At 94, Queen Elizabeth is the longest reigning monarch in the UK and here is the secret of her longevity.

Queen Elizabeth II turned 94 on April 21. The queen has exceeded the average life expectancy of women in the UK in a decade. Not only is she the oldest reigning monarch in the UK, she is also the world’s oldest head of state. Queen Elizabeth is known to have a simple approach to food and nutrition. Here are some of the secrets of your diet that you can learn from:

Portion control

Queen Elizabeth “eats to live” and not “lives to eat”. She is very careful with portion control and sticks to small portions. She prefers four light meals instead of three large meals a day. According to Unversity of Cambridge, having smaller servings every day can help you reduce your daily food intake by 25 percent. Therefore, reducing portion sizes is one of the best ways to lose weight.


Enjoy what you like and not everything

Queen Elizabeth loves chocolate cake. She eats a small portion of it every day. Studies show that treating yourself with what you like is an important part of a healthy and lasting diet. Depriving yourself of something you like will only increase your cravings, which could make you end up eating a lot more. The queen likes to eat chocolate with 60 percent or more cocoa. She loves to eat dark chocolate. Dark chocolates are rich in flavonoids, which can protect you against heart disease and stroke.

Eat seasonal food

The queen eats many strawberries during the summer, but does not eat them in winter. She is absolutely attached to seasonal eating.

Off-season foods have to travel many miles before reaching their shelves, which can compromise their nutritional value. Studies have found that tomatoes lose more than 50 percent of their vitamin C in eight days.

Includes more fish

Queen Elizabeth loves to eat fish and often eats salmon sandwiches with her midday tea and grilled fish for lunch / dinner. Fatty fish like salmon have omega 3 and DHA, which reduces the risk of a heart attack.

Tea

Queen loves drinking Earl Gray tea, which helps lower cholesterol due to the flavonoids it contains. Other teas like black tea help lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of ovarian cancer, and promote weight loss.