However, it seems that a diet with a modest amount of of carbohydrates is the best to have a longer life expectancy, according to the results of a large study published in The Lancet Public Health magazine.
The researchers used data on the diet of 15,400 people in the United States who had participated in a previous study and those who followed an average of 25 years.
And concluded that a diet in which less than 40% or more than 70% of calories comes from carbohydrates, is associated with a higher risk of premature death.
Or, conversely, those who obtain about 55% of their energy from carbohydrates have a lower risk of premature death.
Another four years
To arrive at these figures, scientists estimate from question What percentage of calories did people get from the carbohydrates, fats and proteins they ate? And they divided them into groups.
Scientists estimate that at the age of 50 people who ate a moderate amount of carbohydrates had an average life expectancy of 33 years more.
But that total life expectancy of 88 years ] decreased for groups whose diet was much more or less dependent on carbohydrates.
Specifically, they found that:
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the group that had a diet had extremely few carbohydrates, with less than 30% [19659017] of their total energy from them, on average had four years less [19659018] life expectancy at 50 years.
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the group that followed a low carbohydrate diet, between 30 and 40% of the total energy, had an average reduction of 2.3 years
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and those who took more than 65% of their energy from carbohydrates had a life expectancy of just over a year. 19659022] That is to say, as in so many other things in life, the key lies in moderation.
The authors of the study compared their results with those of seven other previous studies with more than 400,000 people and estimated that the conclusions were similar.
But their findings do not suggest a causal relationship, but a correlation, because what they did was an observational study.
What is better to replace carbohydrates?
However, scientists also pointed out in this study that not all low diets in carbohydrates are the same .
Carbohydrates include fruits, vegetables and sugar but the main source is usually starchy foods such as potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and grains.
Some of the most popular diets in the western world in recent years, such as the Atkins diet, promote a kind of diet to lose weight, reducing and consuming carbohydrates and increasing protein and animal fat.
Often the people who follow them tend to eat less fruit, vegetables and nuts.
According to these experts, it is better to replace carbohydrates with more fats and proteins of vegetable origin, such as those in the picture, instead of animal products, for aging, if one chooses to have a diet with take little carbohydrates. healthy. GETTY IMAGES According to scientists, eating more veal, lamb, pork, chicken and cheese instead of carbohydrates has been associated with a slight increased risk of premature death .
However, replacing carbohydrates with proteins and fats of vegetable origin, such as legumes and nuts, slightly reduced the risk of mortality.
"Our data suggest that diets based on some carbohydrates and animal products, which are common in North America and Europe, may be associated with shorter overall life expectancy and should be discouraged," said Sara Seidelmann, cardiovascular researcher. medicine at Brigham University and the Women & # 39; s Hospital in Boston, which led the research.
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