Academic Research on Longevity and Its Link to Health

We've broken this into two sections: information about the dietary habits that lead to longer life expectancies and how disease factors into life expectancy.

A Healthy Diet

Here's a summary of the dietary habits scientific research has shown to have a meaningful impact on how long you'll live. So much to digest! There's a lot of information about the drinking habits and diet that can help you live longer. It can be overwhelming to figure out what's reliable and what's not proven by the data. Our approach? Ignore the fads and the faux science and focus on the findings that have held up under rigorous scientific and medical tests. Here's some of the most reputable peer-reviewed research that has appeared in medical journals tying certain diets and drinking habits to longevity.

A Diet Rich in Superfoods

The European Food Information Council (EUFIC) defines a superfood as “a nutrient-rich food considered to be especially beneficial for health and well-being.” Basically, superfoods are foods with health benefits that go beyond the simple nourishment of other foods. While the list of superfoods seems to be constantly changing, a few key players make the list time and time again. These include blueberries (which are especially rich in antioxidants), pomegranate juice (which lowers blood pressure and the risk of blood clots), green tea (an especially good agent in weight loss and preventing gastrointestinal cancers) and salmon (which has immense cardiovascular benefits, and aids in joint pain relief).

A Balanced Diet

In a study from researchers at The University of California San Francisco School of Medicine Dr. Lynda Frassetto spoke to a low-acid diet, full of vegetables, some fruits, nuts, and lean meats. This diet lowers blood pressure, improves glucose tolerance and lipid profiles, and helps balance insulin secretion and sensitivity. For these reasons, the low-acid diet is especially beneficial for people suffering from Type II diabetes.

Research by Dr. Stephen Phinney of the Department of Kinesiology at University of Connecticut has pointed to a diet called “nutritional ketosis.” This low-carb diet allows your body to become “keto-adaptive,” meaning it uses ketones (organic compounds produced when your body oxidizes secondary alcohols) for fuel, rather than carbohydrates. Nutritional ketosis, adapted by many high-performance athletes and marathon runners, reduces overall inflammation, reduces plasma saturated fatty acids, despite the relatively high fat intake, and helps to prevent or reverse metabolic syndrome, a contributing factor to obesity.

Dr. Dean Ornish's research points to a lifestyle diet called the Spectrum Diet, a more personalized approach, he claims, as diets are rarely one-size-fits-all. Like the low-acid and nutritional ketosis diets, Ornish recommends plenty of vegetables and fruits, and little to no refined carbohydrates. The Spectrum Diet places emphasis on legumes, whole grains, natural soy products, and an avoidance of animal products. Additionally, it includes a healthy amount of exercise, an active role in reducing stress, supporting one's community, and practicing mindful eating, where one, “focuses on eating with more pleasure, which can result in fewer calories consumed.” The combination of this diet and behavior has proven to reduce cholesterol, prevent and reverse heart disease, and, based on a study of mice in the New England Journal of Medicine, clean the coronary arteries of the blockage resulting from the typical American diet.

Coffee

In the New England Journal of Medicine, a study about the relationship between coffee and mortality produced some very telling figures. After following 402,260 people age 50-71 for over a decade, sorted by their coffee habits, scientists concluded that the more coffee one drank, the lower risk of death, to a certain point. The optimal amount of coffee is 4-5 cups per day, which lowers the risk of death, relative to coffee non-drinkers, by 12% in males and 16% in females. Drinking more than this amount is no better nor no worse with regard to mortality. Drinking less than the optimal amount, even just one cup per day, lowered the mortality risk by 5-6%. So what makes coffee so good for our life span? Scientists point to the polyphenols, a powerful antioxidant that aids in tissue repair, strong immunity, and, most importantly, decreased risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. In fact, coffee is the greatest source of antioxidants in the Western diet. With the physical and cognitive benefits coffee has to offer, drink your morning cup of joe (and four more!) guilt-free.

Wine

A regular routine of moderate drinking, think 1-2 drinks a day for women and 2-4 for men, is correlated with greater longevity. Red wine, in particular, yields a number of heart healthy benefits, thanks to both the alcohol content, as well as the grapes. In a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition conducted by Spanish scientists, red wine was found to improve arterial health on two dimensions. The alcohol prevents inflammation of arterial walls, and the grapes help to remove plaque. The anti-inflammatory effect extends to other types of alcohol as well, but the plaque-removal is unique to red wine. The combination of these benefits greatly helps to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in developed nations, and hence, furthers longevity.

Summary

What we use to fuel our bodies and what we do with that fuel is of the utmost importance in terms of length and quality of life. It's never too late to create healthier habits, to take part in your community, and to take steps in reducing stress. So grab a green, leafy plate, pour a glass out, sit back, relax, and enjoy a long life.

Disease

Research and resources about life expectancy specific to different diseases.

Cancer

There are over 100 types of different cancers, each with its own unique prognosis. In fact, each individual diagnosis has a unique prognosis. Therefore, it's impossible to give a generic answer to the question of life expectancy for a cancer patient. A study done in Taiwan, published by the International Society For Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, doctors examined 17 different cancers in an attempt to measure life expectancy of each cancer upon diagnosis. The study found that the the cancers with the greatest life expectancy, on average, were breast cancer, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, and skin cancer. These four all had a life expectancy greater than 15 years. Also with a relatively positive prognosis were nasopharyngeal cancer, leukemia, cancer of the bladder, kidney cancer, and colorectal cancer, each with a life expectancy greater than 10 years. Those with the shortest life expectancies were pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, and lung cancer.

