What’s the Best Diet if You Want to Live a Long, Healthy Life?
There’s a lot of controversy about what type of diet helps you live a longer, healthier life.
Most “specialists” say the Mediterranean Diet is the best, and while it’s full of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, potatoes, whole grains, breads, herbs, spices, fish, seafood and extra virgin olive oil, what happens when you can’t eat most of those foods?
Quite a few people can’t eat nuts, seeds, or whole grains, then you have doctors tell you to stay away from carbohydrates, so there go the potatoes and bread from the diet.
So, that leaves you with vegetables, fruits, legumes, herbs, spices, fish, seafood, and olive oil.
Then you hear about shrimp being bad for your cholesterol, what does a person do or believe?
After all, if you want to live longer, you want to be healthier, right? Who wants to be sick while living longer? Plus, if you live healthier, you can live independently longer.
The funny thing about diets is that none of them mention chocolate, but yes, DARK chocolate can help you live a healthier, longer life!!!
Cocoa beans are found to be chock full of antioxidants which can lower your risk of heart disease! Just make sure you don’t overdo it, one square of dark chocolate a day is enough, sorry you cannot eat a bag of Hershey bars !! Darn it!!
Another item not mentioned in many diets is coffee .
According to Dr. Joe Vinson, a professor at the University of Scranton found that the flavonoids contained in coffee can prevent heart disease.
He says that “antioxidants are your army to protect you from the toxic free radicals, which come from breathing oxygen and eating sugar, that start chronic diseases”.
They ward off diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and stroke, but it can raise your blood pressure, so you may want to drink decaf.
Garlic is one item that seems to be mentioned in every diet that helps you live longer and healthier!!!
This is the one staple that I can’t live without.
I love garlic and put it on/in everything I make. The way I eat garlic, I should live forever!!
Garlic contains immune-boosting ingredients that fight cancer!!
Red wine is one of the main foods in the Mediterranean Diet.
Can you say yes, please??
Every personal trainer and doctor I spoke to say the same thing, red wine (as opposed to white) is the best alcohol to drink for your health.
Red wine contains a natural plant substance that fights disease. As with everything else, not a bottle of wine a day, one or two glasses a day is the recommended dosage.
Moderation is the key.
Brightly colored fruits and vegetables are the best for you because the natural pigmentation that gives them their bright colors are what helps fight cancer.
Dark green and yellow are the best, along with sweet potatoes. So, eating your kale and spinach is not just a wives tale, it’s true to help you live longer and healthier.
When you choose what kind of fish to eat, opt for the oily varieties, salmon, mackerel, and trout.
These fish are chock full of vitamin A and D, two of the vitamins many of us lack in our diets. These two vitamins are perfect for our immune system and the omega-3 fatty acids have been linked to lowering your risk of heart disease. These fatty acids have also been shown to help combat Alzheimer’s disease.
So, let’s make it a point to eat your fish at least twice a week.
What type of diet helps you live longer and healthier?
Who knows, but if you eat smarter and watch what you eat, you don’t need to follow a specific diet.
Can you cheat once in a while? Yes! If not, why live longer??
