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Time to hit the right balance in your diet

A good balance of various macronutrients can help you live longer

17-Nov-2020

Key points from article :

Human mortality is largely influenced by a balance of macronutrients.

National supplies of macronutrients reveal patterns in age-specific mortality.

Optimal diet composition for reducing mortality risk varies with age.

Below the age of 25, mortality rates were closest when the total energy consisted 16% proteins & 40-45% of both fats & carbs.

But above the age of 55, the balance changed to 11% proteins, 67% carbs, and 22% fats.

“People need to get away from ‘unidimensional’ thinking [like eating less fat or avoiding carbs],” - Dr. Senior, lead researcher.

A balance of different macronutrients & not the elimination of any improves the chance of survival.

Dataset analysis of 1,879 life tables from 103 countries, between 1961 to 2016 was done.

Mortality rates were lowest when the energy supply was 3,500 kilocalories per capita per day.

Research by University of Sydney published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Mentioned in this article:

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Alistair Senior

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at University of Sydney

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)

Multidisciplinary scientific journal, official journal of the National Academy of Sciences

The University of Sydney

Australia's leading higher education and research University.

Topics mentioned on this page:
Diet