Western Diets Linked with Less-Healthy Aging

A Western-style diet can undermine healthy aging, a new study finds. A Western diet includes fried foods, sweets, processed and red meats, refined grains and high-fat dairy products. The study included 5,350 middle-aged adults who provided information about their diets. Researchers kept track of their health for the next 16 years. About 4% went through “ideal aging.” They had no long-term (chronic) conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease. They also had high scores for physical and mental functioning. About 3% of the total group died of a heart attack or stroke during the study. Another 13% had nonfatal events. About 7% died from other causes. The other 73% survived and had “normal aging,” researchers said. People who followed a Western-style diet were less likely to have ideal aging than those with healthier diets.