Healthy in old age: Which foods keep us fit?

A person’s nutrition has considerable influence on the aging process of body and mind. An international research team describes which food is more likely to promote healthy aging according to a large long -term study.

80 percent of the older adults have at least one chronic disease, writes the group from Canada, Denmark and the USA in the journal Nature Medicine. In view of the increasing share of seniors in the population worldwide, the work should be a global priority. Of all behavioral factors – with the exception of smoking – Have the greatest influence.

Which food is the healthiest? Researchers compare eight nutritional forms

The team led by Anne-Julie Tessier from the University of Montreal now evaluated data from two US collecting studies that started in 1976 and 1986. The 105,000 participants filled out questionnaires for their diet. A good two thirds were women, the average age was 53 years old. Over the period of up to 30 years, the researchers did not examine the influence of diet with a view to diseases or life expectancy, but on the quality of life in old age.

They defined healthy age as the achievement of the age of 70, without greater physical and mental impairments And without a large chronic illness such as various cardiovascular complaints, cancer, type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s or chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD).

Only 9.3 percent of the participants met these criteria at the age of 70 – almost 11 percent of women and a good 6 percent of men. The comparison of their nutritional pattern resulted in interesting relationships. Good for health were therefore Fruit, vegetables, Legumes, nuts, Unsaturated fatty acids and low -fat dairy products. Trans fats, salt, sugar -containing drinks and red meat, i.e. beef, pork, lamb and goat, had an unfavorable effect, as well as industrially processed products.

In the study, the nutritional habits of the participants were compared with eight diets, such as a diet to protect against high blood pressure, two variants of Mediterranean food, one Plant -based diet and a diet for the well -being of the planet. « Although all nutritional patterns are similar to increase the consumption of fruit, vegetables and whole grain and reduce the consumption of red and processed meat, » explains the group. « But every pattern emphasizes special components. »

The « Alternative Healthy Eating Index » is supposed to prevent chronic diseases

Generally old people healthier, whose diet fit with these variants. The best way to cut the data in Harvard’s « Alternative Healthy Eating Index » (AHEI). It was specially developed to prevent chronic diseases and relies on a diet with a lot fruit and vegetables,, Whole grain and nuts as well as healthy fatty acids and occasionally fish.

In comparison to those who were hardly the case, those people whose diet met this diet had a 86 percent higher probability of still being healthy at 70 years. The prospect of being healthy at the age of 75 was more than doubled for them. A close stick to the « Alternative Mediterranean Index » (AMED), a variant of the Mediterranean diet, increased the probability of 62 percent.

Other studies from France, Australia, China and Israel supported these results, the group writes. However, she refers to two weaknesses of her investigation: the time interval between the last nutritional question of the participants and the collection of the health situation six years. In addition, the participants were relatives of professions in healthcare. The results may not be transferred to the other population without restrictions. ((Walter Willems, dpa)))

Read more about this here: