• In the video: “Don’t just make you full, but calm”: These are the best anti-stress foods

Germans have a lower life expectancy compared to other Western Europeans. That shows one study from the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) and Max Planck Institute from July 2025.

A ranking of 16 Western European countries showed that the average life expectancy for men was lowest in the German region of Vorpommern-Greifswald. Here the men were only 75.9 years old on average. Women also performed poorly. Women in the German region of Pirmasens had the lowest life expectancy (80.5 years).

The oldest, however, were the men in Neuchâtel in Switzerland (83.2 years) and the women in Salamanca, Spain (87.6 years).

Germans have lower life expectancy than other Western Europeans

According to Matthias Riedl, Hamburg diabetologist and medical director of Germany’s largest specialist practice for nutritional medicine, the low life expectancy of Germans could also be related to suboptimal Diet habits stand.

“Up to 70 percent of the patients who come to our practices have illnesses that are caused by poor nutrition,” says the nutritional doctor to FOCUS online.

We eat the wrong things, says nutritional doctor Riedl

Many blamed alcohol and smoking. “We eat ourselves sick,” says the diabetologist. Not necessarily because we eat too much, but the wrong thing. Often it is even foods that we consider healthy that are least beneficial to the body: “The best example is the banana,” says Riedl.

“Many people think that fruit is absolutely good for the organism. But the over-bred bananas that are in the supermarket today are so rich in fructose that they can trigger diabetes, high blood pressure and thus typical diseases of civilization.”

Doctors advise anyone who is struggling with obesity not to eat bananas or other types of fruit that contain a lot of sugar. These also include cherries and pineapples. Through appropriate breeding, the fructose from these fruits has become one of the biggest culprits on our plates.

Vegan or low carb does not automatically mean healthy

In addition, the food industry sells products as healthy that are actually harmful to the body. The most prominent example from recent times: Beyond Meat’s much-hyped vegan burger patty made from pea protein.

At first glance, the meatless alternative to burger patties from factory farming seems very healthy to most people. “The patty actually fails nutritionally speaking,” says nutritional doctor Riedl.

He attributes this false impression to terms that are incorrectly used in our society: “Many people have labeled vegan or low-carb as healthy. However, this is not generally true.”

On the one hand, the low carb concept includes the so-called Logi method, which makes sense. But on the other hand, this also includes the Paleo diet. “You can lose weight in the short term, but in the long term you increase your risk of cancer,” warns Riedl. “That’s why we need a new wording.”

Which foods make you sick

Likewise on the red list of foods that, according to Riedl, we should stay away from:

• too many easily burnable carbohydrates from pasta, potatoes and rice
• red meat
• sweets
• highly processed foods such as ready-made products with many additives and preservatives and usually too much salt

Also before fruit juices warns the nutritional doctor. According to Riedl, they sometimes contain more sugar than Cola. “Hardly any other food is so often misunderstood,” says Riedl. Cases of actually athletic and healthy people with diet-related fatty liver disease are increasing. The reason: You drink too many supposedly healthy fruit juices and smoothies.

Riedl also calls the eating habits of most Germans fatal because they are not species-appropriate. “We never eat enough,” says the diabetologist. “Instead, we snack all day long. It starts in the morning when many people say: I’ll skip breakfast because I don’t want to eat that much.” So we eat a piece of cake in between work and have a sandwich from the bakery on the way.

Constant snacking promotes inflammation

“Such small meals in between have been propagated as the ultimate for years. But it’s not good to constantly satisfy your small hunger, even if you do so with fruit,” explains Riedl.

“As a result, the body continuously produces insulin to lower sugar in the blood” – and as a result, often causes obesity, says the nutrition expert. Each time, part of the hormone is stored in the form of fatty tissue.

But it’s not just obesity and diabetes that can be “prevented” or prevented with the right diet.

According to the doctor, these diseases can improve or worsen in the same way:

• arteriosclerosis
• Osteoarthritis
• rheumatism
• osteoporosis
• the lung disease COPD
• the inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis
• Kidney weakness
• Cancer, especially of the liver, pancreas, intestines as well as breast and ovarian cancer
• multiple sclerosis
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Hemorrhoids
• Food intolerances
• Heel spur
• ADHD
• Nerve pain
• the pain syndrome fibromyalgia
• Chronic sinusitis
• migraine
• Erectile dysfunction in men and women

Riedl even calls the following clinical pictures curable with the right diet:

• Periodontitis
• Neurodermatitis
• Rosacea
• infertility
• Reflux disease
• gout
• increased blood lipids
• High blood pressure
• constipation
• fatty liver

“The more plant-based foods, the longer life is”

What you should eat and what you should leave behind differs in detail depending on the illness. According to Riedl, the rule of thumb for everyone is: “The more plant-based foods and the fewer animal-based foods on the menu, the longer and healthier life is.” The tricky thing about the wrong diet is that it doesn’t make you sick overnight, but gradually and over decades.

