Live longer with legumes

We report on nutrition research so that people know how to be healthier - and the overall point of that is to live longer, healthier lives. So a lot of nutrition research at least starts with younger people: look at how many of our columns talk about research that includes adult men and women between the ages of 18 and 70. Certainly there are studies that focus exclusively on those who are, say, over 65, and we've reported on a few, from alcohol-free beer and elderly nuns (yes, really), whether it's better to be of normal weight or to be overweight as you get older, and if you should continue drinking coffee.

Today's research looks specifically at those 70 or over (Asia Pacific J Clin Nutr 2004;13(2):217-220) and makes use of data collected in a study known as "Food Habits in Later Life," which seeks to identify the positive dietary habits of "long-lived elderly people." This study includes 785 men and women from five different areas all over the world, including Japan, Sweden, Greece, and Australia.

The researchers interviewed the participants regarding their usual diets and classified their intake into the nine food groups of a Mediterranean-style diet. They then averaged each participant's intake to grams per day and adjusted for a standardized caloric intake of 2,500 calories per day for men and 2,000 calories per day for women.

Over the 7 years of the study only 169 people died, and the authors compared their dietary intake with those who did not.

After taking into account the individual participant's age at enrollment, their gender, whether they smoked, and their location and ethnicity, the authors found that the two elements of a Mediterranean-style diet that were most likely to predict the participant's survival was the amount of fish or shellfish they ate and the amount of legumes they consumed. For every 20-gram increase in average intake of fish or shellfish, the participants were 4% less likely to die of any cause, while each 20-gram increase in legumes conferred an 8% reduction in risk of death.

What this means for you

Increasing your intake of fish or legumes by an average of 20 grams per day is actually pretty easy: 20 grams is about 3/4 of an ounce, or about 5 ounces per week. That's a little over 1 more serving of fish or shellfish per week or another helping of legumes like green beans, okra, snap peas, black beans, or peanut butter.

First posted: November 23, 2016