These eating patterns are linked with a lower risk of premature death: study

Gianna Melillo
·3 min read
5

Story at a glance

  • The findings are based on two cohort studies that followed health professionals for over 30 years.

  • In addition to an overall reduction in mortality due to any cause, adherence to a healthier diet was specifically linked with a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, cancer or respiratory disease.

  • In the United States poor diet is associated with over half of all deaths from stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

A variety of healthy eating patterns are associated with a reduced risk of premature death, according to new research on over 115,000 American health professionals.

The findings, published in JAMA Internal Medicine on Monday, showed that adults with high adherence to at least one of four different healthy eating patterns were less likely to die both overall and specifically from common diseases like cardiovascular disease, cancer or respiratory disease when compared with those with low adherence to the diets.

Risks were found to be consistently lower across different racial and ethnic subgroups and after researchers adjusted for smoking status, family history of cardiovascular disease and other potential risk factors.

An unhealthy diet is one of the leading causes of death globally. In the U.S., around half of all deaths from heart disease, stroke or type 2 diabetes are associated with poor diet.

Over the course of 36 years, participants in the studies completed dietary questionnaires every four years, with scores based on the following dietary pattern indices: Healthy Eating Index 2015, Alternate Mediterranean Diet, Healthful Plant-based Diet Index and Alternate Healthy Eating Index.

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Higher scores on the Healthy Eating Index 2015 indicated greater adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for America, which discourage consumption of foods high in saturated fat and sodium.

Higher scores on the Alternate Mediterranean Diet indicated participants ate a Mediterranean diet that typically emphasizes plant-based foods and healthy fats.

All diet patterns included similar components like whole grains, fruits, nuts, vegetables and legumes, researchers explained, and all encouraged high consumption of plant-based foods.

However, while the Alternate Mediterranean Diet encourages fish intake, the Healthful Plant-based Diet Index discourages consumption of animal foods. The Mediterranean diet also permits moderate alcohol intake, while the Healthful Plant-based Diet discourages drinking.

The Alternate Healthy Eating Index is focused on foods associated with lowering the risk of chronic disease.

Participants who scored higher on the Alternate Mediterranean Diet and Alternate Healthy Eating Index were also found to be at a lower risk of dying from neurodegenerative diseases, potentially due to the diets’ recommendations of nuts and monounsaturated fats. However, more research is needed to confirm this, the authors wrote.

The studies’ findings are consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for America, the authors added, which recommend multiple eating patterns that can be adapted to individual food preferences and traditions. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Agriculture release an updated version of the guidelines every five years.

“The Dietary Guidelines for Americans are intended to provide science-based dietary advice that promotes good health and reduces major chronic diseases. Thus, it is critical to examine the associations between DGAs-recommended dietary patterns and long-term health outcomes, especially mortality,” said study author Frank Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology and chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in a statement.

Data were gleaned from 75,230 women participants in the Nurses’ Health Study and 44,085 male participants in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. No participants had cardiovascular disease, cancer or diabetes at the start of the study.

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