Anti-inflammatory diet may help you live longer: Study

A diet consisting of fruits and vegetables, whole grain bread, low-fat cheese, olive oil and moderate amounts of red wine may help you live longer, a study claims.

The study, published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, found that adhering to an anti-inflammatory diet was associated with lower risks of dying from any cause, from cardiovascular causes, and from cancer.

The study by researchers at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences in Poland involved 68,273 Swedish men and women aged 45 to 83 years who were followed for 16 years.

Participants who most closely followed an anti-inflammatory diet had an 18 per cent lower risk of all-cause mortality, compared to those who followed the diet to a lesser degree.

They also had a 20 per cent lower risk of cardiovascular mortality and a 13 per cent lower risk of cancer mortality, researchers said.

"Our dose-response analysis showed that even partial adherence to the anti-inflammatory diet may provide a health benefit," said Joanna Kaluza, an associate professor at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences.

Smokers who followed the diet experienced even greater benefits when compared with smokers who did not follow the diet.

Anti-inflammatory foods consist of fruits and vegetables, tea, coffee, whole grain bread, breakfast cereal, low-fat cheese, olive oil and canola oil, nuts, chocolate, and moderate amounts of red wine and beer, researchers said.

Pro-inflammatory foods include unprocessed and processed red meat, organ meats, chips, and soft-drink beverages, they said.