Eating a healthy, balanced diet – including at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day – could lower your risk of an early death, according to the NHS. You could also boost your lifespan by doing regular exercise. It’s the “miracle cure” we’ve all been waiting for, it said. Making some small diet or lifestyle changes could help to increase your life expectancy and avoid an early death. You could also raise your chances of a long and healthy life by eating your dinner on smaller plates, it’s been claimed.
Eating food from a smaller plate helps you to avoid overeating, revealed dietitian Juliette Kellow and nutritionist Dr Sarah Brewer.
Since the 1960s, the average size of our dinner plates has increased by 20 per cent.
Eating too much food could contribute to obesity, and the more overweight you are, the less likely you are to live longer, they said.
“The more overweight we are, the shorter our lives. Fact,” they said in their book, ‘Eat Better Live Longer – Understand What Your Body Needs To Stay Healthy’.
“Experts agree one of the best things we can do to live longer is to stay a healthy weight. And for many people, that means breaking a life-long habit of overeating.
“Studies show that severely obese people can expect to live 10 years less than people of a healthy weight.
“Choose smaller plates. By a visual trick, we perceive identical portions of food as reduced in size on a large plate compared with a small plate.
“Scale down portions. A fifth less food in your plate should leave you feeling 20 per cent less full than normal. Your aim is to finish meals feeling satisfied, but not stuffed.”
You should try eating slower, they added. It takes up to 20 minutes for the brain to get signals that it’s registered a full stomach, so it’s easy to overeat.
It’s also important to focus on your food, and to avoid TV or mobile phone distractions.
Fully concentrating on your meal will help your brain to better identify when the stomach is full.
Eating five portions of fruit and vegetables every week is one of the best way to make sure you lead a long and healthy life.
Regular exercise is a crucial aspect to improving overall health, and helping you to live longer.
People that do regular exercise are up to 50 per cent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes and some cancers, said the NHS.
It may even slash the chances of coronary heart disease and stroke by up to 35 per cent.
All UK adults should aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity every week.
