Improving diet can increase life expectancy by up to a decade

This is not the first time science has linked a healthy diet with higher life expectancy. However, a new study published in the journal Medicine PLOS goes a step further and establishes, through a simulator connected public accessincreasing this improvement in the case of prolonged changes in food intake.

“Food is essential for health”, he explains to SINC Lars T. Fadnesteacher of University of Bergen (Norway) and lead author of the research. “It is estimated that every year in the world, dietary risk factors cause 11 million deaths and 255 million years of life lost due to illness, disability or premature death”.

The scientists used existing analysis and data from the study of Global Burden of Disease 2019 build a model – called Food4HealthyLife Calculator– which allows an instantaneous estimate of the effect on the hope of life of a series of changes diet.

THE work reveals how, from the age of 20, an American adult could add more than a decade to their life expectancy (10.7 years for women and 13 years for men) if they changed their typical western food pattern for a more optimized.

The biggest gains would come from eating more vegetables (2.2 years in women and 2.5 in men), more whole grains (2 years in women and 2.3 in men), more dry fruits (1.7 years in women and 2 in men), less Red meat (1.6 years for women and 1.9 for men) and less processed meat (1.6 years for women and 1.9 years for men).

In case of older peoplethe projected increase in life expectancy from these changes would be smaller but still substantial: at age 60, it could increase by 8 years for women and 8.8 years for men, and people in their 80s could gain 3.4 years. years old.

“Understanding the potential of different groups of food could enable people to realize viable and significant health benefits,” adds Fadnes. “The Food4HealthyLife calculator can be a useful tool for clinicians, policymakers, and laypeople alike to understand the power of food choices.”

Doubts to be clarified

The authors consider that while previous studies provide summary measures of population health that are relevant in comparing health systems, they “provide limited information on the health impact of other diets and few people are able to adhere to strict approaches to health care”. health maximization.

The methodology provides population estimates under certain assumptions and is not intended to be an individualized forecast.

Lars Fadnes, author

“So far, research has shown health benefits associated with separate food groups or eating patterns but gave little information about the impact of other dietary changes. Our modeling methodology filled this gap”, continues the Norwegian expert.

About the study limitations, Lars comments: “The methodology provides population estimates under certain assumptions and is not intended to be an individualized forecast. There are still questions such as the time to achieve full results, the effect of eggs, white meats and oils, the individual variation of protection and risk factors, the possible development of medical treatments or changes in lifestyle”, he concludes.

Rights: Creative Commons.