How to lead a longer, healthier life, according to vegan doctor Dr Michael Greger

Want to know how to enjoy a longer, healthier life? Dr Michael Greger shares the science-backed methods you can use to slow the ageing process 

Dr Michael Greger is one of the best-known vegan advocates. As a physician, a founding member and fellow of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, and a New York Times bestselling author, he knows a thing or two about health and vegan nutrition.

Vegan Food and Living’s editor Holly Johnson spoke to Dr Michael Greger on our podcast, Simply Vegan, and they delved into what we can learn from the latest scientific research into healthy ageing.

The myths around anti-ageing

In modern Western society, we are constantly being sold the image of attractive, healthy, young-looking people – whether it’s a billboard on the Underground, an advert on Facebook or smiling celebrities on magazine covers.

And when it comes to seeking out advice on how to stay young and healthy, there’s swaths of information to navigate.

“Dieting and anti-ageing are multibillion dollar industries,” says Greger. “There’s always money in the mix. Anyone seeking even basic practical advice in either arena, living lighter or longer, is faced with a barrage of pills and potions.”

Dr Greger explains that sifting through all the information available online makes it almost impossible to decide what is good and bad for us. “But the good news is that we have tremendous power over our health, destiny and longevity,” he says. “The vast majority of premature death and disability is preventable with a healthy enough diet and lifestyle.”

Do anti-wrinkle creams work?

Before we get into how we can take control of our own health and longevity, we want to know “Are we being sold a lie with things like supplements and anti-wrinkle creams?”

“So much of it is just absolute garbage,” Greger tells us. “They’re just preying on people, because people are willing to spend money, with a promise of anti-ageing or health.”

He goes on to explain how during the research for his book, How Not To Age, he did find a few gems.

“Although the majority of supplements are useless and the majority of skin creams are useless, I did find some, you know, really important exceptions, like niacinamide (a form of vitamin B3) applied topically and also topical vitamin C.”

But before you dash out to buy more creams, he warns: “Unfortunately, the type of vitamin C they use commercially doesn’t actually work. But I mean, you can make your own topical vitamin C cream, there’s just no reason you have to spend (a lot of) money.”

How to slow the ageing process

So we know that most lotions and potions aren’t going to be particularly effective. What can we do in terms of diet and lifestyle to stay as youthful as possible?

“There’s lots of things we can do,” Greger assures us. “But the single most important thing to protect our skin from the signs of ageing is to protect your skin from sun damage.

“In terms of diet, nutrients in certain colourful fruit and vegetables are deposited in the skin and give them not only this kind of healthy glow to both light and dark skin, but the nutrients and greens can improve skin elasticity, collagen status, facial wrinkles – perhaps due to this kind of inside-out sunscreen effect that they have.”

Caring for your skin as you age

We all know that staying hydrated is important, and Dr Greger confirms that the science shows that drinking extra water can decrease skin dryness and roughness.

He also tells us that honeybush tea can reduce eye wrinkles, cocoa powder can improve the thickness of the skin, and almonds can reduce wrinkle severity, “again, perhaps due to UV resistance.”

Other foods to pack into your diet include ground flaxseeds for skin smoothness, soy foods to improve skin elasticity and good fats found in avocados and nuts – but he advises that eating these whole rather than in oil form is important.

“Take something like a walnut – you have all the fibre, all the minerals… but walnut oil has a few fat soluble nutrients, a little vitamin E, but you’ve wasted all that nutrition. It’s better to eat whole food sources of fat, like nuts and seeds and avocados. So that’s really the best way to get our fat.”

Should we avoid ultra-processed foods?

As vegans, we’re lucky to now have a wealth of choice on the supermarket shelves when compared to 5-10 years ago. But this rise in vegan alternatives has led to many high-fat, high-salt, ultra-processed foods tempting us away from what we know is healthy.

And whilst Dr Michael Greger admits he may check out the vegan options at McDonald’s and try a McPlant Burger if there was nothing else available, he very much advocates a whole food plant-based diet with low salt and no oil.

“If you minimise meat, eggs, dairy but replace those animal foods with you know, chips and deep fried foods and soda, you don’t see the benefit that you would normally see by adding healthy plant foods.”

He goes on to explain that better digestion, better energy and less painful periods are just a few benefits of eating a healthy, whole food plant-based diet. “I encourage people to experiment with their own diets, and really kind of push the envelope as much as they can,” he says.

Is salt bad for us?

“Something that vegans and vegetarians are not taking into enough consideration is sodium,” says Dr Michael Greger. “The worst thing about humanity’s diet is neither animal nor vegetable but mineral – too much salt intake, particularly from these processed foods.”

He goes on to explain some of the dangers of high salt intake in our diets.

“{Sodium} is the number one dietary risk factor – it contributes to death from so many different causes like kidney disease, heart disease, strokes and blood pressure.

“You can improve asthma by decreasing sodium intake, you can improve inflammatory arthritis by decreasing sodium intake. It has negative effects on all sorts of organ systems, even if your blood pressure is perfectly fine. It’s really hard to overemphasise, that point.”

Want to learn more about healthy ageing? Listen to our full interview with Dr Michael Greger on the Simply Vegan podcast!

Featured photo © Canva and Dr Michael Greger, composition by VFL