If You Want to Live Longer – Eat Less

How much you eat may very well determine how long you live.

In a report issued by Roderick Bronson and Ruth Lipman of the Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University in Boston, reducing your normal intake of food by 40% yields a 20% longer life span.

Eating less does three things:

1. Reduces DNA Damage – When you eat, oxygen converts glucose into Adenosine Triphosphate, or, ATP, inside the mitochondria (fuel factory inside every cell). This glucose conversion is almost violent and can cause quite a mess inside each cell. This mess includes free radicals or electrons, that have been ripped away from its atom, during the conversion process. If these free radicals are not removed within the cell by oxygen, they can fly around and damage the cell wall or, even worse, fly straight into the cell’s nucleus, damaging the DNA that resides in there. Those who consume fewer calories, have less of a mess to clean up inside their cells.
2. Increases DNA & Cell Repair – 30% of all of your body’s fuel (glucose or ketones) is used to digest food. Those who eat less, require less fuel. The excess fuel available is then put to use cleaning up damaged cells or repairing any DNA damage that might exist. Part of this DNA repair includes fixing frayed telomeres, which reside on the end of each of the 46 chromosomes that make up your DNA. When telomeres are frayed or damaged, this can lead to cell death. Many studies have shown that individuals who have longer telomeres, live longer lives.
3. Increases Good Bacteria Inside Your Gut – Recent studies have discovered that the trillions of microbiota that reside inside your gut (primarily large intestine) function as a separate component of your immune system. When you fast or restrict calories, this can help to re-balance your microbiota, especially if there is too much bad bacteria living in the gut. This reset, therefore, helps improve your immune system. The stronger your immune system, the better able you are to defend against disease.

This is why eating healthy and eating less are Rich Habits. These particular Rich Habits add years to your life.