Four Life-Extending Eating Strategies

I've spent an awful lot of time over the years talking about the food we eat and how it impacts your health, your weight and your life. But there are eating strategies that don't have anything to do with what you eat- instead they have to do with how you eat. And these strategies can extend your life and increase your well-being just as surely as the choices you make about what's on your plate.

Sit down! The multitasking thing isn't working out so well- and research is showing it's a really bad idea. There are studies now showing areas of the brain that light up when you do different tasks and when you're doing more than one thing, there's conflicting messages being sent. You don't really have your attention on any one of them and that goes doubly true when you're eating and you actually need your attention to be on your food. And when you're attending to your food, you enjoy it more, you digest it better and- guess what- you eat less of it. Without even trying!

Eat with your family. Every single study shows that families who eat together do better on measures of well-being. The kids who dine with the folks are healthier, happier, and better students. Conversation anchors the family and actually protects kids from all kinds of harm Studies show that the more often families eat together the less likely kids are to smoke, to drink, to do drugs, to get depressed, to develop eating disorders, and to consider suicide. And the more likely they are to do well in school, delay having sex, eat their vegetables, learn big words, and know which fork to use. So eating together as a family is really a very powerful strategy for doing a lot of things.

Eat earlier in the day. Adele Davis used to say, "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper." We do the exact opposite in this country. And a lot of us say "Well, I'll save up the calories for dinner". Very, very bad move hormonally on every possible level. With calories eaten earlier in the day, you have a little bit better insulin response, you have more chance at burning it off. Eat less at night. It makes a very, very big difference to your health and Youngevity.

Hara hachi bu. Don't know what that means? Well, it's a beautiful saying that the people in Okinawa have and it means this: push away from the table when you're 80 percent full. The one strategy that seems to have extended life in every species its been studied is calorie reduction. If you eat about 25 percent less, which is exactly what the hara hachi bu mandate would prescribe-if you eat until your 75-80 percent full-- you will extend your life and improve your health.

Discover My Secret for Staying Young:

This article in an excerpt from my latest project that reveals how baby boomers can live a longer, better, healthier, more exciting life than ever thought possible.

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