Mixed
Improving overall diet quality over a 12-year period significantly reduces the risk of all-cause mortality, with greater improvements yielding larger reductions in risk.
Focus on gradually improving your diet quality over time rather than seeking perfection. Even modest, sustained improvements in the quality of your diet (measured by indices like AHEI, MedDiet, or DASH) can significantly lower your risk of dying from any cause. Consistency over the long term matters more than short-term intensity.
Improved diet quality over 12 years was consistently associated with a decreased risk of death.
Why this rating
Large prospective cohort studies (NHS and HPFS) with long follow-up, rigorous adjustment for confounders, and consistent findings across multiple dietary indices.
Source
Association of Changes in Diet Quality with Total and Cause-Specific Mortality
Mercedes Sotos‐Prieto et al. · New England Journal of Medicine · 2017
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