Mixed
Dietary intake of risk-increasing factors (processed meat, red meat, sugar-sweetened beverages, sodium, saturated fat) has a greater detrimental cardiometabolic impact on younger adults (25-44 years) than on older adults, while risk-reducing factors (fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, PUFA, seafood omega-3) provide the greatest benefit to middle-aged adults (45-69 years).
Your diet matters most right now. If you are under 45, eating processed meats, sugary drinks, and excess sodium is causing the maximum possible damage to your heart and metabolic health. Conversely, if you are between 45 and 69, prioritizing fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains yields the highest health return. Do not wait until you are older to fix your diet; the window for maximum benefit (and minimum harm) is now.
Risk-reducing dietary factors had the greatest beneficial impact on middle-aged populations and the smallest impact on the elderly (>70 years), whereas the deleterious impact of risk-increasing dietary factors on cardiometabolic health was greatest among younger age groups and declined with age.
Why this rating
The study utilizes a comprehensive global dataset (186 countries) and meta-analyses of prospective cohorts/trials, though it is an observational modeling study rather than a randomized trial.
Source
The International Diet-Health Index: a novel tool to evaluate diet quality for cardiometabolic health across countries
Jifan Wang et al. · BMJ Global Health · 2020
DOI 10.1136/bmjgh-2019-002120
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