all-cause mortality

Nutritional and health benefits of dried beans

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Mortality

Bean consumption has been associated with reduced risk of mortality, although only limited data on this endpoint are available. The Food Habits in Later Life Study followed nearly 800 older men and women for 7 y, during which time 169 participants died (61). Among the 5 populations evaluated, mean legume intake ranged from ~85 g/d in Japan and Greece to a low of only 14 g/d in some segments of the Australian population. Of all of the food groups studied, legumes were the only foods associated with a reduced risk of mortality: the RR was 0.92 (95% CI: 0.85, 0.99) for every 20 g consumed. Dried beans were not assessed separately in this study, although other than in Japan, soybean intake would be negligible among the populations in this survey.

This study was published in 2014 and contains a wealth of information.  The online and PDF copies of the study are here.

Because populations in recent decades have adopted more Western-style diets, however, dried bean consumption has seen a decline. For example, between the 1960s and 1990s, dried bean intake decreased by 40% in India and by 24% in Mexico.

Bean consumption down, obesity up.  Hmmm……

Americans Are Retiring Later, Dying Sooner and Sicker In-Between – Bloomberg

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Here are the stats: The U.S. age-adjusted mortality rate—a measure of the number of deaths per year—rose 1.2 percent from 2014 to 2015, according to the Society of Actuaries. That’s the first year-over-year increase since 2005, and only the second rise greater than 1 percent since 1980.

Source: Americans Are Retiring Later, Dying Sooner and Sicker In-Between – Bloomberg

Yikes!

Americans are Eating Less and Less Meat Every Year

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What’s particularly fascinating is that almost none of the decline in meat (and fish) consumption in the U.S. comes from a major increase in vegetarianism. The rate of vegetarianism in our country has remained at around 5 to 8 percent for years. But the reduction in meat consumption by people who aren’t vegetarians but are cutting back on eating animal flesh—is what’s really fueling this trend. In fact, a 2013 Mintel study found that while only about 22 million Americans consider themselves vegetarian, 113 million buy meat alternatives like Gardein, Tofurky, and Beyond Meat. In other words, the market for vegetarian meats is being largely driven by non-vegetarians.

Source: Americans are Eating Less and Less Meat Every Year. Why?

This is an older article from 2015 but is worth sharing.

Change in Diet Can Lower Mortality Risk

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A worsening diet over the course of 12 years was associated with an increased mortality of 6% to 12%, the researchers found.  Those who stayed consistently on a healthy diet starting at baseline had a 9% to 14% lower risk for death than those who stayed consistently on a poor diet.

Source: Change in Diet Can Lower Mortality Risk

Source: Association of Changes in Diet Quality with Total and Cause-Specific Mortality — NEJM

 

Fried potato consumption is associated with elevated mortality: an 8-y longitudinal cohort study

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Source: Fried potato consumption is associated with elevated mortality: an 8-y longitudinal cohort study

Results: Of the 4400 participants, 2551 (57.9%) were women with a mean ± SD age of 61.3 ± 9.2 y. During the 8-y follow-up, 236 participants died. After adjustment for 14 potential baseline confounders, and taking those with the lowest consumption of potatoes as the reference group, participants with the highest consumption of potatoes did not show an increased risk of overall mortality (HR: 1.11; 95% CI: 0.65, 1.91). However, subgroup analyses indicated that participants who consumed fried potatoes 2–3 times/wk (HR: 1.95; 95% CI: 1.11, 3.41) and ≥3 times/wk (HR: 2.26; 95% CI: 1.15, 4.47) were at an increased risk of mortality. The consumption of unfried potatoes was not associated with an increased mortality risk.

Conclusions: The frequent consumption of fried potatoes appears to be associated with an increased mortality risk.

The abstract indicates the researchers controlled for “14 confounders”.  Note the increased mortality impact was from a subgroup analysis.  Since I’m unwilling to pay $40 USD for the full study I’ll never know if the researchers controlled for triple cheeseburgers, eggs, bacon, sausage, fried fish,  or any other foods commonly consumed with fried potatoes.

Poutine???

Are friends better for us than family? – Michigan State University

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In a pair of studies involving nearly 280,000 people, William Chopik found that friendships become increasingly important to one’s happiness and health across the lifespan. Not only that, but in older adults, friendships are actually a stronger predictor of health and happiness than relationships with family members.

Source: Are friends better for us than family? | MSUToday | Michigan State University

Hell yes.

Food groups and risk of all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies

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A clear indication of nonlinearity was seen for the relations between vegetables, fruits, nuts, and dairy and all-cause mortality. Optimal consumption of risk-decreasing foods results in a 56% reduction of all-cause mortality, whereas consumption of risk-increasing foods is associated with a 2-fold increased risk of all-cause mortality.

Source: Food groups and risk of all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies

Happy 4th!  Grill more veggies.