Looking to treat yourself? Research says it might add years onto your life.
If you’ve lived by the mantra that a daily piece of dark chocolate is good for your health, you’re in luck. Another reliable source is backing that up.
A new study from the Journal of Internal Medicine found that an anti-inflammatory diet can boost your life expectancy.
That kind of diet includes foods such as fruit, vegetables, breakfast cereals, whole-grain bread, low-fat cheese, tea, chocolate and, yes, even a moderate amount of wine and beer.
Researchers from Sweden, Poland and Seattle, who believed the influence of an anti-inflammatory diet on humans’ survival time hadn’t been investigated enough, decided to test it out.
They studied 68,273 Swedish men and women between ages 45 and 83 over the past 16 years. Based on 11 anti-inflammatory foods, their diets were given a score ranging from zero to 16, with 16 being the healthiest score.
Followup research over the years, which was released this month, found that those whose diets were filled with anti-inflammatory foods had an 18 percent chance of living longer than others who had less in their diet.
Their risk of dying from cancer was 13 percent lower, and their risk of dying from a cardiovascular disease was 20 percent lower.
And it can also be helpful to smokers, too.
The study also found that smokers who followed an anti-inflammatory could live about five years longer than smokers who didn’t.
“Adherence to a diet with high anti-inflammatory potential may reduce all-cause, cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality and prolong survival time, especially amongst smokers,” the study said.
The study also recommends staying away from certain foods that are pro-inflammatory, like processed meats and organ meats — which might be bad news for anyone who celebrated National Cheeseburger Day this week.
Joanna Kaluza, an associate professor at Warsaw University of Life Sciences, wrote in the study, “even partial adherence to the anti-inflammatory diet may provide a health benefit.”
Gianluca D’Elia may be reached at gdelia@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @gianluca_delia. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
