A diet of fruits and vegetables and fish may be optimal for reducing the risk of mortality in older people, according to a team of researchers.
- Researchers found that vegetarian diets were associated with a 12% lower risk of all-cause mortality, particularly in middle-aged subjects, compared with non-vegetarians.
- In very old vegetarians, however, the risk was slightly higher for certain neurological conditions such as stroke, dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
- The pesco-vegetarian diet was the only one that continued to offer “a small but notable advantage” over other diets, even among seniors: they had an 18% lower risk of death.
Most vegetarian diets appear to prevent long-term mortality risk, but for older people, adding a serving of fish may offer the greatest protection, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Journal of Clinical Oncology.American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Vegetarians better protected against risk of premature death
To reach this conclusion, researchers from Loma Linda Health University in the United States analyzed data from a cohort of nearly 100,000 people living across the Atlantic, followed between 2002 and 2015. Information about their diet was collected via questionnaires, then divided into five distinct groups: non-vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, pesco-vegetarian, lacto-ovo-vegetarian (no meat or fish but dairy products and eggs) and vegan.
The scientists first found that vegetarian diets were associated with a 12% lower risk of all-cause mortality, particularly in men and middle-aged subjects, compared with non-vegetarians. Participants who followed a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet had a 15% lower risk of death, compared with less than 3% for vegans. “Overall […] Vegetarians are better protected against premature death than non-vegetarians”we can read in a press release.
Pesco-vegetarian diet reduces risk by 18% in older adults
In very old vegetarians, however, the risk was slightly higher for certain neurological conditions such as stroke, dementia and Parkinson’s disease. “A strict vegetarian diet appears to offer protection against the risk of death during middle age, but once people are past their 80s, this overall advantage appears to disappear.”notes Professor Gary Fraser, who led the work.
However, the pesco-vegetarian diet is the only one that has continued to offer “a small but notable advantage” compared to other vegetarian and non-vegetarian diets, even among seniors. In fact, study participants who ate a diet consisting of fruits, vegetables and fish had an 18% lower risk of death.
