How Good Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyle Changes Will Increase Life Expectancy in the USA.

The United States is considered one of the wealthiest countries in the world, with one of the best healthcare systems. Despite this, data has shown its citizens have a shorter life expectancy than those of other wealthy counties. ^{(1) (2)} Data from 2015 showed the United States ranks 53^rd in the world for life expectancy since birth. ⁽³⁾

One reason proposed for the high health expenditures and low life expediencies of the United States population is the greater focus on drug discoveries and disease management compared to the prevention of this disease. The health problems, currently the primary cause of mortality and reduced lifespan include cardiovascular diseases, metabolic diseases, and cancer – even though they can be easily prevented. ⁽⁴⁾ A healthy lifestyle is proposed to be the key preventative approach against the majority of chronic diseases and a key to in-creased life expectancy in the population living in the United States. ⁽⁵⁾

The four main factors which make up a healthy lifestyle include:

The nutrition we intake in the form of food directly impacts our health. Every year, almost 11 million deaths all over the world are caused by diet-associated risk factors across the globe. ⁽⁶⁾ Numerous studies were conducted over the past few years to investigate the effects of nutrition and a healthy diet on the life expectancy.^{(7) (8)}

A healthy diet is a balanced diet, which consists of a higher volume of food containing whole grains, legumes, and nuts and a lesser proportion of red meats or other forms of processed meat. Studies show that a diet such as this can effectively increase the life expectancy of an individual.⁽⁹⁾ Based on macronutrients, most experts believe a balanced diet consists of 25% proteins, 25% fiber-rich carbohydrates, 40% fruits and vegetables, and only 10% fats.

The impact of a healthy diet on the life expectancy of those consuming it has been investigated in detail in a recent study. The study aimed to assess how changes in the intake of fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, eggs, milk, red meat, processed meats, and sugar may impact the population’s life expectancy. It was hypothesized that an ideal diet, which was higher in whole grains, fish, legumes, fruits, and vegetables and lower in red meat, sugar was more likely to increase one’s life expectancy.

The results of the study showed the 20 years old male participants from the United States who underwent a healthy dietary change had a 13 years increase in their life expectancy. The increase in life expectancy was not only limited to the younger population, but those around the age of 80 also had more than a three years increase in their life expectancy. Similarly to the males, the results of female participants were also positive. The increase in life expectancy after shifting to a healthy diet for 80-year-old and 20-year-old female participants was more than three and more than ten years, respectively. ⁽¹⁰⁾ This increased lifespan is caused by reducing the incidence of chronic health conditions like cardiovascular disease, cancer, and Diabetes. ⁽¹¹⁾

Individuals following a healthy lifestyle – such as consuming a balanced diet, exercising regularly, avoiding excessive alcohol intake, and reducing smoking, are more likely to live longer than those who do not.

_______________________________

1. National Research Council, & Committee on Population. (2013). US health in international perspective: Shorter lives, poorer health.
2. Kontis, V., Bennett, J. E., Mathers, C. D., Li, G., Foreman, K., & Ezzati, M. (2017). Future life expectancy in 35 industrialised countries: projections with a Bayesian model ensemble. Lancet (London, England), 389(10076), 1323–1335. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)32381-9
3. World Health Organization. (n.d.). Contact us. Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://apps.who.int/gho/data/view.main.WOMENLEXv
4. Behrens, Gundula et al. “Healthy lifestyle behaviors and decreased risk of mortality in a large prospective study of U.S. women and men.” European journal of epidemiology vol. 28,5 (2013): 361-72. doi:10.1007/s10654-013-9796-9
5. Li, Y., Pan, A., Wang, D. D., Liu, X., Dhana, K., Franco, O. H., Kaptoge, S., Di Angelantonio, E., Stampfer, M., Willett, W. C., & Hu, F. B. (2018). Impact of Healthy Lifestyle Factors on Life Expectancies in the US Population. Circulation, 138(4), 345–355. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.032047
6. GBD 2017 Diet Collaborators. “Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.” Lancet (London, England) vol. 393,10184 (2019): 1958-1972. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30041-8
7. Aune, Dagfinn et al. “Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease, total cancer and all-cause mortality-a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies.” International journal of epidemiology vol. 46,3 (2017): 1029-1056. doi:10.1093/ije/dyw319
8. Zeraatkar, Dena et al. “Red and Processed Meat Consumption and Risk for All-Cause Mortality and Cardiometabolic Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Cohort Studies.” Annals of internal medicine vol. 171,10 (2019): 703-710. doi:10.7326/M19-0655
9. Schwingshackl, Lukas et al. “Food groups and risk of all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies.” The American journal of clinical nutrition vol. 105,6 (2017): 1462-1473. doi:10.3945/ajcn.117.153148
10. Fadnes, Lars T et al. “Estimating impact of food choices on life expectancy: A modeling study.” PLoS medicine vol. 19,2 e1003889. 8 Feb. 2022, doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1003889
11. Aune, Dagfinn et al. “Whole grain consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all cause and cause specific mortality: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies.” BMJ (Clinical research ed.) vol. 353 i2716. 14 Jun. 2016, doi:10.1136/bmj.i2716
12. Samitz, Guenther et al. “Domains of physical activity and all-cause mortality: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of cohort studies.” International journal of epidemiology vol. 40,5 (2011): 1382-400. doi:10.1093/ije/dyr112
13. Farahmand, B et al. “Golf: a game of life and death–reduced mortality in Swedish golf players.” Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports vol. 19,3 (2009): 419-24. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0838.2008.00814.x
14. National Research Council (US) Panel on Understanding Divergent Trends in Longevity in High-Income Countries; Crimmins EM, Preston SH, Cohen B, editors. Explaining Divergent Levels of Longevity in High-Income Countries. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2011. 5, The Role of Smoking. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK62363/
15. van den Brandt, P. A., & Brandts, L. (2020). Alcohol consumption in later life and reaching longevity: the Netherlands Cohort Study. Age and ageing, 49(3), 395–402. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afaa003