Live longer through healthy eating

Healthy eating increases life expectancy by 20 years

30/05/2011

A healthy diet can extend life expectancy by around 20 years. This is reported by the nutritionist Prof. Dr. med. Michael Ristow, holder of the Chair of Human Nutrition of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena in an interview with the news portal „World Online“. According to the expert, two-thirds of deaths in Germany are caused by „food-related“ Causes diseases.

In natural medicine, nutrition has always been accorded a particularly high importance as the basis of stable health. For example, in recent decades, the dietetics of traditional Indian medicine Ayurveda has also been increasingly used in Germany. The German Society for Nutrition (DGE) has long emphasized the decisive influence of nutrition on health development. Now, the nutritionist Prof. Ristow opposite „World Online“ explained: „Those who eat properly may hope (for life expectancy) for a supplement of up to 20 years“.

Relationship between life expectancy and dietary habits
The experts of the German Nutrition Society are in this country „food-related“ Diseases account for more than two-thirds of deaths (68 percent). Far more than 500,000 deaths in Germany are caused at least proportionally by dietary habits each year. According to DGE, high-fat, sugary and salty foods significantly influence the unhealthy diet that is widespread in Germany. Not only does the risk of obesity and obesity increase significantly as a result of eating habits, but the probability of further health impairments also increases dramatically, according to DGE experts. In this way, the unhealthy diet significantly reduces life expectancy and life could be extended with a change in diet for about 20 years, explained Prof. Ristow. According to the nutritionist, fruits and vegetables as well as a lot of fish and meat should be the main ingredients of the diet. In addition, the vitamin requirement can not be compensated by so-called vitamin tablets or capsules, as these can not replace the large number of individual substances that are stuck in an apple, for example, explained Prof. Ristow.

Nutrition of Ayurveda
In naturopathy, however, are not pronounced simple dietary recommendations for the intake of certain foods, but the nutritional teaching of Ayurveda, for example, dictates the influence of certain foods may have in interplay with other foods on health. Based on the assumption that the individual's constitution is directly related to the three doshas Vata, Pitta and Kapha, traditional Indian medicine uses certain foods to influence these doshas and thus to achieve positive health effects. Not only does the fundamentally balanced diet play an essential role, but also the recommendations made for the combination of certain foods. For example, Ayurveda recommends spicing up cheese with black pepper, hot peppers, horseradish or other spicy ingredients as it will be easier to digest. Meat dishes should also be prepared for digestion with spices such as fennel seeds, cumin or mustard seeds.

Adapt diet to individual constitution
In addition, traditional Indian medicine does not recommend combining certain foods in order not to unnecessarily burden digestion. All in all, according to the principle of Ayurveda, the diet must be adapted to the individual constitution of the individual in order to achieve the greatest possible positive health effects. Whether in the end, as suggested by Prof. Ristow 20 years extended life or the affected may simply be healthier old, but so far not clearly scientifically proven, even if according to the nutritionist, according to various US studies currently the relationships between certain nutritional methods and the Examine life expectancy. (Fp)

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