People who stick to a healthy diet are more likely to live longer, according to new research.
US researchers followed the eating patterns of more than 2500 men and women between the ages of 70 and 79 for 10 years. They found that those who preferred high fat dairy foods such as full-fat milk, ice cream, cheese and yogurt were 40 per cent more likely to die than those who ate healthily.
The researchers divided the study participants into six groups according to the foods they liked to eat most; healthy foods; high-fat dairy foods; meat, fried foods and alcohol; breakfast cereal; refined grains; and sweets and desserts.
The “healthy foods” group ate more low-fat dairy foods, fruit, whole grains, poultry, fish, and vegetables, and smaller amounts of meat, fried foods, sweets, high-calorie drinks, and added fat.
Healthy foods linked to longevity
The “high fat dairy foods” group ate more foods such as ice cream, cheese, and full fat milk and yogurt, and less poultry, low-fat dairy products, rice, and pasta.
The study found that people in the “high-fat dairy foods” group had a 40 per cent higher risk of dying than the “healthy foods” group.
The “sweets and desserts” group had a 37 per cent higher risk of dying.
No significant differences in the risk of dying was seen between the “healthy foods” group and the “breakfast cereal” or “refined grains” groups.
Dr Amy L. Anderson, from the University of Maryland, who led the study, said: “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.
“Because a substantial percentage of older adults in this study followed the ‘healthy foods’ dietary pattern, adherence to such a diet appears a feasible and realistic recommendation for potentially improved survival and quality of life in the growing older adult population.”
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New evidence suggests that the ‘longevity’ protein SIRT1 can inhibit the development of a known precursor to prostate cancer, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN).
Results from the study could lead to new cancer prevention drugs that could not only block prostate cancer but promote longevity.
The study by researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson and two other institutions found that deletion of the Sirt1 gene, known for its life-spanning effects, in mice resulted in PIN lesion formation associated with reduced autophagy, which is the necessary degradation of a cell”s own components and most likely essential for tumor suppression.
“And these results provide a direct link for the first time between the onset of prostate cancer and the Sirt1 gene that regulate aging,” Richard G. Pestell, Director, Kimmel Cancer Center and Chairman of Cancer Biology at Thomas Jefferson University, said.
The results suggest that the Sirt1 gene promotes autophagy and further highlight the role of the protein SIRT1 (the human homologue of the yeast Silent Information Regulator 2 (Sir2) gene) as a tumor suppressor in the prostate.
According to Pestell, “if you inactivate this gene, then you get the prostate cancer precursor, known as PIN. So it tells you that this ”longevity” gene is normally blocking prostate cancer.”
Pestell”s laboratory carried out a genome-wide microarray, pathway analysis and histology on Sirt1 positive and negative transgenic mice and littermate controls.
The team found that deletion of the Sirt1 gene in mice resulted in PIN formation; features included cellular hyperplasia, increased Ki67 staining, hyperchromatic nuclei and prominent nucleoli, as well as a reduced size in prostate. Gene expression analysis further demonstrated that loss of endogenous Sirt1 inhibited autophagy, which regulates normal gland development.
The study has been published in the issue of Cancer Research.