Greater adherence to positive dietary practices linked with reduced mortality over 10 year period

An article appearing online on May 27, 2009 in the Journal of Nutrition revealed the finding of researchers at Queens College of the City University of New York, the National Cancer Institute, and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) that practicing six beneficial dietary behaviors is associated with a reduction from mortality from all causes.

For their analysis, Ashima Kant and colleagues evaluated data from 350,886 participants in the NIH (National Institutes of Health)-American Association of Retired Persons cohort. Subjects were between the ages of 50 and 71 years and free of disease upon enrollment. Dietary questionnaires completed at the beginning of the study were scored on 6 categories: servings of vegetables consumed per week, servings of fruit consumed per week, consumption of whole grain cereals and breads, consumption of lean meat and poultry (as opposed to fattier meats, unskinned poultry, etc.), consumption of low fat dairy products (as opposed to full fat products), and whether solid fat was added to cooked foods. Continue Reading