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Longevity Conferences 2023
January 19, 2023
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6 Ways to Help Your Clients Succeed with Their Longevity Diet
These are powerful tools that can significantly improve long-term adherence to a diet. What should you recommend to your clients?
Highlights:
- Designing a lifestyle and developing habits that support healthy dietary decisions is more effective over the long term than relying on willpower
- Leveraging the power of social support, home environment, and portion control aids are proven to help people succeed in their daily dietary habits and choices
Introduction
Lifestyle interventions aimed at longevity can only be effective if applied long-term. Adherence is particularly important when it comes to a longevity diet. Clients that rely solely on will power to maintain healthy eating patterns often struggle when trying to make long lasting change. Research shows that lack of willpower is one of the most common barriers to diet adherence (1). While willpower is an important resource necessary to adhere to a diet plan, it may diminish in the long term with changing priorities in life. Therefore, creating an environment that makes healthy choices easy has been shown to be much more effective long-term. In this review article, we will highlight several ways to achieve this.
Social support
Social identification is among the strongest predictors of diet adherence (1). Having a strong community that follows the same diet is a big advantage. It is why vegetarians have the highest dietary adherence when compared to people following other popular eating patterns. Social support can come in different forms. Research shows that people are more likely to make a positive health behavior change if their partner makes the same change, too (2). Guiding clients to involve their family and social circle or find an accountability partner is likely the single most powerful way to help them stick to their longevity diet.
Home environment
Food availability is a significant factor when it comes to energy consumption. People tend to increase intake when food is easy to obtain and tasty. This presents an opportunity to create an optimal food environment at home, in the workplace, or even in a car. Stocking up on healthy, unrefined, whole foods and removing ultra-processed foods from visible and accessible locations can have an outsized effect on dietary choices. Interestingly, research shows that a home food environment is a predictor of obesity (3).
Respecting traditions and culture
Research shows that for the effectiveness of nutrition therapy, personal preferences should be considered when recommending one eating pattern over another. This includes not only discussing favorite meals with the client but also asking about tradition, culture, and even religion (4). Including special-occasion meals as a part of the diet reframes something that could be viewed as a setback. Participating in celebrations and continuing traditions is essential for long-term adherence.
Portion control aids
Overeating is a key problem for health and longevity, and it can happen on any diet. Implementing simple tools and tactics to help your clients control their portion sizes is crucial. One option is to use visual aids such as the MyPlate guideline published by the USDA as a part of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. It has been shown to work in reducing total portions. Unfortunately, it also results in smaller portions of vegetables than are recommended (5).
A different approach is to use hands to measure portion size. For example, a fist, thumb tip, and fingertip could be used to represent a cup, tablespoon, and teaspoon, respectively. Research shows that for foods that closely resemble a geometric shape, the finger width method provides an acceptably accurate method of estimating portion size (6). These inexpensive, universal, and portable methods make them easy to recommend to clients. Differing fist, thumb, and finger sizes among individuals is one of the main issues of these methods, along with limited usability for amorphous foods.
One of the most vital longevity-promoting eating patterns is defined by including a high proportion of foods derived from plants ensuring high fiber intake. This can be used to further assist in reducing portion size by starting a meal with vegetables. Research shows that including a vegetable salad before a high-energy-dense course such as pasta decreases the total calories consumed (7).
Tracking progress
Seeing steady improvements or halting decline in key metrics can improve your client’s determination and provide an opportunity to refocus in times of low motivation. This can also give them the means to compare themselves to their peers and further bolster social identification. There are several ways your clients can track progress on their longevity journey.
- Changes in weight and body composition
- Physical performance in grip strength, one-legged stance, and gait speed
- Tracking sleep quality and heart rate variability with wearables
- Measuring blood pressure
- Testing microbiome diversity
Bouncing back
Experiencing setbacks is the rule rather than the exception regarding diets. This is best illustrated by the frequency of weight regain in weight loss studies. Research shows that 5 years after weight loss, more than 80% of lost weight is typically regained (8). Strategies discussed earlier in this article address some of the reasons why this happens. As a nutritionist, it is critical to discuss setbacks early with clients, explain that they are normal, and rehearse what to do to bounce back.
- Talk to your clients about the deeper reasons for doing this and the importance of a long-term approach.
- Highlight the successes they have accomplished so far.
- Teach them to quickly shift attention from the setback to the next meal. They are one meal away from being back on track.
- Help them anticipate everyday situations where a lapse is likely to occur.
- Manage their expectations in terms of how quickly and to what extent they can see improvements.
Conclusion
Dietary adherence makes guiding clients with the goal of living healthier and longer lives hard. Longevity-promoting dietary patterns have to be followed long-term to be effective. Relying on your client’s willpower over the span of their whole life is not realistic. It helps to implement tactics such as social support, optimized home environment, and portion control to create a lifestyle that makes healthy dietary choices easy. Tracking progress and proactively dealing with setbacks are powerful tools that can significantly improve long-term adherence.
