More fruit, vegetables of Piscesless meat, sweet and fatty productshere is the simple solution to increase your life expectancy, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal New England Journal of Medicine. This is the first study to show that improving diet quality over a dozen years is associated with total mortality and cardiovascular weaker.
Researchers at Harvard University in the United States studied the links between changes in the diet of nearly 74,000 adults over twelve years (1986-1998) and their risk of dying over the following twelve years (1998- 2010). Throughout the study, participants completed questionnaires about their eating habits. Their health was assessed every 4 years.
The researchers analyzed the quality of people’s diets using three different scoring methods: the Alternative Healthy Eating Index 2010, the mediterranean diet and the food diet score to reduce hypertension (DASH). Each of these methods assigns scores to various types of foods or nutrients. Less nutritious foods have lower scores than healthier foods or nutrients.
Change diet to reduce mortality risk
The results of the study revealed that improving the quality of one’s diet over a 12-year period was associated with a reduced risk of death over the following 12 years, regardless of the score used. The food groups that contributed most to an improvement in diet quality were whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and fish or Omega 3.
A 20% increase in diet quality (which can be achieved by cutting out only one serving of red or processed meat for one daily serving of nuts or legumes) has been linked to a reduced risk of death of 8%-17%.
In contrast, worsening diet quality was associated with a 6%-12% increased risk.
Among volunteers who adhered to a healthy diet the longest, the reduction in all-cause mortality risk increased from 9 to 14%.
For individuals who were not eating poorly at the start of the study, the findings reveal that participants who improved the quality of their diet saw their mortality risk decrease in subsequent years.
“Our results shed light on the lasting health benefits of improving the quality of the diet as a whole,” said Frank Hu, a professor at Harvard University and lead author of the study.
“Healthy eating habits can be adopted according to each person’s cultural and culinary preferences as well as their state of health,” he adds.
This study highlights the importance of maintaining healthy eating habits over the long term.
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