Research: food that can improve health or shorten healthy life time

Obviously, the researchers didn’t make a dramatic statement that anyone who eats a hot dog dies instantly, but they developed a nutritional index that assigns a number to almost any food you might eat. There are foods that “add” minutes to a healthy life, and others “take away” from them. The hot dog landed deep in the category of foods that you are really better off not eating.

So it’s not just the meat itself, but everything that comes with it. The salt in the bun, the preservatives in the meat, the trans fats – everything adds up. Your body has to cope with all this, and over time this coping takes its toll. The calculation on the index showed that it amounted to about 36 minutes.

There are also good foods

The study didn’t just focus on what was bad – it also looked at what was good. Foods like nuts, fruits and non-starchy vegetables have positive effects on health, where a simple peanut butter and jam sandwich can add 33 minutes to a healthy life. A serving of nuts adds 26 minutes. Baked salmon adds 13.5 minutes. These aren’t huge numbers, but they work in your favor, and the real power lies in changing the menu. If you stop eating hot dogs and eat a peanut butter and jam sandwich instead, you’re not only avoiding the loss, you’re actually moving in the positive direction.

So maybe one hot dog won’t make you “lose” 36 minutes of your life, but if you eat them regularly, or hamburgers, or processed meat in general, then this pattern will eventually take its toll on you. The good news is that change doesn’t have to be all or nothing, and even small changes, made consistently, can add up to a real advantage.