The live longer diet: eat the right foods regularly and you can live a long and vibrant life. Our recipes make it easy - Natural Health®

Natural Health, Sept, 2003 by Kathryn Perrotti Leavitt

The fountain of youth may not exist, but you can help yourself live a long, healthy life with the right diet. We talked to top experts in the field of anti-aging medicine to find out what you should eat to help you age gracefully. In addition to a well-balanced diet that's low in saturated fat and rich in fruits and vegetables, they named certain nutrients that help prevent age-related diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and Alzheimer's disease. We'll tell you what these exceptional nutrients are and why you should make them part of your daily diet. Then we'll get you started with five easy and delicious recipes.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E's powerful antioxidant activity protects your heart. It blocks free radicals, molecules that lead to oxidation of LDL ("bad") cholesterol, a risk factor for heart disease, says Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D., professor of nutrition at Tufts University in Boston.

In addition, studies have shown that vitamin E may hold off some kinds of cancer by neutralizing the free radicals that damage DNA and create mutations in the genes that can lead to cancer.

Vitamin E also works to neutralize free radicals in your brain, helping to protect it against Alzheimer's disease.

Martha Clare Morris, a researcher at the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging in Chicago, has found that people with the highest vitamin E intake from food have a 70 percent lower risk of getting the disease than those with the lowest intake. Her research also shows that vitamin E helps preserve memory and your ability to think quickly and pay attention.

Vitamin C

This antioxidant garners a lot of attention for its ability to fight the common cold, but like vitamin E, it can also help your heart. High intakes of vitamin C can make your arteries more flexible, says Blumberg. This flexibility allows your arteries to dilate as they need to when blood flow changes, a critical function for preventing a heart attack. In addition, Blumberg says, some evidence shows that vitamin C may also protect against stroke.

Some of the proof behind vitamin C isn't as solid as researchers would like, and Blumberg says that's probably because vitamin C doesn't work alone but rather in what he calls an "antioxidant defense network" with other nutrients. Catherine Loria, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Md., agrees with Blumberg's assessment. Despite this, Loria, who conducted a study that found that vitamin C may help prevent cancer in men, says that few experts would argue against the benefits of eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, many of which contain high levels of vitamin C.

B Vitamins

B vitamins, especially folate, [B.sub.6], and [B.sub.12], defend your heart and brain from age-related diseases by keeping levels of a substance called homocysteine low. Your body produces homocysteine naturally. However, high levels of this substance are associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and Alzheimer's disease, says Blumberg. It causes hardening of the arteries, possibly by damaging blood vessels in the heart, and it also harms nerve cells in your brain.

B vitamins, found in a wide range of foods like beef, spinach, and wheat germ, metabolize homocysteine, breaking it down into harmless components. In a study published last year on people undergoing angioplasty, a surgical procedure to widen a blocked artery, those who were given high doses of B vitamins had significantly fewer subsequent heart attacks and repeat surgeries than those who took a placebo. While folate tends to lower homocysteine the most effectively, Blumberg says that for the best protective effect you should eat a variety of foods to get all the Bs.

Monounsaturated Fats

You may think you're doing your body a favor by cutting fat out of your diet, but certain kinds of fat are crucial for healthy aging. A diet rich in monounsaturated fats lowers total cholesterol while preserving levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol in your blood, and it lowers triglycerides (high amounts can lead to heart disease), says Penny Kris-Etherton, Ph.D., R.D., a professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University in University Park. In addition, studies have shown that monounsaturated fat reduces fibrinogen, a component in your blood that makes it more likely to clot, increasing the risk of heart disease.

Monounsaturated fats, like those in olive oil and nuts, are also rich in polyphenolic compounds, which have heart-healthy antioxidant properties. And they can control glucose and insulin levels, helping to reduce the risk of diabetes, adds Kris-Etherton.

She warns, though, that you shouldn't eat just monounsaturated fats, leaving out other fats such as omega-3 fats (see below) and omega-6 fats, which can lower cholesterol when used in moderation. Also, for the greatest health benefits don't simply add monounsaturated fats to your diet; instead, replace the saturated fats in your diet with them.

Omega-3 Fats

You can't overestimate the value of omega-3 fatty acids to your health. Omega-3 fatty acids inhibit inflammation, a risk factor for both heart disease and Alzheimer's disease, says Lloyd Horrocks, Ph.D., an omega-3 researcher and professor emeritus at Ohio State University in Columbus.