Many people would therefore not see the causal connection through food, says Riedl. “Sometimes the disaster begins in the womb, through early imprinting. The illness only comes decades later.”

The connection is rarely as clear as in a colitis patient who gets bloody diarrhea after eating a fast food meal. “However, before this dangerous intestinal inflammation occurs, an incorrect diet activates the fatal inflammatory cascades, which can then only be alleviated,” explains the Hamburg doctor.

How nutrition can heal

How we can eat healthier? The doctor himself suggests the concept of “species-appropriate nutrition,” which he also describes in his book. What does he mean by that? A diet that is as natural as possible, anti-inflammatory, high in fiber and nutrients.

We could learn from the southern countries, for example, says Riedl. “A Mediterranean diet, such as that followed in Italy, Spain, Greece, Israel and southern France, is rich in vegetable fat from olive oil, nuts and seeds,” he explains. Not only does it reduce body weight better than a low-fat diet. In addition, it also significantly reduces the risk of heart attack, stroke and cancer.

Diabetologist recommends the following foods for a healthy diet

Based on the Mediterranean cuisine of these countries, Riedl recommends the following “species-appropriate” foods for humans:

Lots of vegetables: “Vegetables are one of the two main components of a healthy diet,” explains the doctor. At least 400 grams belong on our plates every day.

According to the nutrition professional, whether zucchini, peppers, beans, broccoli or carrots are of secondary importance. “Germans eat far too few vegetables, so I say: There are varieties with a particularly positive influence, but all vegetables are fundamentally good.” Because vegetables contain a lot of fiber.

“They are food for the good intestinal bacteria and reduce the risk of diabetes, constipation or intestinal diverticula,” explains Riedl. The more than 100,000 different phytochemicals contained in vegetables have also been proven to have direct positive effects on health. Riedl therefore calls them the “new vitamins”.

1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight

Healthy protein: According to the nutritionist, protein is the second main pillar of a healthy diet. His recommendation: Eat 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight every day – evenly distributed over the main meals.

The diabetologist recommends protein from plant sources in particular, such as beans, lentils and nuts: “New studies from Harvard University suggest that those who rely more on plant proteins instead of meat can expect to live longer.”

However, animal protein from meat, fish and eggs is much more common and easier to obtain in our society. That’s why there’s nothing wrong with an occasional piece of lean meat, says the doctor. “You can definitely eat meat twice a week. Also because of the B vitamins that only animal products provide.” Anyone who is vegan or purely vegetarian can easily take vitamin B12 in tablet form.

Use carbohydrates sparingly

Carbohydrates only in moderation: “From bread to pasta and rice to potatoes: easily digestible carbohydrates, the typical filling side dishes, should only end up on the plate sparingly,” explains Riedl. The basic rule is: Vegetables must be eaten, potatoes etc. can be eaten.

Healthy fats: For many years, high-fat foods were considered unhealthy. But that has been sufficiently refuted. The doctor explains: “The current nutritional rules must be rewritten: more particularly good fat and fewer carbohydrates can reduce mortality.”

Particularly recommended: fats from nuts and vegetable oil such as olive, linseed, nut or rapeseed oil. “Feel free to do it like the southerners,” says the nutritional doctor. “They do it perfectly by pouring masses of oil on everything, whether on salad, pasta or vegetables.”

When it comes to fruit, go for apples and berries

Fruit: Fruit is also part of the menu because of the many vitamins it contains. However, because of the fructose, no more than 200 grams a day, says Riedl. Particularly good for the body: low-sugar fruits such as apples, berries or watermelon.

Little sweet: If you want to become or stay healthy, you should limit cakes and sweets, but also fruit juices and sugary drinks, to a sugar amount of 50, or better 25 grams. However, the reality is significantly different, says the expert: “Germans eat two to three times as much sugar as they should.”

No alcohol: “Unfortunately, there is no safe amount of alcohol,” explains the nutrition expert. “The risk of cancer and cardiac arrhythmias is continually increasing.”

If you cannot do without alcohol completely, you should not consume more than 20 grams of pure alcohol per day. This corresponds roughly to a 0.5l beer.

“When our thirst is quenched, our desire for snacks decreases enormously”

Lots of water: “Everyone needs 0.03 liters of fluid per kilogram of body weight per day,” explains Riedl. This means: If you weigh 60 kilos, you should consume around 1.8 liters per day, and if you weigh 85 kilos, you should drink just under three liters. “When exercising and in the heat, 0.5 liters more every day.”

According to Riedl, the best choice when it comes to drinks in Germany is plain tap water. An additional plus point: “Once our thirst is quenched, our desire for snacks decreases enormously – and we can easily do without them,” says Riedl.