References
- Cruwys T, Norwood R, Chachay VS, Ntontis E, Sheffield J. "An Important Part of Who I am": The Predictors of Dietary Adherence among Weight-Loss, Vegetarian, Vegan, Paleo, and Gluten-Free Dietary Groups. Nutrients 2020;12(4):E970. 10.3390/nu12040970
- Jackson SE, Steptoe A, Wardle J. The influence of partner's behavior on health behavior change: the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. JAMA internal medicine 2015;175(3):385-92. 10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.7554
- Emery CF, Olson KL, Lee VS, Habash DL, Nasar JL, Bodine A. Home environment and psychosocial predictors of obesity status among community-residing men and women. International journal of obesity (2005) 2015;39(9):1401-7. 10.1038/ijo.2015.70
- Franz MJ, MacLeod J. Success of nutrition-therapy interventions in persons with type 2 diabetes: challenges and future directions. Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy 2018;11:265-70. 10.2147/DMSO.S141952
- Hughes JW, Goldstein CM, Logan C, Mulvany JL, Hawkins MAW, Sato AF, Gunstad J. Controlled testing of novel portion control plate produces smaller self-selected portion sizes compared to regular dinner plate. BMC obesity 2017;4:30. 10.1186/s40608-017-0167-z
- Gibson AA, Hsu MS, Rangan AM, Seimon RV, Lee CM, Das A, Finch CH, Sainsbury A. Accuracy of hands v. household measures as portion size estimation aids. Journal of nutritional science 2016;5:e29. 10.1017/jns.2016.22
- Williams RA, Roe LS, Rolls BJ. Assessment of satiety depends on the energy density and portion size of the test meal. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) 2014;22(2):318-24. 10.1002/oby.20589
- Hall KD, Kahan S. Maintenance of Lost Weight and Long-Term Management of Obesity. The Medical clinics of North America 2018;102(1):183-97. 10.1016/j.mcna.2017.08.012
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Highlights:
- Designing a lifestyle and developing habits that support healthy dietary decisions is more effective over the long term than relying on willpower
- Leveraging the power of social support, home environment, and portion control aids are proven to help people succeed in their daily dietary habits and choices
Introduction
Lifestyle interventions aimed at longevity can only be effective if applied long-term. Adherence is particularly important when it comes to a longevity diet. Clients that rely solely on will power to maintain healthy eating patterns often struggle when trying to make long lasting change. Research shows that lack of willpower is one of the most common barriers to diet adherence (1). While willpower is an important resource necessary to adhere to a diet plan, it may diminish in the long term with changing priorities in life. Therefore, creating an environment that makes healthy choices easy has been shown to be much more effective long-term. In this review article, we will highlight several ways to achieve this.
Social support
Social identification is among the strongest predictors of diet adherence (1). Having a strong community that follows the same diet is a big advantage. It is why vegetarians have the highest dietary adherence when compared to people following other popular eating patterns. Social support can come in different forms. Research shows that people are more likely to make a positive health behavior change if their partner makes the same change, too (2). Guiding clients to involve their family and social circle or find an accountability partner is likely the single most powerful way to help them stick to their longevity diet.
Home environment
Food availability is a significant factor when it comes to energy consumption. People tend to increase intake when food is easy to obtain and tasty. This presents an opportunity to create an optimal food environment at home, in the workplace, or even in a car. Stocking up on healthy, unrefined, whole foods and removing ultra-processed foods from visible and accessible locations can have an outsized effect on dietary choices. Interestingly, research shows that a home food environment is a predictor of obesity (3).
Respecting traditions and culture
Research shows that for the effectiveness of nutrition therapy, personal preferences should be considered when recommending one eating pattern over another. This includes not only discussing favorite meals with the client but also asking about tradition, culture, and even religion (4). Including special-occasion meals as a part of the diet reframes something that could be viewed as a setback. Participating in celebrations and continuing traditions is essential for long-term adherence.
Portion control aids
Overeating is a key problem for health and longevity, and it can happen on any diet. Implementing simple tools and tactics to help your clients control their portion sizes is crucial. One option is to use visual aids such as the MyPlate guideline published by the USDA as a part of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. It has been shown to work in reducing total portions. Unfortunately, it also results in smaller portions of vegetables than are recommended (5).
A different approach is to use hands to measure portion size. For example, a fist, thumb tip, and fingertip could be used to represent a cup, tablespoon, and teaspoon, respectively. Research shows that for foods that closely resemble a geometric shape, the finger width method provides an acceptably accurate method of estimating portion size (6). These inexpensive, universal, and portable methods make them easy to recommend to clients. Differing fist, thumb, and finger sizes among individuals is one of the main issues of these methods, along with limited usability for amorphous foods.
