Dietary Patterns and Healthy Ageing

Abstract

Ageing is a complex process in which multiple factors are involved that can contribute to determine whether a person will or not be affected by diseases that are more frequently observed in advanced age. The factors involved comprise genetic, environmental, behavioural, and dietary factors, which influence pathways that regulate the ageing process and the life expectancy, rendering longevity a multifaceted phenomenon. Even if a miraculous elixir or pill is not yet available, there is general agreement that nutrition has a major impact on the overall mortality and on the development of age-related chronic non-communicable diseases. Nutrition research has focused for decades on single nutrients in relation to health outcomes, although people eat food and combinations of foods rather than nutrients in isolation. Even if research on specific nutrients is scientifically valid and may provide key information on the mechanisms of effects, recent attention to the complex synergistic interactions among nutrients, other food constituents, and whole foods, has led to a growing interest in the total dietary patterns. This chapter describes some specific dietary patterns that have been associated with an increased life expectancy and with reductions of incident chronic diseases, thus consenting people to live a longer and healthier life. We describe the main characteristics and available evidence for Mediterranean, vegetarian, Japanese, and Okinawa dietary patterns, confirming the powerful role that nutrition plays in healthy ageing.