Evaluation of Dietary Patterns and All-Cause Mortality: A Systematic Review

Year Published: 2021

Laural K English, Jamy D Ard, Regan L Bailey, Marlana Bates, Lydia A Bazzano, Carol J Boushey, Clarissa Brown, Gisela Butera, Emily H Callahan, Janet de Jesus, Richard D Mattes, Elizabeth J Mayer-Davis, Rachel Novotny, Julie E Obbagy, Elizabeth B Rahavi, Joan Sabate, Linda G Snetselaar, Eve E Stoody, Linda V Van Horn, Sudha Venkatramanan, Steven B Heymsfield

"The 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee conducted a systematic review of existing research on diet and health to inform the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The committee answered this public health question: what is the association between dietary patterns consumed and all-cause mortality (ACM)?" Therefore, the aim of this review was to examine the association between dietary patterns and all cause mortality.

Key Findings: 153 studies were included from 81 countries. "Evidence suggested that dietary patterns in adults and older adults that involved higher consumption of vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, whole grains, unsaturated vegetable oils, fish, and lean meat or poultry (when meat was included) were associated with a decreased risk of ACM. These healthy patterns were also relatively low in red and processed meat, high-fat dairy, and refined carbohydrates or sweets. Some of these dietary patterns also included intake of alcoholic beverages in moderation. Results based on additional analyses with confounding factors generally confirmed the robustness of main findings."