The Western style diet contains plenty of fried and sugary foods, processed and red meat, refined grains and high fat dairy products. It is not a healthy diet, and can effect how well someone ages. A British study published in The American Journal of Medicine looked at whether or not eating a Western style diet effects how well someone ages based on following the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) which is associated with "overall health at older ages, " according to lead investigator Tasmine Akbaraly, PhD, Inserm. The AHEI is described by Science Daily as providing "dietary guidelines with the specific intention to combat major chronic conditions such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes."Read more about The Scary Seven™
The data for the study came from the British Whitehall II cohort study. Researchers specifically looked at 3,775 men and 1,575 women from 1985 to 2009 with an average age of 51 years from the Whitehall II study. They found that low adherence to the AHEI was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular and noncardiovascular death, and participants who adhered to a Western style diet "had lower odds of ideal aging."
Researchers classified the findings into five categories:
Ideal aging–free of chronic conditions and high performance in physical, mental, and cognitive functioning tests (4 percent)
Nonfatal cardiovascular event (7.3 percent)
Cardiovascular death (2.8 percent)
Noncardiovascular death (12.7 percent)
Normal aging (73.2 percent)
Following dietary recommendations like the AHEI just might help someone age better. As Akbaraly said, "We showed that following specific dietary recommendations such as the one provided by the AHEI may be useful in reducing the risk of unhealthy aging, while avoidance of the 'Western-type foods' might actually improve the possibility of achieving older ages free of chronic diseases and remaining highly functional."Read more about fast food
Akbaraly added, "A better understanding of the distinction between specific health behaviors that offer protection against diseases and those that move individuals towards ideal aging may facilitate improvements in public health prevention packages."
Photo Credit: Dinner Series
