Amid growing concerns about health conditions, low-carb and low-fat diets have risen in popularity. But can this dietary habit help promote longevity? Findings of a latest study suggest that the important thing to a protracted life is a balanced food regimen, and it’s reportedly higher than putting one’s body through extreme diets involving carbs and fats.

Researchers from Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan found that a reduced intake of carbohydrates in men and an elevated intake of carbohydrates in women can each heighten the danger of all-cause and cancer-related mortality. Regarding fat consumption, the researchers found that ladies who eat higher levels of dietary fat have a reduced risk of mortality from any cause.

The findings of the study were published within the Journal of Nutrition.

The researchers looked into the link between carbohydrate and fat intake and the danger of mortality using a follow-up survey involving 34,893 men and 46,440 women over a period of nine years. The participants were between the ages of 35 and 69.

With the assistance of food frequency questionnaires, the research team estimated the participants’ intake of carbohydrates, fat and total energy. The participants’ all-cause and cause-specific mortality were then estimated in reference to food quality.

The researchers found that men who received lower than 40% of their total energy from carbohydrates have significantly higher risks of all-cause and cancer-related mortality. The association was the identical for each refined and minimally processed carbohydrates.

Men who received greater than 35% of their total energy from fats were at a better risk of cancer-related mortality. The study also found that a low intake of unsaturated fat in men increased the danger of all-cause and cancer-related mortality.

In women, carbohydrate intake of greater than 65% of their total energy was related to a better risk of all-cause mortality. Nevertheless, there was no clear association between refined or minimally processed carbohydrate intake and the danger of mortality.

The study found an inverse association between fat intake in women and the danger of all-cause and cancer-related mortality. The findings suggest that top fat intake will not be detrimental to longevity in women.

“The finding that saturated fat intake was inversely related to the danger of mortality only in women might partially explain the differences within the associations between the sexes,” Dr. Takashi Tamura, who led the study, said in a news release.

“Alternatively, components apart from fat within the food sources of fat could also be liable for the observed inverse association between fat intake and mortality in women,” Tamura added.

Published by Medicaldaily.com