For healthy aging: how can I change my diet?

Proper nutrition plays an important role in aging research. For those who want to stay fit and healthy for a long time, scientists recommend: no red meat, no finished products, nothing sweet, no “bad” animal fats, little alcohol.

Instead, you can fuel your body with more than two-thirds fresh vegetables on your plate. Lettuce, legumes, herbs, sprouts, nuts and mushrooms should also be on your diet. In addition, cold-pressed vegetable oils, whole grain products, dark berries – and intermittent fasting.

That’s why changing your diet is challenging

Building new habits and then establishing them in the long term is a challenge for many people. The urge for the “unhealthy” is too great. The nutritional psychologist Prof. Christoph Klotter gives the phenomenon a name: It is the primal creature in us, the limbic system. Put simply, this is the control center of our emotions. It also drives our drive to do things and is part of the learning process.

It evaluates in milliseconds what is essential for survival – and therefore pleasurable – and what is threatening, i.e. reprehensible. 70 to 80 percent of our spontaneous decisions are made under his secret command. And so he controls us, by emotion. “Eat as much as you can, preferably sweet and greasy! You never know when you’ll be able to stuff your stomach next!”

What our limbic system has not learned, however, is that we no longer know periods of hunger. We don’t need fat pads to survive. So if you want to change your eating habits, please unmask your lymbic system first. If “it” draws you to the ice cream parlor even though you want to avoid sugar, there’s a very good chance it’s not your brain!

How to trick your limbic system

The psychiatrist Viktor Frankl put it in a nutshell: “I don’t have to put up with everything I do.” But you need the right tools to do so. The limbic system does not recognize prohibitions because it works with emotions. For this reason, many suffer from the so-called yo-yo effect after a diet. With positive emotions you can trick the system.

Prof. Klotter recommends in my new
Book “The Rejuvenation Plan” Self-knowledge, small steps and a lot of love for yourself. Get on the track of your eating reflexes! “I need meat”, “I can’t live without cake”. Today I know how to escape this reflex.

I fill up less – or have less served in the restaurant. A good example is the Munich Oktoberfest. Normally, the pretzel or the knuckle of pork are considered good form here. But not for me! Sauerkraut is great too! Positive emotions are key. You should also ask yourself when do I eat out of stress or as a reward, even though I don’t feel hungry?

Tips from Psycholinguistics

A tip comes from psycholinguistics: positive statements shape our feelings. “I have to eat a lot of vegetables, otherwise I’ll get sick” – that will hardly work. But: “I think vegetables are wonderful because they keep me healthy!” The constant repetition helps you to trick the system.

And: the constant repetition, the mere exposure effect. This is especially helpful for anyone who is reluctant to eat vegetables. Nevertheless, try it again and again and in delicious variations. Over time you will notice that your attitude towards vegetables, for example, will change. Forgive yourself for “sins”, but don’t lose sight of your goal – because good nutrition means a long, healthy life.

This article first appeared in the My life print edition 09/2023.

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