5 Eating Habits That Can Shorten Your Life

Food is necessary for survival. I don’t think anyone would argue with that statement.

But what about when certain eating habits, specifically certain foods, are said to hinder survival?

That’s what this fairly recent study done at the University of Bergen in Norway, suggested.

In this study led by Lars Fadnes, the researcher found that not just adapting certain eating habits, but also avoiding certain eating habits/foods can add years to your life.

There are 5 foods in particular that the study concludes should be avoided if you wish to live longer.

I personally don’t believe that you should eliminate all of these foods, because some are a really great source of certain macro- and micronutrients.

I’m merely reporting the interesting findings.

You may find some that you wish to continue eating and some you may wish to decrease. It’s entirely up to you.

• Related: 6 Eating Habits That Can Add Years to Your Life
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Red Meat

I can’t say I’m entirely surprised that red meat was on this list. Red meat has been shunned for decades now, in the health world.

Researches found that red meat was one of the two biggest players in determining life expectancy, if you limit your consumption of it.

I couldn’t find how much you should limit it, but did report that the gains in life expectancy are greater the younger you start limiting it.

They reported that women should expect to gain about 1.6 years by limiting it from about 20 years old. They also report that you’ll continue to get positive effects even if you don’t start limiting it until you’re 60 years old.

That being said, red meat is a good source of iron, vitamin B12 (great for your nervous system) and protein. That’s why I will continue eating red meat personally, but I usually eat a small piece just once a week.

Processed Meat

Processed meat is defined differently by different sources. The World Health Organization defines processed meat as “meat that has been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes to enhance flavor or improve preservation.”

Examples of processed meat include sausage, bacon, hot dogs, most deli meats, and even smoked salmon (according to the WHO definition).

So, basically all of those really tasty meats that none of us ever really assumed were super healthy.

Limiting processed meat was shown to extend life expectancy by about the same as red meat…1.6 years in women.

Processed meats don’t have a ton of health benefits, except for maybe smoked salmon. (Also, some deli meats aren’t bad like a low-sodium turkey breast.)

So, if you eat processed meat a few times a week, it might be time to take a look at that and see if you can decrease it a bit. Maybe swap out the hotdogs for a piece of chicken breast or thigh.

Sugar

No surprise here. The study found that unnatural sugars (meaning sugar that isn’t found naturally in fruit, grains and dairy) affect life expectancy.

That means anything that has added or refined sugar, like desserts, many granola bars, candy, soda, most juices, syrups, should be limited if you want to live longer.

Over the years, there has been no clear agreed-upon amount of sugars that we should stick below. It seems like every source just says to limit your intake, so use your judgement on this.

If you feel like you don’t like the amount of sugar you eat, then go with what feels better to you. If you find yourself craving sugar, you aren’t alone. I created a free class on How to Conquer Your Cravings for that reason. You can get it by clicking the image below.

Refined Grains

Refined grains simply means grains that have been processed into flour. When this is done, the grains are typically stripped of a lot of their nutrients, especially fiber.

Refined grains (flours) get absorbed into your blood quickly, causing a rise in blood sugar, or blood glucose. This quick rise is associated with diabetes and other metabolic disorders.

It can also inadvertently cause weight gain, because of the spikes in hunger.

Refined grains can be found in pasta, bread, cereal, muffins, donuts, cookies, crackers, pretzels, and more. While I wouldn’t recommend completely eliminating them, you will indeed find many health benefits from limiting your intake.

• Related: How I Broke My Pasta and Bread Habit
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Eggs

I must admit, I was pretty surprised to see eggs on this list. In all my reading over the years, eggs are on many lists of having significant health benefits.

They do naturally contain high amounts of cholesterol, so I looked into this to see if this is the reason they make the list.

I found that although chicken eggs do have a high amount of cholesterol, this cholesterol doesn’t seem to have the same effect on your blood cholesterol as other sources do, like red meat, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Also, there seems to be no clear link between the consumption of eggs and heart disease, despite pretty extensive research over the past several decades.

There seems to be a little buzz that eggs may be linked with some cancers, but nothing really convincing in my opinion.

So will limiting eggs extend your life expectancy? According to the study led by Lars Fadnes, yes, but I’d like to see better evidence personally.

• Related: 35 Fast and Simple Clean Eating Ideas for Breakfast
• GET WEEKLY TIPS: Eating Habit and Weight Loss Tips

Final Notes

The term “eating habits” means the automaticity/repetition of a certain eating behavior.

So certainly, eating processed meats and refined sugars and grains habitually, isn’t great for your long-term health. However, eating these sparingly won’t exactly cause any major ill-effects either.

Decide for yourself what you feel like you want to do. If you want to keep eating those eggs, then go for it. If you want to eat less sugar and flour, then do it.

Whatever you choose, just know and like your reason.