Category: Longevity & Health

American researchers conducting a large-scale trial over several years, have found that a vegetarian diet is associated with a longer life. They enrolled into the study, 73 000 members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, in both the US and Canada. Adventists tend to share similar lifestyles, namely not drinking alcohol or smoking, although they do exhibit the usual range of other dietary patterns.

Over a six year follow-up period, significant associations were detected between a vegetarian diet and deaths from cardiovascular disease, non-cardiovascular non-cancer disease, renal disease and endocrine disease. These links appeared stronger in men than in women. Overall, vegetarians were 12% less likely to die from all causes combined, compared with non-vegetarians.

(Vegetarian Dietary Patterns and Mortality in Adventist Health Study 2. Journal of the American Medical Association, 8 July 2013.)

Researchers in Auckland, New Zealand, have found that supplementing the diet with DHA, improves both memory and reaction time in healthy young adults who habitually had a low intake. DHA is found in oily fish such as salmon, and is already known to accumulate in areas of the brain associated with memory and attention.

A total of 228 people (83 men and 145 women), aged 18 to 45, were recruited and randomly allocated to take either 1.16g of DHA per day, or a placebo capsule, for six months. The DHA dose was chosen to equate to two to three portions of oily fish per week. Assessment of the 176 individuals who completed the trial, showed improved memory and memory reaction times. Interesting differences also emerged between the sexes: in women, the accuracy of episodic memory (long-term memory associated with specific events in life) improved, whereas in men, the reaction time of working memory (short-term memory to help us execute a task) improved.

(DHA Supplementation Improved both Memory and Reaction Time in Healthy Young Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. on-line 20 March 2013.)

A large prospective cohort study carried out in Japan, has shown that consumption of green tea is associated with a significantly lower risk of the elderly developing functional disability problems ie impairments in the ability to carry out daily activities such as washing and dressing.

Data on green tea consumption and other lifestyle factors was collected in 2006 from 14 000 people aged 65 and over, and subjects were then followed up for three years, with information on developing disability collected from the public long-term care insurance database. The results showed that the more green tea people drank, the lower their risk of developing functional disability. In those who consumed less than one cup of green tea each day, 13% developed some functional disability, whereas in those consuming five cups or more, the corresponding figure was 7%.

(Green Tea Consumption and the Risk of Incident Functional Disability in Elderly Japanese: The Ohsaki Cohort 2006 Study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 2012.)

The results of a large study of British civil servants, suggest that satisfaction with life is associated with better cardiac health. Coronary risk factors and life satisfaction across seven areas (love relationships, leisure activities, family, job, standard of living, sex, and one’s self) were all assessed in 7956 initially healthy subjects. Participants’ health records were then examined for coronary deaths, heart attacks and angina occurring anytime over the following six years.

Results showed that higher levels of average life satisfaction, were associated with a 13% reduced risk of coronary heart disease. This reduced risk was found in both men and women, was associated with the four key life areas of job, family, sex and self, and showed in angina statistics specifically. Those reporting the greatest satisfaction enjoyed the greatest health benefits. No association was found in the areas of love, leisure and standard of living.

(Heart Health when Life is Satisfying: Evidence from the Whitehall II Cohort Study. European Heart Journal, 1 November 2011.)

A study carried out in China, has shown that eating more vegetables is associated with lower mortality rates, particularly from heart disease. The strongest protective effects seemed to come from higher consumption of cruciferous vegetables (also known as the brassica family), which include broccoli, kale, cabbage, cauliflower, radish and turnip.

Nearly 135 000 people participated in the study. Overall, the greater an individual’s fruit and vegetable consumption, the lower their risk of death, especially from cardiovascular disease. People whose diets included the most vegetables, were 15% less likely to have died during the five year study. Although benefits were observed in both men and women, in women in particular, the risk of dying was 22% lower in those who ate the most cruciferous vegetables compared to those who consumed the least.

(Cruciferous Vegetable Consumption is Associated with a Reduced Risk of Total & Cardiovascular Disease Mortality. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, July 2011.)