One of the most vital longevity-promoting eating patterns is defined by including a high proportion of foods derived from plants ensuring high fiber intake. This can be used to further assist in reducing portion size by starting a meal with vegetables. Research shows that including a vegetable salad before a high-energy-dense course such as pasta decreases the total calories consumed (7).
Tracking progress
Seeing steady improvements or halting decline in key metrics can improve your client’s determination and provide an opportunity to refocus in times of low motivation. This can also give them the means to compare themselves to their peers and further bolster social identification. There are several ways your clients can track progress on their longevity journey.
- Changes in weight and body composition
- Physical performance in grip strength, one-legged stance, and gait speed
- Tracking sleep quality and heart rate variability with wearables
- Measuring blood pressure
- Testing microbiome diversity
Bouncing back
Experiencing setbacks is the rule rather than the exception regarding diets. This is best illustrated by the frequency of weight regain in weight loss studies. Research shows that 5 years after weight loss, more than 80% of lost weight is typically regained (8). Strategies discussed earlier in this article address some of the reasons why this happens. As a nutritionist, it is critical to discuss setbacks early with clients, explain that they are normal, and rehearse what to do to bounce back.
- Talk to your clients about the deeper reasons for doing this and the importance of a long-term approach.
- Highlight the successes they have accomplished so far.
- Teach them to quickly shift attention from the setback to the next meal. They are one meal away from being back on track.
- Help them anticipate everyday situations where a lapse is likely to occur.
- Manage their expectations in terms of how quickly and to what extent they can see improvements.
Conclusion
Dietary adherence makes guiding clients with the goal of living healthier and longer lives hard. Longevity-promoting dietary patterns have to be followed long-term to be effective. Relying on your client’s willpower over the span of their whole life is not realistic. It helps to implement tactics such as social support, optimized home environment, and portion control to create a lifestyle that makes healthy dietary choices easy. Tracking progress and proactively dealing with setbacks are powerful tools that can significantly improve long-term adherence.
References
- Cruwys T, Norwood R, Chachay VS, Ntontis E, Sheffield J. "An Important Part of Who I am": The Predictors of Dietary Adherence among Weight-Loss, Vegetarian, Vegan, Paleo, and Gluten-Free Dietary Groups. Nutrients 2020;12(4):E970. 10.3390/nu12040970
- Jackson SE, Steptoe A, Wardle J. The influence of partner's behavior on health behavior change: the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. JAMA internal medicine 2015;175(3):385-92. 10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.7554
- Emery CF, Olson KL, Lee VS, Habash DL, Nasar JL, Bodine A. Home environment and psychosocial predictors of obesity status among community-residing men and women. International journal of obesity (2005) 2015;39(9):1401-7. 10.1038/ijo.2015.70
- Franz MJ, MacLeod J. Success of nutrition-therapy interventions in persons with type 2 diabetes: challenges and future directions. Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy 2018;11:265-70. 10.2147/DMSO.S141952
- Hughes JW, Goldstein CM, Logan C, Mulvany JL, Hawkins MAW, Sato AF, Gunstad J. Controlled testing of novel portion control plate produces smaller self-selected portion sizes compared to regular dinner plate. BMC obesity 2017;4:30. 10.1186/s40608-017-0167-z
- Gibson AA, Hsu MS, Rangan AM, Seimon RV, Lee CM, Das A, Finch CH, Sainsbury A. Accuracy of hands v. household measures as portion size estimation aids. Journal of nutritional science 2016;5:e29. 10.1017/jns.2016.22
- Williams RA, Roe LS, Rolls BJ. Assessment of satiety depends on the energy density and portion size of the test meal. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) 2014;22(2):318-24. 10.1002/oby.20589
- Hall KD, Kahan S. Maintenance of Lost Weight and Long-Term Management of Obesity. The Medical clinics of North America 2018;102(1):183-97. 10.1016/j.mcna.2017.08.012
Article reviewed by
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Dr. Ana Baroni MD. Ph.D.
Scientific & Medical Advisor
Quality Garant
Ana has over 20 years of consultancy experience in longevity, regenerative and precision medicine. She has a multifaceted understanding of genomics, molecular biology, clinical biochemistry, nutrition, aging markers, hormones and physical training. This background allows her to bridge the gap between longevity basic sciences and evidence-based real interventions, putting them into the clinic, to enhance the healthy aging of people. She is co-founder of Origen.life, and Longevityzone. Board member at Breath of Health, BioOx and American Board of Clinical Nutrition. She is Director of International Medical Education of the American College of Integrative Medicine, Professor in IL3 Master of Longevity at Barcelona University and Professor of Nutrigenomics in Nutrition Grade in UNIR University.
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