Health diet 'leads to longer life'
Eating fruit and vegetables is one of the key contributing factors to enjoying a long and healthy life, according to Scottish scientists.Research by a team from Glasgow indicates that owning your own home also has a positive impact on life expectancy in the developed world.
Studying the length of telemeres – the chromosomes in the body that shorten with time and indicate a person's biological age – they found a correlation between low income households and shorter life expectancy, with poor diet and fitness being some of the explanations for this association.
Dr Paul Shiels, of the Institute of Cancer Studies at Glasgow University, said: "We show that accelerated ageing is associated with social status and deprivation in Glasgow.
"This effect is exacerbated by diet - simply not eating your five portions of fruit and veg a day."
He added that the trend is most prevalent among over-55s and those with household earnings of less than £25,000.
