Eat less, Live longer

If you want to live longer simply eat less will do.

Ageing is a product of a high metabolic rate, i.e. high metabolic rate is a risk factor for early mortality. A leading scientist, Dr Michael Mosley said if we take less calories a day, our body will adapt to it and slow down the metabolism rate, which eventually helps in prolonging our life.

He did not believe it was necessary to eat three meals a day because “what we think of as hunger is mainly habit”. He suggested that intermittent fasting could offer the same benefits. 

“If you stress the body out by restricting calories or fasting, this seems to cause it to adapt and slow the metabolism down.”

This is because calorie restriction reduces the growth of hormone IGF-1, which though maintains and repairs tissue, high levels of it have proven to contribute to cancer forming and ageing.

The same finding was obtained by the Institute of Health Ageing at University College London which said that eating 40 percent less could help extend a person’s life by 20 years.