Eating for science: The effect of lifestyle on prevention of non-communicable diseases

Although the average life expectancy is increasing, general health is deteriorating. An important cause of disease is an unhealthy lifestyle. In this thesis is therefore looked at the different aspects of lifestyle on the prevention of non-communicable disease. It appeared that both a low-carbohydrate as well as a low-fat diet led to improvement in health. However, a lower carbohydrate and higher fat and protein intake are more beneficial for health, independent of diet and caloric intake. A self-chosen dietary intervention can reduce mental and physical complaints and lead to body weight loss, more specifically reducing processed food intake and increase fruit and vegetable intake. There also seems to be a role in this relation for the gut microbiota, since there was a relation with both food intake and mental complaints. To investigate several aspects of lifestyle at once, the characteristics of the blue zone lifestyle was applied in Bakkeveen. After four week of eating a plant-based Mediterranean diet, increased social contacts and more physical activity, health and fitness improved in the inhabitants of Bakkeveen. Another aspects of lifestyle that was investigated, was that of working in irregular shift work. This was associated with reduced resting metabolic rate and thus energy expenditure, which is difficult to increase with physical activity, compared to day shift workers. Without altering food intake this can lead to body weight gain.