They discovered that in comparison to participants with lower scores, those with high scores on adherence to at least one of four healthy eating patterns had a lower risk of passing away during the study from any cause and a lower chance of passing away from cardiovascular disease, cancer, or respiratory disease.
The results are in keeping with the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which advocate healthy eating habits.
"The Dietary Guidelines for Americans are designed to offer science-based dietary guidance that supports wellness and lowers the risk of developing serious chronic diseases." Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the links between the dietary patterns advised by the DGAs and long-term health outcomes, particularly mortality, according to corresponding author Frank Hu, the Fredrick J. Stare Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology and Chair of the Department of Nutrition.
JAMA Internal Medicine will make the study available online on January 9, 2023.
Few studies have looked at the relationship between long-term risk of total and cause-specific death and better adherence to the dietary patterns advised by the DGAs. The 75,230 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study and the 44,085 men who participated in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study provided the researchers with health information over 36 years.
All subjects completed dietary questionnaires every four years and were initially clear of cancer or cardiovascular disease. Based on each of the four food pattern indices, their data was rated (Healthy Eating Index 2015, Alternate Mediterranean Diet, Healthful Plant-Based Diet Index, and Alternate Healthy Eating Index).
Whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes are all standard components; however, other parts vary across eating patterns.
A higher score on at least one of the measures was related to a lower risk of premature mortality from all causes, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and respiratory disease. A lower risk of death from neurogenerative disease was associated with higher AMED and AHEI scores. The results were consistent for non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic Hispanic people.
The current DGAs (2015–2020) advocates a variety of wholesome eating habits that can be customized to suit personal dietary customs and preferences. Every five years, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture produce an updated edition of the Guidelines (USDA).
According to Hu, it's critical to assess how well dietary recommendations from the DGAs are followed and how that affects health outcomes, such as mortality. That way, appropriate adjustments may be made. The 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which is being established to assess the state of the research on various eating habits and health effects, will find our findings helpful.
Zhilei Shan, Fenglei Wang, Yanping Li, Megu Baden, Shilpa Bhupathiraju, Dong Wang, Qi Sun, Eric Rimm, Lu Qi, Fred Tabung, Edward Giovannucci, Walter Willett, JoAnn Manson, and Qibin Qi are additional Harvard Chan School co-authors of the study.
Grant R01HL060712 from the NHLBI provided funding for the study. NIH funding (UM1 CA186107, P01 CA87969, R01 CA49449, R01 HL034594, R01 HL088521, U01 CA176726, R01 CA67262, U01 CA167552, R01 HL35464, and U01 H145386) supports the Nurses' Health Studies and Health Professional Follow-up Studies. Q. Qi is sponsored by funding from the NHLBI (K01HL129892 and R01HL140976) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK119268 and R01DK120870). The American Heart Association has awarded postdoctoral fellowship grant 897161 to F. Wang.