Balanced diet for anti-aging

A balanced diet is currently one of the core anti-aging pathways with the lowest cost and no additional side effects that has been verified by global multi-center clinical studies. Long-term adherence to a balanced dietary pattern that is consistent with one's own metabolic level can reduce the risk of chronic diseases in the elderly by more than 30%. The physiological age of most practitioners can be 3-8 years younger than their actual age. This is not the metaphysics of some health bloggers. It is a solid conclusion given by a 10-year follow-up study of 120,000 people released by "Natural Aging" in 2023.

Don’t believe it, when I went to the community with a senior sister from the nutrition department to do research on elderly nutrition in the past two years, I saw real examples. The 72-year-old Aunt Zhang’s blood pressure, blood sugar, and bone density are more stable than those of many 50-year-olds who have just retired. The wrinkles on her face are much lighter than those of her peers. Asked if she takes any sky-high anti-aging health care products, Aunt Zhang waved her hands and smiled: “I don’t have the spare money, but I always have more vegetables than meat when cooking. I mix half a cup of millet into the rice, and my wife stews hairtail fish twice a week. I don’t make any special supplements for anything else.”

In fact, the core logic is simple. Just compare our body to an old factory that operates all year round: the nutrients we eat every day are raw materials. If there is too much of a certain type of raw material and a severe shortage of a certain type, or the machine is overloaded and piles up a pile of waste (which is what we often call oxidative stress products), or the parts are worn out and there is nothing to repair them, then we will naturally age faster over time. To put it simply, a balanced diet means providing the factory with just enough raw materials so that it can run smoothly and have fewer failures.

Of course, this matter is not without controversy. Currently, the nutritional community has been arguing about "how to balance to resist aging" for almost ten years, but there is no unified standard answer.

A very popular group is the calorie restriction party. They use research from the sub-journal "Cell" as evidence, saying that eating 30% less calories every day can lengthen telomeres and extend life by up to 10%. Many health blogger friends around me now eat to a full seventy cents every meal and eat cucumbers when they are hungry. But friends in the sports nutrition circle don’t believe this at all, and the research data they came up with is also very hard: If you do strength training more than three times a week, long-term calorie restriction will only lose muscle. If you lose 10% of muscle mass, your basal metabolism will drop by 3%. If your metabolism collapses, you will age faster. You must eat no less calories.

I personally think that both sides are right. There is no template that suits everyone. Office workers who sit for a long time are no problem if they are 70% full, and people who exercise every day have no harm in eating half a bowl of rice. There is no black and white standard.

I have been in a trap before. When I first learned about nutrition, I weighed myself on a food scale every day. I had to eat 200g of vegetables, 50g of whole grains, and 100g of protein for each meal. It made cooking feel like an experiment. It was so anti-human. I gave up after less than two weeks. Later, I figured out a lazy man's "hand rule". You don't need to count grams, just stretch your hand to get energy: the staple food of each meal should be as big as your fist, and 1/3 can be replaced with corn, sweet potatoes, or mixed beans; protein should be as big as two palms. A lot of eggs, chicken, fish, shrimp, and tofu are exchanged; two large handfuls of vegetables, half of which are dark green and purple, meet the standard. It can be used directly when going out to dinner parties or taking out takeaways. I have been using it for almost three years, and there have never been any problems with various indicators in physical examinations.

There is also a common misunderstanding that everyone thinks that "balance = taking supplements". You can buy a lot of anthocyanins, resveratrol, and vitamin E, thinking that eating them will help you resist aging. Let’s be honest about this: The current academic consensus is that antioxidants taken from natural foods are indeed useful, but taking large-dose supplements alone is a waste of money. The American Cancer Society’s 2022 follow-up study also shows that taking more than 400IU of vitamin E supplements per day for a long time will increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. It is really not as practical as eating an orange, grabbing a handful of blueberries, and frying spinach every day.

There is a girl next to me who is even more extreme. In order to "balance and resist aging", she eats water salad every day, eats only lettuce and chicken breasts, and doesn't even touch the rice. She started losing her hair in less than three months, and her aunt postponed it. After going to the hospital for a checkup, she found out that it was caused by lack of carbohydrates and fat. Are there any absolutely healthy foods? Lard is not a scourge. Eat braised pork once a week. As long as the amount is appropriate, the supplemented phospholipids are good for the skin and brain. Drinking milk tea does not make you old. Drinking it once a week to satisfy your craving is better than holding back a bad mood every day. You must know that bad mood is also one of the culprits of accelerated aging.

Of course, this does not mean that a balanced diet is everything. If you stay up until three o'clock every day, smoking and drinking, it will be useless even if you eat according to standards. Aging is originally the result of multiple effects of genes, living habits, and environment. Diet is only the aspect that accounts for the highest proportion and is best controlled by ordinary people.

To put it bluntly, there is no need to make it too complicated. Just like the older generation said, "eat a little of everything, and don't eat too much of anything." Eating comfortably and happily is more effective than any sky-high-priced anti-aging program.