WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Women who eat a lot of healthy carbs, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans, are more likely to stay healthy as they get older, according to a recent study by researchers from Tufts University and Harvard.
'We've all heard that different carbohydrates can affect health differently, whether for weight, energy, or blood sugar levels. But rather than just look at the immediate effects of these macronutrients, we wanted to understand what they might mean for good health 30 years later,' said lead author Andres Ardisson Korat. 'Our findings suggest that carbohydrate quality may be an important factor in healthy aging.'
The study, published in JAMA Network Open, looked at healthy aging as living without major diseases like cancer, diabetes, or heart failure, having good brain and body function, and maintaining mental well-being.
To study this, researchers used data from over 47,000 women who were part of the Nurses' Health Study. These women were between 70 and 93 years old in 2016. Since 1984, they had filled out detailed food surveys every four years. The researchers used this data to track what kinds of carbohydrates the women ate, good ones (like whole foods and fiber) and bad ones (like sugar and refined grains).
They found that women who ate more healthy carbs in midlife had a 6 percent to 37 percent higher chance of aging well. But those who ate more refined carbs and starchy foods had a 13 percent lower chance of staying healthy as they got older.
'Our results are consistent with other evidence linking consumption of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes with lower risks of chronic diseases, and now we see the association with physical and cognitive function outcomes,' said senior author Qi Sun from Harvard Chan School.
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