Nutrition is extremely important to health, not only helps you maintain a healthy body, but harmful or beneficial eating habits also affect your life expectancy. Follow along and start changing the way you eat today to stay healthy.
Eating affects the maintenance and development of the body, from which they also have certain effects on the life expectancy of each individual. Besides lack of exercise, keeping harmful eating habits will gradually wreak havoc on your health, making your life expectancy rapidly shorten.
Here are the unhealthy eating habits that you should avoid to stay healthy and live longer.
Harmful eating habits shorten life
1. Eating too much animal protein
Excessive consumption of animal proteins such as meat and cheese, when more than 20% of calories consumed per day come from protein, is associated with increased mortality from cancer and diabetes or multiple causes. other.
However, a diet with a moderate amount of protein or with a focus on plant-based protein may be more beneficial for people over 65. Sufficient protein supplementation will help the elderly reduce the risk of death or cancer, while supporting the maintenance of a reasonable weight and less disease.
2. Drink carbonated soft drinks
Drinking soft drinks or sodas, whether regular or diet foods, can reduce life expectancy. According to a study of more than 450,000 people, drinking at least 2 cans of soft drinks a day increased the risk of death.
Drinking a lot of carbonated soft drinks will have bad effects on health
3. Eat only low-carb foods
The keto or low-carb diet is no longer strange to gym goers. However, cutting carbs too much can have the opposite effect on health.
Applying a diet with a moderate carb content, adding 50-55% of calories consumed per day will help you maintain a longer life than those who eat too little carbs. The average-carb group lived four times longer than the ultra-low-carb group and two years longer than the low-carb group.
4. Don’t eat fat
A complete abstinence from fat in the diet will do more harm than good to health. If you eat less good fats, they will also reduce your ability to absorb other essential nutrients such as fat-soluble vitamins – vitamins A, D, E and K. People who do not eat fat or just absorb it calories from unhealthy fats will reduce your life span by about 12%.
You do not need to eat too much fat, just adding a necessary amount of healthy fats, combined with a diet rich in plant protein and good carbs will help improve longevity more effectively.
5. Eating too much and constantly
Eating at a reasonable frequency, giving the body time to absorb and rest will help you live longer. Constant eating is actually a harmful eating habit for health.
In addition to controlling the amount of food consumed and the number of meals a day, you can apply methods such as fasting one day a month for a long time, which will reduce the risk of death by 45%.
6. Regularly eat red meat
Eating too much red meat can lead to cancer and heart disease, leading to a shorter lifespan.
People who regularly ate red meat and got their protein mainly from this source had a higher mortality rate. People who ate more than 200g of red meat per day were 23% more likely to die than those who ate no more than 100g per day.
7. No added caffeine
Caffeine has both positive and negative effects on health, depending on how much you consume. Regular users of the right amount of coffee each day can increase life expectancy, women increase by 20% and men by 12%.
8. Consuming Too Much Sugar
Eating a lot of sugar, including processed foods and sugary drinks, can reduce life expectancy. Sugar provides unnecessary calories, which have been linked to diabetes and obesity.
People who follow a high-sugar diet have a higher rate of death from cardiovascular disease, with 25% of their calories from added sugar having twice the risk compared to those with a maximum of 10%. from this source.
Using artificial sweeteners instead will have the same effects because they are unhealthy and can increase mortality from cardiovascular disease by nearly 10%.
9. Abuse of processed foods
Ready-to-eat foods are convenient and a popular alternative for those who don’t like to cook or don’t have time to prepare food.
However, this is a harmful eating habit because they contain a lot of unhealthy substances, low in essential nutrients for health, can reduce life expectancy by about 14%, that is, increase the risk of death from any cause. any disease.
10. Alcohol addiction
While wine has some health benefits, many other alcoholic beverages are more harmful to health if consumed in excess.
Even moderate or more alcoholic drinks are associated with a 5% higher risk of cancer (especially cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, prostate and breast) than those who do not. or never drink alcohol.
11. Do not eat vegetables
A diet lacking in vegetables, nuts, and fruits will negatively affect life expectancy. Not only are they high in nutrients, fruits and vegetables are especially high in fiber and antioxidants, which have been linked to a reduced risk of chronic diseases, heart disease or cancer.
Eating more fruits and vegetables will help prolong life, improve blood sugar and maintain heart health more effectively. People with a vegetable-rich diet had a 32% lower risk of dying from heart disease and a 25% lower risk of dying from other diseases.
If you don’t eat fruits and vegetables, your body will lack a lot of nutrients
Eating habits that are not harmful to the body
Each body will have a different physical state and absorption of nutrients, so the recommended nutritional standards may vary from person to person.
To ensure nutrition, you should consult your doctor, limit the use and abuse of functional foods.
The healthiest eating habit is “Eat enough, full meals and on time”, which means:
- Each meal should have a sufficient combination of macronutrients such as carbs, protein and fat
- Eat enough three main meals a day and can add more snacks if you are active to ensure energy for the body.
- Try to eat at a certain time and amount to help your body get used to the biological clock that fits your schedule.
Whether you work out or not, even if you don’t strictly follow a gym diet, try to eat healthier by choosing lean, varied proteins. vegetables and fruits with healthy fats.
Harmful foods such as soft drinks, fried chicken… if you can’t completely cut them out, reduce the frequency and portion sizes so as not to affect your body too much.
Eliminating unhealthy eating habits, combined with exercise, will help you maintain a healthy body as well as increase life expectancy more effectively.
Reference source
20 Worst Eating Habits That Are Shaving Years Off Your Life https://www.eatthis.com/worst-eating-habits-shorter-lifespan/. Access date: August 16, 2020
John Alen was born in 1971 and is a doctor in the healthcare and psychology fields with many years of experience. He is currently working at easyhealthylive.com, a leading health and psychology blog. Having studied at Y1 National Medical University named after IM Sechenov, John Alen is using his knowledge and experience to help improve the physical and mental health of people in the United States.
