A Harvard Study Just Linked 4 Diets To Longevity: Here's What They Are

If I were to ask you the question, "What are your motivations for eating healthier?" Do you know what your answer would be? It may include things like more energy, weight loss, disease prevention, and, of course, increasing your chances of living a longer life. 

For this study, researchers analyzed data from more than 75,000 women and 44,000 men, looking for links between specific dietary patterns, adherence to those patterns, and long-term health outcomes. The participants were followed for 36 years (they completed health questionnaires every four years) and at the start of the study, none of them had cardiovascular disease or cancer. 

The results, published this month in JAMA Internal Medicine1, showed that participants who scored higher on adherence to one of the four healthy eating patterns were 20% less likely to die during the study period. They also experienced considerably lower rates of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and respiratory disease than the participants with lower adherence scores. 

The results also showed that participants who made their diet just 25% healthier could reduce their risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by 6% to 13%, cancer by 7% to 18%, neurodegenerative disease by 7%, and respiratory disease by as much as 35% to 46%, which is pretty striking. 

This study leaves us with two highly important takeaway messages. First, it reiterates the fact that adhering to a healthy eating strategy long-term can have a massive impact on your health. And while we kind of knew that already, seeing the numbers is great motivation to double down on our healthy eating habits.

The second thing this study taught us is equally if not even more important: There's more than one way to eat healthfully. As a co-author on the study Frank Hu, M.D., Ph.D., explained to CNN, "...this is good news. It means that we have a lot of flexibility in terms of creating our own healthy dietary patterns that can be tailored to individual food preferences, health conditions, and cultures." 

It's easy to get wrapped up in the never-ending "eat this, not that" cycle. But this study showed us that as long as we are following a few key principles—like plenty of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes—we can allow for flexibility and change beyond that. "For example, if you are eating a healthy Mediterranean, and after a few months you want to try something different, you can switch…" Hu continued. 

By adhering to a diet full of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes, you can massively impact your health.