Fast food is convenient and easy to get. Nearly every city and town has at least one fast food place – if not a half dozen of them.
Even though fast food is designed to taste good, the problem is that most fast foods are unhealthy and will not help you live longer.
To live longer and be healthy, you must eat more plants.
Problems With a Protein-Based Diet
Studies have revealed that a diet high in protein will harm your health. Your diet is high in protein when 20 percent of what you eat is a protein of any kind. This kind of diet increases your risk of cancer and diabetes and dying of nearly any cause.
The effect of a protein-rich diet affects people of various ages differently. This kind of diet negatively affects middle-aged people who eat a protein-rich diet as much as people who smoke. People over 65 can benefit from a moderate to high diet of protein because it enables them to maintain a healthy weight and prevent frailty.
A Low-Carb Diet
Diets that focus on consuming low amounts of carbs are popular today. Although they may not be harmful in the short term, a long-term diet or lifestyle of low carbs will shorten your life.
Research has revealed that people who get about 50 percent of their calories from carbs live the longest. People getting 30 to 40 percent of their calories from carbs lived two years less. Those that got less than 30% of their calories from carbs lost even more years.
A Diet High in Sugar
Everyone loves a little sugar now and then.
Too much of the sweet stuff, though, will shorten your life – by several years. Natural sugars are not a problem. Many whole foods contain natural sugar – and many other healthy ingredients, but this form of sugar is good for you.
The sugars that cause health problems are the added sugars in foods. The American Heart Association (AMA) says that consuming a lot of added sugar increases your levels of LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) and reduces HDL cholesterol (the good kind).
The result is that it triples your risk of fatal cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It can also increase chronic inflammation.
Surveys show that the average man today takes in about 24 teaspoons of sugar daily. The AMA recommends consuming a maximum of six teaspoons of added sugars per day for women and nine teaspoons per day for men (most sodas contain about nine teaspoons per can).
A Low-Fat Diet
Another popular diet fad is to eat foods that have low levels of fat in them. Research has shown that this is not healthy in the long term because your body does need some fats – preferably unsaturated. Some fats are necessary because they absorb nutrients such as vitamins A, D, E, and K. Those who consumed fewer fats lived about 12 percent shorter lives.
No Coffee in Your Diet
Recently, coffee has been proven highly beneficial for most people. It contains many good ingredients that benefit nearly anyone – regardless of weight, age, smoking, and even drinking alcohol.
Coffee – one to four cups per day – reduces the risk of death from many diseases. Women had a 20 percent lower risk of death from heart disease by 20 percent, and men had a 12 percent reduction. For those who do not like coffee, green tea also has excellent health benefits.
What you eat every day can and does influence your longevity. If you want to live longer and stay healthier, adopting a Mediterranean diet – that focuses more on fruits and vegetables – is about the healthiest.
