Switching to a Plant Based Diet Can Increase Life Span

The new study from the University of Bergen in Norway found that switching to a plant-based diet can increase Life span. The new research was published today in PLOS Medicine. Researchers used existing data from previous analyses and the Global Burden of Disease study to create a model that estimates the effect on Life expectancy from a range of dietary changes.

The new model is available online and is called the Food4Healthy Life calculator. Understanding the relative health potential of different food groups could enable people to make feasible and significant health gains. The Food4Healthy Life calculator could be a valuable tool for clinicians, policymakers, and laypeople to understand the health impact of dietary choices.

The findings are no surprise to nutrition experts like Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RDN, a nutritionist and the author of “Skinny Liver,” and Dr. Danine Fruge, ABFP, the medical director at the Pritikin Longevity Center. It has been widely accepted that nutrition significantly impacts our health at all ages.Our dietary habits can dramatically affect whether we develop the disease, reverse disease, and our longevity. Even Hippocrates noted, ‘Let food be our medicine, let medicine be our food.

Kirkpatrick adds the results of this study reflect previous data showing that more plants and less processed meats can decrease mortality.A 2020 analysisTrusted Source published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition demonstrated that a high intake of whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and coffee is associated with a reduced risk for all-cause mortality. A high intake of red or processed meats was associated with higher all-cause mortality.