Healthy eating equals a long life

Charlyn Fargo, Contributor

Now we have proof: If you want to live longer, choose your food carefully. The leading causes of death have shifted from infectious diseases to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. And these illnesses may be affected by diet.

In a study published in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers investigated data regarding the associations of dietary patterns with mortality. Over a 10-year period, researchers analysed the eating patterns of over 2,500 adults between the ages of 70 and 79. They found that diets favouring certain foods were associated with reduced mortality.

By determining the consump-tion frequency of 108 different food items, researchers were able to group the participants into six different clusters, according to predominant food choices:

• Healthy foods (374 participants)
• High-fat dairy products (332)
• Meat, fried foods and alcohol (693)
• Breakfast cereal (386)
• Refined grains (458)
• Sweets and desserts (339)

The healthy foods cluster was characterised by relatively higher intake of low-fat dairy products, fruit, whole grains, poultry, fish and vegetables as well as lower consumption of meat, fried foods, sweets, high-calorie drinks and added fat. The high-fat dairy products cluster had higher intake of foods, such as ice cream, cheese and two per cent and whole milk and yogurt, and lower intake of poultry, low-fat dairy products, rice and pasta.

After controlling for gender, age, race, clinical site, education, physical activity, smoking and total calorie intake, the high-fat dairy products cluster had a 40 per cent higher risk of mortality than the healthy foods cluster. The sweets and desserts cluster had a 37 per cent higher risk. No significant differences in risk of mortality were seen between the healthy foods cluster and the breakfast cereal or refined grains clusters.

"The results of this study suggest that older adults who follow a dietary pattern consistent with current guidelines to consume relatively high amounts of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, poultry and fish may have a lower risk of mortality," said lead author Amy Anderson, PhD, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Maryland.

Charlyn Fargo is a registered dietitian at Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.