\/p>\n

Dietary risk factors for loss of healthy life years<\/h3>\n

The breakdown of the Dietary Risk Factors is in this table \u2013 taken from the same study. Note that DALYs stands for Disability Adjusted Life Years, which is the technical measure used by the researchers for Years of Healthy Life Lost.<\/p>\n

\"7<\/a><\/p>\n

This huge study shows that diets low<\/strong> in fruits, seeds and nuts, vegetables, Omega 3 from seafood, whole grains and fibre correlate with a high risk<\/u><\/strong> of cardiovascular disease and cancer.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s made worse by high<\/strong> intakes of sodium (salt), processed meats, trans-fats, and sweetened beverages.\u00a0 Notice that processed meats are a much higher risk factor than fresh red meat.<\/p>\n

SODIUM<\/span><\/strong> = salt = sodium chloride<\/p>\n

PROCESSED MEAT<\/span><\/strong> <\/b>is considered to be any meat which has been modified in order to either improve its taste or extend its shelf life. Methods of meat processing include salting, curing, fermentation, and smoking. Processed meat is usually composed of pork or beef, but also poultry, while it can also contain offal or meat by-products such as blood. Processed meat products include bacon,<\/span> ham,<\/span> hotdogs,<\/span> sausages,<\/span> salami,<\/span> corned beef,<\/span> beef jerky,<\/span> canned meat\u00a0<\/span>and meat-based sauces<\/span>. Meat processing includes all the processes that change fresh meat with the exception of simple mechanical processes such as cutting, grinding or mixing.<\/p>\n

TRANS FATS<\/span><\/strong> are also known as trans fatty acids or trans-unsaturated fatty acids. In processed foods, they carry the description “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil”. In 2015, the US FDA set a 3-year time limit for removing trans fats from all processed foods.<\/p>\n

SUGAR-SWEETENED BEVERAGES<\/span><\/strong> include packaged soft drinks such as colas, other flavoured fizzy drinks, sweetened iced teas, “energy” drinks, sweetened flavoured waters etc etc.<\/p>\n

Increasing plant foods is the single most important dietary change<\/h3>\n

Of course we already know that increasing your intake of plant foods, particularly in unprocessed forms \u2013 fruits<\/span>,<\/span> vegetables,<\/span> nuts,<\/span> seeds,<\/span> herbs,<\/span> spices<\/span> \u2013 is the single most important dietary change you can make.<\/p>\n

So rather than just repeat that the overwhelming evidence is that we need to be eating 9<\/strong> portions of fruits and vegetables a day (source: The American Cancer Society<\/em>) or 10<\/strong> portions a day (source: Imperial College, London<\/em>) \u2013 let\u2019s focus on the easiest ways to create good food choices.<\/p>\n

Not all fruit and veg are created equal. So it pays to focus on the ones with the biggest bang for your dietary buck.<\/p>\n

1. Make a stir-fry regularly<\/h4>\n

\"7<\/a>
\nThrow in spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, kale or cabbage, add chopped tomatoes, maybe some thin carrot sticks or peppers and cook with extra virgin olive oil and some garlic.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a very<\/u> good helping of cruciferous vegetables for their cancer-protective glucosinolates, heart-protective polyphenols and the additional cancer-protective carotenoids like lutein and lycopene, plus selenium (cancer-protective) and vitamin K (cardio-protective).Ring the changes by adding mange-tout, mini sweetcorn, red onions, butternut squash, courgettes. Try to get a mix of colours and don’t overcook \u2013\u00a0 keep some bite in the veg.<\/p>\n

Alternatives are:<\/p>\n