To live longer, eat better ! According to a new study, a diet rich in omega-3 could increase our life expectancy by five years. Here's to fatty acids !
The race for the elixir of youth has been the subject of a multitude of research studies and driven scientists for many years. According to a new study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, eating omega-3-rich foods regularly could increase life expectancy by five years. A good reason to increase your intake of fatty acids!
4.7 more years of life
To conduct their study, researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (in Spain) monitored nearly 2,240 people aged 65 and older for 11 years. The result: participants with the highest blood levels of omega-3 lived an average of 4.7 years longer than those without. By way of comparison, a regular smoker loses an average of five years of life expectancy. They could therefore regain them by consuming fatty acids. The ideal is to avoid smoking while eating omega-3 to maximise your chances of breaking the records!
Essential for the proper functioning of the body, omega-3s allow us to live longer thanks to their effects on blood pressure, on cardiovascular risks, on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, on the retina, the brain and even the nervous system.
Which foods are rich in omega-3?
Since the body does not naturally produce fatty acids, it is essential to introduce certain products containing them to our daily diet. Some are of animal origin such as herring, sardines, mackerel and salmon, others are of plant origin such as rapeseed and linseed oil, chia or flax seeds. Cod liver oil is also a good choice, as it is rich in omega-3.
