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In a recent article published in the journal PLoS Medicine, scientists have found that:
As long as the daily diet is changed from the "typical Western diet" to the "healthy diet" model, the life expectancy may increase by more than 10 years, and it is not too late to change it by the age of 60.
The "typical Western diet" mentioned here is based on a database of actual food consumption in the United States and Europe.
Healthy Eating, on the other hand, is close to the dietary guidelines of authoritative institutions, increasing intake of vegetables, fruits, fish, whole grains, nuts, legumes, and reducing intake of red meat, processed meat, sugary drinks and refined grains compared to the former.
If you start to change from the age of 20, from a "typical Western diet" to a "healthy diet", life expectancy increases by about 10.7 years for women (8.4-12.3) and for men by about 13 years (9.4-14.3).
After 60 years of age, life expectancy can still increase by about 8 years (4.8-11.2 years) for women and about 8.8 years (5.2-12.5 years) for men.
80-year-olds can get about 3.4 years of life expectancy extension from such dietary changes (2.1-4.7 for women and 2.1-4.8 for men).
In other words, the sooner you change, the more you benefit, but it is never too late to change.
Are you eating healthy today?