Poor diet quality predicts all cause mortality in men over a 7 year period

In the April, 2009 issue of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Swedish researchers report that men who consumed a relatively high amount of unhealthy foods and failed to consume enough beneficial foods had a greater risk of dying of all causes over a 7.7 year average period compared with those whose diets were healthier.

Alicja Wolk and colleagues at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm analyzed data from 40,837 participants in the Cohort of Swedish Men, who were free of cancer upon enrollment between 1997 and 1998. Responses to dietary questionnaires completed upon enrollment were scored on the intake of 36 recommended food items, including 13 vegetables, 6 fruits, 7 cereal products, 5 types of fish and seafood, 3 low-fat dairy products, nuts, and olive oil, and 16 non-recommended food items, which included 3 red meat products, 5 processed meat products, 3 high fat dairy products, white bread, sweets, fried potatoes, mayonnaise, and ice cream. Between 1998 and 2005, 4,501 deaths were documented, including 1,394 deaths from cardiovascular disease and 759 deaths from cancer that occurred between 1998 and 2003. Continue Reading