Healthy diet associated with low all-cause mortality
A Healthy Diet Indicator (HDI) score was calculated based on the 1990 Guidelines of WHO on prevention of chronic diseases for men aged 50-70 from Finland, The Netherlands and Italy. The 20-year all-cause mortality was 13% lower in the group with the highest compared to the lowest HDI.
Mediterranean diet related to low all-cause mortality
In the HALE project the Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS) was associated with a 18% lower and the Mediterranean Adequacy Index (MAI) with a 17% lower 10-year all-cause mortality. The MDS and the MAI were both based on foods characteristic of the traditional Mediterranean diet in the 1960s. Within these dietary patterns, grains, fruit and fish were most strongly and inversely related to all-cause mortality.
All three scores indicated that a healthy dietary pattern is associated with a lower all-cause mortality.