An 83-year-old doctor and triathlete transformed his health at age 40. He shares his 4 key dietary principles. | Top Vip News

• Joseph Maroon is an 83-year-old practicing neurosurgeon who competes in triathlons.

• Maroon uses four key dietary principles to improve your health and longevity.

• These include following a Mediterranean-style diet and eating less sugar.

An 83-year-old doctor and triathlete who transformed his health in his 40s shared the diet principles he believes have helped him live a healthy life. long and healthy life.

Joseph Maroon, a neurosurgeon at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a panelist at the recent Global Aging ConsortiumHe told Business Insider that he had trouble walking up a flight of stairs in his 40s.

“I was out of shape, living on fast food and not exercising,” he said. wrote on their website.

That year, his father died and his physical and mental health hit rock bottom. But after a friend suggested he try running to relieve his depression, he began making gradual changes to his lifestyle, exercising more and eating better.

At age 53, Maroon had signed up for his first irona triathlon and has since completed eight in total. Last year, Maroon placed second in his age category in the 2022 National Senior Games triathlon.

Maroon previously shared how does it stayis in shape with BI and explained the principles of his diet below.

Follow a Mediterranean-style diet

Maroon said he follows the Mediterranean dietwhich according to US News & World Report is the best way to eat for seven years in a row.

It’s not a “diet” in the sense you might think, but rather a way of eating that focuses on healthy choices rather than restrictions.

It is primarily plant-based and focuses on whole foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes, and healthy fats like olive oil. Includes some fatty fish and red meat on occasion.

The diet has been linked to a multitude of health benefits, including less risk of heart diseasecancer and Alzheimer’sdisease.

Avoid ultra-processed foods

Ultra-processed foodsor UPF, are made using techniques that are difficult to recreate at home and may include additives such as salts, sugars and saturated fats, depending on the NOVA scalethat classifies foods according to their degree of processing.

An easy way to tell if something is ultra-processed is if it doesn’t resemble its ingredients, like protein bars or sausages.

UPFs have been linked to an increased risk of diseases, including cancer, dementitoand cardivascular disease.

Avoid trans fatty acids

Trans fat can increase levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol, or low-density lipoproteins, in the blood, while lowering levels of “good” HDL cholesterol, or high-density lipoproteins, which can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke , Dana Ellis Hunnes, a senior dietitian at UCLA Medical Center previously told BI.

Artificial trans fats are obtained by hydrogenating vegetable oil. They were commonly found in packaged UPF until the FDA declared trans fats unsafe to eat in 2015. The FDA gave food manufacturers three years to remove trans fats from their products, so most Foods no longer contain them.

But foods can still legally contain less than 0.5 grams of trans fat, registered dietitian Kristin Gillespie previously told BI, so it may be worth being careful with them. They usually appear on ingredient lists as ““partially hydrogenated” oil in foods such as margarine, pre-made pie dough, non-dairy coffee creamer, and packaged baked goods.

Eat less sugar

The healthiest diet involves “avoiding a lot of things that people like to eat,” Maroon said, including sugar.

Heidi Tissenbaum professor of molecular, cellular and cancer biology at the University of Massachusetts Chan School of Medicine, previously told BI that in her research, remove added sugar of intestinal worm diet, which are used to model human health span, was linked to increased longevity. It is theorized that this is because when the body metabolizes sugar, it produces byproducts associated with an increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.

He said it’s also important to keep blood sugar levels stable to prevent wear and tear on the mechanism the pancreas uses to regulate spikes, which can increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Avoiding UPFs, which tend to be high in added sugar, can help with this because eating more fiber-rich whole foods helps. regulate blood sugar levels.

Read the original article at Business Insider