How Healthy Will You Be? It Depends on This

What's in your shopping cart? If you put all of the good stuff on one side -- produce, grains, nuts and legumes, lean protein -- and everything else on the other, which way would your cart tip? If it's toward “everything else,” well . . . if you plan on living with vigor and celebrating your 70th birthday and beyond, we're here to help.

We always say that focusing on eating healthfully can also get you to the weight your body really wants to be. One more compelling reason to do that: More data from the Nurses' Health Study confirms that the leaner you are at midlife, the healthier you'll be at age 70 and beyond.

It's no surprise that a healthier weight means a healthier you. But what's so nice about this research is that it spells out how huge the effect is: For every 2.2 pounds you gain after age 18, your odds of being free of chronic disease and of mental and physical impairments decrease by 5% (in this study, only 11% of women were free of chronic disease at age 70). Adding it up another way, women who gained 22 pounds by age 50 had a 59% lower chance of being free of chronic disease at age 70 than women who had not gained any weight.

So your shopping cart now is a pretty good predictor of how healthy you'll be later. The coolest thing: You're in control of what you put in it. Make these three tiny changes to start eating better right away.

Discover the easiest and most inexpensive ways to get healthier.