Our eating patterns can determine how healthy we will be as we age.
- People are living longer
than ever before, and it is natural to want to know how to age healthily.
- Previous research has shown
that certain lifestyle factors such as eating a healthy diet plays a role
in healthy aging.
- A new study has found that
following specific dietary patterns may help a person age healthily with
no chronic diseases or cognitive issues at age 70.
- Researchers say eating more
plant-based foods, and less animal-based foods and ultra-processed foods
is key.
With people living longer than ever, we all want to know the
secrets to healthy aging.
Previous research has
shown that certain lifestyle factors like not smoking, limiting alcohol use, exercising regularly, getting
enough sleep, and eating
healthy all play a role in healthy aging.
Now, a new study has found that following specific
dietary patterns — that focus on eating plant-based foods and
limiting ultra-processed and animal-based foods — may help a
person age healthy with no chronic diseases or cognitive issues at age 70.
The findings were
recently published in the journal Nature
Medicine.
‘Healthy
aging’: No chronic disease or dementia by age 70
For this study,
researchers analyzed health data from more than 105,000 adult participants of
the Nurses’
Health Study and the Health
Professionals Follow-Up Study. Participants ranged in age from 39 to 69 at
the start of the study and were followed for 30 years, during which time they were
regularly asked questions about their diet.
Scientists defined “healthy aging” for this study as
reaching the age of 70 without a major chronic condition and maintaining good
cognitive, physical, and mental health.
“More than three out of
four older adults report having at least one chronic disease, one in two
experiences functional limitations, and one in 10 lives with dementia,” Anne-Julie
Tessier, RD, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at the
University of Montreal, researcher at the Montreal Heart Institute, visiting
scientist at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, and first author of
this study told Medical News Today.
“Studies have previously
focused on specific diseases or how long people live (mortality). Healthy
aging, however, takes a multifaceted view. It asks: Can you live independently
and enjoy a good quality of life as you age?”
— Anne-Julie Tessier, RD, PhD
Focusing on
8 healthy dietary patterns
Researchers focused on
eight different dietary patterns for this study:
- Alternative
Healthy Eating Index (AHEI)
- Alternative
Mediterranean Index (aMED)
- Dietary
Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)
- Empirical
Dietary Index for Hyperinsulinemia (EDIH)
- Empirically
Inflammatory Dietary Pattern (EDIP)
- Healthful
Plant-Based Diet (hPDI)
- Mediterranean-DASH
Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND)
- Planetary Health Diet Index (PHDI)
According to the
researchers, all dietary patterns shared similarities such as promoting an
intake of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, while reducing
the amount of red and processed meats.
The scientists also
analyzed participants’ consumption of ultra-processed foods.
AHEI dietary
pattern increases healthy aging chances by 86%
At the study’s
conclusion, researchers found that participants who most closely followed the
AHEI dietary pattern were most likely to age healthy. This group had an 86%
higher chance of healthy aging at age 70 and a 2.2-fold higher likelihood of
healthy aging at age 75 compared with participants who followed this dietary
pattern least closely.
“A higher AHEI score
reflects a diet that was elaborated to prevent chronic diseases; it emphasizes
fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy
fats,” Tessier explained.
WHAT IS AHEI?
“Having a high
Alternative Healthy Eating Index score would translate into eating five
servings per day of vegetables, and having an extra serving of green leafy vegetables, four servings per day of fruits,
five to six servings per day of whole grains, a serving per day of plant
protein such as nuts or legumes, a serving of fish weekly, and using plant oils
as the main culinary fat.”
— Anne-Julie Tessier, RD, PhD
“Yet, higher adherence
to all healthy dietary patterns that we examined were associated with healthy
aging,” she continued.
“People who adhered to eight healthy dietary
patterns in midlife, especially those rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains,
and healthy fats, were 45-86% more likely to achieve healthy aging. This
suggests that what you eat in midlife can play a big role in how well you age,”
she said.
“Diet is the second
leading modifiable risk factor for chronic disease, following tobacco use.
Despite its importance, few studies have explored the link between dietary
patterns and overall healthy aging. Our study underscores the potential for
dietary recommendations to not only focus on disease prevention but also to
promote healthy aging as a long-term objective,” Tessier added.
More
evidence of how diet affects long-term health
MNT spoke with Mir
Ali, MD, a board certified general surgeon, bariatric surgeon and medical
director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical
Center in Fountain Valley, CA, about this study.
“I thought it was a
great study looking at the effects of diet on overall health,” Ali commented.
“We’ve known for some time that diet greatly affects lots of health conditions,
and this is a good study showing that it actually improves long-term health.”
“The population overall is aging, and so as we age,
we encounter more health issues,” he continued. “And if we can find ways to
reduce, minimize, or even eliminate some of these health issues just by dietary
changes, that would benefit a lot of people,” he said.
“(For the) different
types of diets (it) may be helpful to break that down further, to come up with
the optimal diet based on age and general health.”— Mir Ali, MD
What is the
healthiest diet for healthy aging?
While many readers will
be familiar with the Mediterranean,
MIND, and DASH diets, some of these other dietary patterns are not as common.
How can readers determine the best diet for them to follow so they age as
healthy as possible?
Monique Richard, MS,
RDN, LDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of
Nutrition-In-Sight, advised readers to focus less on the name or label of a
dietary pattern, and more on the commonality of what is included in the dietary
patterns that have been associated with positive outcomes as they take
inventory of their own diet.
“Essentially what AHEI
and the other dietary patterns are categorizing are food groups high in
quality, appropriate in portion, varied in selection, and balanced in
composition,” Richard explained to MNT.
“In other words, foods
that are highly nutritious are automatically going to prevent, treat, or course
correct the path of chronic disease — the purpose of creation of the AHEI, and
many of these including DASH, MIND, etc. The earlier we start with these
foundational essentials the more effective they will be as we age.”
— Monique Richard, MS, RDN, LDN
Richard suggested
thinking of diets more as “brands” and examining the integrity of their
composition by asking:
- What are
the components of this pattern?
- Where do
they come from? (for example, olive oil included
in the Mediterranean dietary pattern does not have the same benefit across
the spectrum if it is adulterated with other oils or has oxidized and
become rancid)
- How do
those components work and feel in my body?
“I encourage my clients
and patients to consider the words of Michael Pollan — paraphrasing and with much nuance
clarified — we want to eat more plants and eat less food made in a plant,” she
said.
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