You often hear "you are what you eat," but a new study has revealed the key to living longer and it’s actually quite simple — food.
South Florida nutritionist Meryl Brandwein told NBC 6 that at the start of the year, people recommit to embarking on a health journey.
“Am I creating a nutritionally supportive lifestyle, meaning, am I eating whole, real food? The further we get from eating whole foods and the more processed food we eat, the less nourishment we’re getting overall,” Brandwein said.
A new study released Monday in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine is providing further evidence.
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The long-term study followed the way roughly 75,000 healthy women and 44,000 healthy men ate for 36 years. They found that those who followed healthy eating patterns had a lower risk of early death across any ethnicity and race.
Participants filled out questionnaires every 2 to 4 years.
Dr. Michelle Pearlman of Prime Institute helped break down the results and told NBC 6 the study suggests whole foods are key.
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Those people who consumed the majority of their calories from fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes while limiting trans fats, saturated fats and added sugars all decreased their risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease.
Some of the dietary plans recommend fish while others discouraged animal products.
The study was also consistent with what doctors suggest: avoid processed foods.
So what is considered processed food?
“It is anything that has been removed from the farm and is in a package in a container and I’m not talking about rice or beans," said Brandwein. "I’m talking about things like you don’t recognize what their original form was. So people will say ‘oh, I’m eating veggie sticks. No, there’s no veggies in veggie sticks."
She also added that processed foods are commonly found in the middle aisles of the grocery store.
“You know, food is just a small component of what makes up health and well-being," Brandwein said. "We all think food in, exercise out, and we’re all going to look and be the way I want to be. Well, what’s your stress level? What is your sleep like? Are you moving? All of these things are so important."
One additional bonus: healthy eating plans not only helped prevent diseases but could help treat them.
