Healthy Eating Plan
Advice and Guide
Heathy eating plan can extend your life span
Diet can do many things – improve your figure, increase your energy levels and make your skin glow. According to a study published in Nature, consuming a substance called resveratrol found in grape and red wine, as well as berries and some fruit can also extend your life span.
Here with some findings on some top foods that can prolong life:
Cabbage, broccoli, kale and sprouts
Researchers at the University of Leicester found that cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli, sprouts and kale, contain a compound which could help to fight breast cancer. Margaret Manson, the study’s author, found that after supplementation with the compound Indole-3-Carbinol (I3c) breast cancer cells were more easily killed when exposed to chemotherapy.
Eating cruciferous vegetables once a week can also cut lung cancer risk for people with inactive forms of two genes, say the International Agency for Cancer Research, because they are rich in isothiocyanates.
But these chemicals are normally eliminated from the body by “clean-up” enzymes produced by the genes GSTM1 and GSTT1. The Agency found that the 50 percent of the population with an inactive form of GSTM1 had a 33 percent protective effect against lung cancer if they ate plenty of the vegetables.
Brocoli
Blueberries
Blueberries are so powerful in retarding ageing that they can even reverse failing memory. A study at Tufts University in Boston found that after two months, older rats navigated mazes faster, had better balance and were more coordinated skills regulated by the brain. Key to their potency is the antioxidant content.
Blueberries also contain resveratrol and studies have highlighted the cholesterol – fighting benefits of another antioxidant pterostilbene. According to the United Stages Department of Agriculture, pterostibene acts like anti-cholesterol drugs to protect the heart.
Tomatoes
Several studies have shown that eating ten or more serving of tomato sauce or tomatoes a week reduced prostate cancer risk by 45 percent. While several components act together to provide disease-fighting properties, the most potent is lycopene, the substance that makes tomatoes red.
Two years ago, Dutch researches reported that a does of lycopene slowed tumour growth by 50 percent. However, it hasn’t reached a conclusion that the risk of prostate cancer is reduced by increasing lycopene intake. But it is very clear that men should eat tomato and tomato-based products that have varied and healthy nutrition.
Nuts
Elio Riboli, a professor of cancer epidemiology at Imperial College London has reported that two servings of 8g of nuts a week (a saucer) lowered the risk of a heart attack by 11 percent. Nuts are high in fat, but most is beneficial monounsaturated fat. Any they don’t necessarily cause you to put on weight which would, in turn, raise the chances of obesity-related disorders.
A study presented at the 2006 World Congress of Cardiology by Dr. Emilo Ros, of the Lipid Clinic, University of Barcelona also reported that those who added a handful of nuts to their food for six months put on only 1lb. It is possible that the fat does not get deposited unless the nuts are broken down by being chewed to a pulp or that eating nuts suppresses appetite.
Garlic
A German study found that garlic prolonged cancer-survival time in animals by about 5 percent, which in humans might add about four years. The benefits could be due to allium, a sulphur-based compound and responsible for the characteristic smell.
Last year, researchers at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) showed how an aged garlic extra reduced the chance of a hart attack in patients with existing coronary conditions.
“Garlic has been shown to have antithrombotic effects in that if stops clotting and may have a role in the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease,” says Dr Gordon Lowe of the Nutraceutical Research Group at LJMU.
Oily Fish
Despite recent speculation that oily fish (such as mackerel) might not be as heart-helpful as has been though, most experts recommended that 300g a week (3-4 servings). Oily fish contains high levels of omega-3 fatty acids which protect the heart – experts recommend the fish is steamed or baked. One study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found out that eating that amount regularly cuts the risk of dying from heart disease by up to a third.