Abstract
Elderly Costa Ricans have lower mortality rates compared to their counterparts from developed countries. Reasons for this survival advantage are not completely known. In the present study, we aimed to identify dietary factors associated with leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a marker of biologic aging, in the elderly population of Costa Rica. We conducted prospective analysis in 909 participants aged 60+ years from the Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (CRELES). We used a food frequency questionnaire to assess usual diet. We calculated dietary patterns using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). We used generalized linear models to examine the association of dietary patterns and food groups with leukocyte telomere length. We found two major dietary patterns explaining 9.15% and 7.18% of the total variation of food intake, respectively. The first dietary pattern, which represents a traditional Costa Rican rice and beans pattern, was more frequent in rural parts of the country and was positively associated with baseline LTL: β (95% CI) = 42.0 base-pairs (bp) (9.9 bp, 74.1 bp) per one-unit increase of the traditional dietary pattern. In analysis of individual food groups, intake of grains was positively associated with baseline LTL: β (95% CI) = 43.6 bp (13.9 bp, 73.3 bp) per one-serving/day increase of consumption of grains. Our results suggest that dietary factors, in particular a traditional food pattern, are associated with telomere length and may contribute to the extended longevity of elderly Costa Ricans.
Highlights
Costa Ricans, males, have one of the lowest mortality rates in the world [1], outperforming even high-income countries including the U.S [2]
We conducted dietary pattern analysis to identify food factors that may be associated with longer leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in elderly Costa Ricans, a population with extended longevity [1,2,4]
We found that a traditional Costa Rican diet pattern—characterized by high intake of grains and legumes—was associated with longer LTL both at baseline and at the second wave of interviews
Summary
Costa Ricans, males, have one of the lowest mortality rates in the world [1], outperforming even high-income countries including the U.S [2]. This survival advantage is more pronounced among elderly Costa Rican males living in the northwest region of Nicoya, which has been recognized as one of five locations in the world (Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa in Japan, Loma Linda in California U.S, Nicoya in Costa Rica, and Ikaria in Greece) with exceptional longevity [3]. Most older Costa Ricans live in households of three or more members, primarily with adult children, compared to only about 25% in the U.S [2]
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