Want to live longer? Stop focusing on just one food and consider your overall diet, study finds

Blueberries, spinach, broccoli and salmon have long been considered “longevityFood. These foods, along with many other nutritious foods, contain certain nutrients and phytochemicals that studies have linked to healthy aging.

Nutrition research, however, has moved away from isolated nutrients and single foods because we do not eat these food components in isolation. Instead, studies now look at eating habits, a broader picture of food and nutrient intake.

Until now, few long-term studies with repeated dietary measures have examined whether adherence to various diets is related to a lower risk of premature death from chronic disease.

Now, results from one of the largest and longest studies, conducted by researchers at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, suggest that following four different diets can help you live a longer, healthier life. .

What is a food model?

A diet is the overall combination of foods eaten regularly. Foods, nutrients, and phytochemicals in a varied diet are thought to interact to exert beneficial health effects.

By studying dietary patterns, researchers are able to capture the complexity of the diet, which is more closely associated with overall health and risk of disease than individual foods or nutrients.

Many countries have updated their dietary guidelines to provide research-based recommendations on eating habits.

Canada’s Food Guide, revised in 2019, provides dietary advice based on the many health benefits associated with the Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diets. And the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend several healthy diets.

The latest research on eating habits

The study, published Jan. 9 in JAMA Internal Medicine, analyzed health data collected over 36 years from 75,230 women and 44,085 men who were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer at the start of the study.

Every two years, participants provided updated information on lifestyle and other risk factors, including age, body weight, physical activity, smoking, and chronic disease diagnosis.

Detailed dietary information was collected every four years. The data was used to assess participants’ adherence to four healthy diets: 1) Healthy Eating Index 2015, 2) Alternate Mediterranean Diet, 3) Healthy Plant-Based Diet, and 4) the other healthy eating index. Higher scores indicated greater adherence to each feeding mode.

The 2015 Healthy Eating Index, which you may not know, gauges how closely people follow the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The Alternate Healthy Eating Index, developed by Harvard researchers, includes the foods and nutrients most strongly linked to a lower risk of chronic disease.

The four dietary patterns are similar in that they share several key components such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes (eg, beans and lentils). There are also distinct food components in eating habits.

The alternative Mediterranean diet, for example, emphasizes monounsaturated fats, such as olive oil. The healthy plant-based diet gives negative points for all animal products, including low-fat dairy and fish, which are part of other healthy eating habits.

The results

Adherence to each diet was associated with a lower risk of premature death from all causes, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and respiratory disease (eg, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

Participants with the most adherence to each diet saw about a 20% reduction in the number of premature deaths from chronic disease. The results did not differ significantly between different racial and ethnic groups.

The data also revealed a lower risk of early death as people improved their diets over time.

The researchers considered other risk factors to reach their conclusions.

The study was observational and as such found only non-direct cause and effect associations.

Takeaway meals

These new findings add to growing evidence that the quality, quantity, variety and combination of foods eaten regularly are most important for health and longevity.

Importantly, this study shows that there are many ways to eat healthy and reap the benefits – whether it’s by following a Mediterranean-style diet, a plant-based diethealthy dietary guidelines or a mix of eating habits.

Consider your entire daily or weekly diet rather than focusing on single foods or nutrients. Focus on the variety of healthy foods you should be eating more often so you can tailor your diet to your food preferences and culture.

Leslie Beck, a dietitian in private practice in Toronto, is director of food and nutrition at Medcan. Follow her on Twitter @LeslieBeckRD.

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