EAT-Lancet diet may delay ageing, prolong life expectancy

People who adhere to the EAT-Lancet diet may have an extended life expectancy and delayed biological ageing, regardless of their genetic predisposition, reveals a study.

A total of 141,562 participants (mean age 56.02 years, 45.12 percent male) were included in the analysis. Those with higher adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet showed a significantly slower pace of biological ageing (KDM-BA acceleration, ‒1.37 years, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], ‒1.51 to ‒1.24; PhenoAge acceleration, ‒0.93 years, 95 percent CI, ‒1.00 to ‒0.86; p<0.001 for both).

At 45 years of age, participants with the highest adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet gained 1.13 years of life expectancy compared with those with the lowest adherence. These patterns persisted when the Knuppel EAT-Lancet diet index was used.

Such association was mediated by adiposity indices, particularly waist-to-height ratio.

On the other hand, no significant association was observed between the EAT-Lancet diet and genetic risks. The protective effects endured in a series of sensitivity analyses and across different subgroups.

These findings suggest “that promoting this sustainable dietary pattern could serve as a practical nutritional strategy for enhancing healthy longevity,” the authors said.

This study used data from the UK Biobank cohort study. The authors calculated the EAT-Lancet diet index using 24-h dietary recall data to assess adherence. They also constructed polygenic risk scores to evaluate the genetic risk of biological ageing.

The association of the EAT-Lancet diet index with biological ageing acceleration and residual life expectancy was examined using multivariable linear regression and flexible parametric survival models, respectively. Finally, potential mediators were identified using mediation analysis.