The figures associated with the anti-ageing market are staggering. The global industry is already estimated to be worth around US$100 billion. Things are not slowing down either. A report titled Anti-Aging Products: A Global Market Report published by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. estimates that the anti-ageing products market will reach US$291.9 billion annually by 2015. There is an ever-increasing interest in holding onto youth and people are prepared to pay to do it. It may disappoint a few salivating marketeers to know, however, that a new study shows you can influence how you age just by what you eat.
For some time, the health benefits of the Mediterranean Diet have been studied and proven. This diet essentially features fruits, vegetables, legumes, olive oil, nuts and whole grains. It is also characterised by moderate consumption of wine, dairy products and poultry with a low consumption of red meat, sweet beverages, creams and pastries.
In this study, 7447 participants took part over a five-year period. They were assigned to one of three intervention diets. Two of the diets were Mediterranean style, either enriched with extra virgin olive oil or mixed nuts. The other group ate a low-fat diet. The subjects were men aged 55-80 years and women aged 60-80 years, who were free of cardiovascular disease but who had either type 2 diabetes or were at risk of coronary heart disease.
The most significant finding of the study was that the Mediterranean style diet led to a reduction in uric acid in the blood. High levels of uric acid are associated with metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes mellitus, kidney disease, gout, and death from heart disease. The better the subjects stuck to the Mediterranean diet, the lower their uric acid levels.
No-one wants to age badly but in the end, the choice is yours. You can spend a fortune lining the pockets of people marketing anti-ageing pills and potions to you, or you can dine on your organically grown vegetables, sipping a glass of red wine with your friends. It’s not such a tough decision really.
