How Many Years Could a Better Diet Add?

These researchers built a model drawing on dietary meta-analyses and global mortality data to estimate how much life expectancy might change with a lasting shift in eating patterns. Moving from a typical Western diet towards more whole grains, legumes, nuts, fish, fruit and vegetables, with less red and processed meat and fewer sugary drinks, was estimated to add around eight years for a woman making the change at age 60, and up to a decade for younger adults. The gains were smaller when begun later, though still meaningful into the seventies. Because this is a model built on observational evidence, the figures are informed population estimates that apply to groups more than to any one person, and the authors rate the underlying evidence as moderate. It gives a tangible sense of scale to a reassuring idea, that a change in eating can still matter well into later life.