ONCE you have a food stashed in your home, it can be impossible to ignore the urge to eat it – even if you’re determined to ration it.
Since that’s the case, a longevity guru has said there are four snacks it’s best not to bring home.
GettyDan Buettner has made a career out of studying the world’s longest living people[/caption]
Author and National Geographic fellow Dan Buettner has made a career out of studying the world’s longest living people.
He coined the term Blue Zones to refer to five spots across the world where inhabitants routinely live to the ripe old age of 100.
Having studied the populations of Okinawa, Sardinia, Nicoya, Ikaria and Loma Linda, Dan seems to known his stuff when it comes to habits that can make you live longer.
In a recent post to this Instagram, he shared four foods we should never bring into our home ‘for longevity purposes’.
1. Sugary drinks
This one is technically not a food – but sugary drinks were at the top of Dan’s list.
You might not put fizzy drinks in the same category as biscuits, cake or ice-cream.
But according to Dan, the refreshing beverages pack quite the sugary punch.
“Sweetened beverages are the number one source of refined sugar,” he said.
Large amounts of sugar can have all sorts of nasty side effects on your health – from contributing to weight gain and inflammation to upping the risk of diabetes and high blood pressure.
All of these are linked to an increased risk for heart attack and stroke, according to Dr.Frank Hu, professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
All this is not to say that you shouldn’t have sugar at all.
Instead consider taking a leaf out of Blue Zoner’s books – they “eat sugar intentionally, not by habit or accident”, according to Dan.
That means saving sweets, cookies and cakes for special occasions.
2. Bacon and sausages
Processed meats – anything that has been preserved by curing, salting, smoking, drying or canning – are also on Dan’s naughty list.
This include your typical additions to a breakfast fry-up, like bacon, sausages and black pudding.
But charcuterie like ham and salami also make the cut.
According to Dan, these kind of meats are “carcinogens” – meaning eating them has been linked to cancer.
He’s not the only one to suggest this – studies say eating processed meat could up your risk of bowel cancer.
Meanwhile, ditching bacon and fizzy drinks could add a decade to your life expectancy, scientists from the University of Bergen in Norway found.
3. Packaged sweets
Packages sweets were third on the list of Dan’s no-no foods to keep in the house.
“Your cookies and your candies,” the longevity expert explained.
These kinds of treats are often highly processed – meaning they contain a number of ingredients you wouldn’t use when cooking – and are laden with fat and sugar.
Reports link ultra-processed foods to an increased risk of illness including obesity, heart attacks, strokes, cancer, type 2 diabetes and dementia.
3. Crisps and salty snacks
“The final one is salty snacks,” Dan went on, which he said were the “most highly correlated with obesity“.
This encompasses crisps and Doritos, he said.
Studies have shown that high doses of salt in your diet can increase your risk of type 2 diabetes, as well as high blood pressure.
If you’re looking to snack the centenarian way, nuts is the way to go.
Go for a mix of almonds, peanuts, Brazil nuts, cashews and walnuts for stick to only two handfuls a day.