Best Diets For Longevity: Five Eating Patterns Linked To Longer Life

Diet can play a significant role in determining your lifespan. Consumption of healthy, nutrition-rich diet is vital for extending lifespan and enhancing overall quality of life. Key foods include plat-based diet, legumes, fish, nut, and fibre-rich foods. To add more years to your overall life, it is essential to reduce the intake of red or processed meat, sugar, and refined grains. Recently, a study discovered 5 dietary patterns that have been closely linked to living longer irrespective of genetic risk factors for disease.

In the study titled “Healthy Dietary Patterns, Longevity Genes, And Life Expectancy: A Prospective Cohort Study, researchers followed the dietary habits of over 100,000 participants for many years. With the help of comprehensive questionnaires, they calculated dietary scores to decide how closely people adhered to established healthy eating patterns.

The researchers compared the life expectancy at the age of 45 between those with the lowest and highest levels of adherence to these diets. The study also evaluated each participant’s genetic risk score for longevity, a vital indicator of their inherited likelihood of living a longer life based on genetic factors.

According to a report featured in New Scientist, the five diets vary to some extent in their approach, but in general, “they’re all recommending high intakes and a big variety of vegetables and fruit, they’re all recommending whole grain intake, they’re all recommending lean sources of protein, and many of those are vegetarian proteins”, said Clare Collins at the University of Newcastle in Australia, who wasn’t involved in the study. They also recommend steering away from sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods.

5 Diets Observed In The Study

1. Alternate Healthy Eating Index-2010 or AHEI: It involves intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds while limiting sugary drinks and red meat.

2. Alternate Mediterranean Diet or AMED: The diet mainly focused on plant foods, fish and healthy fats.

3. Healthful Plant-Based Diet Index or hPDI: The diet emphasises on whole plant foods and decreased animal products and processed foods.

4. Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension or DASH: The diet has been designed to lower blood pressure with intake of plenty of fruit, vegetables and low-fat dairy.

5. Diabetes Risk Reduction Diet or DRRD: The diet seeks to improve insulin sensitivity with main focus on high fibre, low-glycaemic foods and coffee. It seeks to limit intake of red and processed meats and sugary beverages

The study’s subjects were tracked for a decade, during which time approximately 4300 participants passed away. Lv and her colleagues found that the participants whose dietary habits closely matched one or more of the five healthy dietary patterns were less likely to have died, even after adjusting for factors like their exercise levels and smoking status, added the New Scientist report.

Based on the data, the researchers discovered that a 45-year-old in the top fifth of healthy eaters – meaning they have close adherence to any of the five healthy diets – can expect to live a year and a half to three years longer than someone in the bottom fifth.

It is worth noting that the top-fifth healthiest eaters in the study tended to have good dietary scores but not perfect ones. “This is positive because it shows you don’t have to be an absolute goody two-shoes all of the time to benefit,” added Collins.

The study also discovered that individuals with genetic variants associated to decreased longevity were still less likely to die if they ate well, demonstrating that “even if you haven’t got great longevity genes, diet can make a big difference in terms of mortality risk,” emphasised Collins.

The reason these five diets are linked to longer lifespan is perhaps that they all include eating a large amount and diversity of plants, which contain fibre, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. 

Fibre can significantly boost immune function because its metabolism in the gut releases anti-inflammatory short-chain fatty acids. Vitamins and minerals are necessary to carry out basic bodily functions, while phytonutrients are extra bioactive substances in plants that can enhance these functions. “Phytonutrients play active roles in things like improving insulin sensitivity and anti-cancer pathways,” added Collins.

Disclaimer: This content is for general informational purposes only and should not replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider with any questions about your health or treatment options.