In addition to looking at the average life expectancy of each of the 17 cancers, the study also examined the expected years of life lost (EYLL) of each cancer. Doctors of this study defined EYLL as, “the difference in the area between the mean survival curves of the cancer and reference populations.” The results showed that cancers of the liver, nasopharyngeal cancer, and leukemia had the highest EYLL, at approximately 16 years, 15 years, and 19 years, respectively.

While this study found their methods of testing to be quite accurate, Cancer Research U.K. points out that, “the outcome depends on how advanced your cancer is when it is diagnosed,” also known as the stage of cancer. For example, in pancreatic cancer, a type that is especially difficult to diagnose early and with a particularly poor prognosis, the difference in diagnosing in an early stage versus an advanced stage is large. When caught in an early stage, 25% of patients have a life expectancy of at least 5 years. If undiagnosed until an advanced stage, the life expectancy drops to 6-11 months if locally advanced, and 2-6 months if the cancer cells have spread. With great advancements in technology, medicine, and knowledge, doctors hope to improve the life expectancy and quality of life for people with all types of cancers.

Heart Disease

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in adults in developed nations, which, of course, includes the U.S. Throughout one's life, a number of factors increase the risk of developing CHD, but many of these, according to doctors William B. Kannel and Barbara S. Levine, are correctable or avoidable. These include smoking, hypertension, high LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, and diabetes. In this same study, doctors point out that, though CHD is the leading cause of death in the United States, even for those of 80 years of age, the average life expectancy is 8 years. This figure is important to appreciate, as it includes people who take no action in correcting the risk factors under their control.

Though CHD is the most talked about heart disease, it certainly is not the only one of its kind. One of the more lethal, though less prominent, types is acute heart failure. According to Dr. Samuel W. Joffe, in a piece published by the American Heart Association, “heart failure is a lethal disease with a worse life expectancy than many types of cancer.” Only 1 in every 3 patients hospitalized for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) have a life expectancy greater than 5 years. Though a bleak prognosis, studies show that these numbers are improving. From 1995 to 2004, the proportion of people dying while under the care of the hospital or within 30 days of discharge decreased by 21% and 18%, respectively, and the long-term survival increased by 45%. However, while ADHF patients are surviving longer, the life expectancy is still low. Doctors say this is partially due to the fact that patients admitted to the hospital for heart failure are older and sicker, due to increased overall longevity and improved medical care that allows patients to survive other conditions that may have led to an earlier death prior to ADHF.

Asthma

According to a study in J Epidemiol Community Health, the prevalence of asthma is not entirely known, due to a number of barriers in diagnosis, such as under-reporting of symptoms and suboptimal use of diagnostic tests. The good news is that, for the most part, a person with asthma can have a life expectancy as long as someone without asthma. However, studies have identified three risk factors that lead to a shorter lifespan with asthma: smoking, the presence of irritants, and lifestyle choices. These risk factors can all be controlled by choosing not to smoke, living and working in areas without certain irritants, and making healthy lifestyle choices, such as in diet and exercise.

While asthma can be kept well under control, asthma in the elderly (AIE) is of greater concern. Asthma has a cumulative effect on a person, so by the time someone is an elder their body has been gradually weakened for many years if they didn't take proper care of their asthma. In addition to the effects of asthma itself, scientists in the World Allergy Organization Journal point out that elders naturally have a weaker immune system, and a higher allergen sensitization. The asthma, itself, isn't any stronger or different than it is earlier in life, but the body's sensitivity is greater, its recovery is weaker, and often, there are other medical conditions being dealt with. Doctors have found that asthma in people over age 55 is associated with higher rates of hospitalization and near-fatal asthma attacks, compared to people ages 18-54. The best thing a person with asthma can do for their lifespan is to be cognizant of their condition and the events that trigger an asthmatic event, beginning early in life, to keep their body stronger against the disease later on.

Diabetes

In the United States, the prevalence of diabetes increased 83% from 1993-2009, according to a study from the Mailman School of Public Health and School of Nursing at Columbia University. Therefore, its burden on the population has risen as well. In an article published by the U.K. Diabetes Community, doctors suggest that the life expectancy of someone with type 2 diabetes is reduced by up to 10 years as a result of the disease. Historically, for type 1 diabetes, which typically progresses quicker than type 2, the reduction in life expectancy exceeded 20 years. However, thanks to medical advances, doctors are finding that this number is significantly improving. A study from the University of Pittsburgh suggests that people with type 1 diabetes who were born after 1965 have a life expectancy of 69 years, compared to that of someone without diabetes, which ranges from 74-81 years.

The shorter life expectancy caused by diabetes is really a result of conditions stemming from the high blood sugar in patients. The higher level can lead to diabetic retinopathy, kidney disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. And as a result of these secondary conditions, patients may develop poor circulation and gradual organ damage, especially to the heart, kidneys, eyes, and nerves. Similar to asthma, the best thing a person suffering from diabetes can do is take a proactive role in managing their disease, through dietary and lifestyle choices.