FOODS THAT MAY LOWER RISK OF EARLY DEATH REVEALED

Newsweek Exclusive Feature

Eating a variety of flavonoid-rich foods like tea, apples and berries may cut the risk of early death by 20 percent.

Adding more berries, apples or cups of tea to your daily routine could be the key to living healthier—and for longer.

That is the message from a new study published in Nature Food, which shows that the quantity and variety of flavonoids in our diets could be independently linked to a lower risk of chronic diseases and early death.

Researchers—drawn from Queen's University Belfast, Edith Cowan University in Perth, the Medical University of Vienna, and Universität Wien—tracked 124,805 adults between 40 and 70 for over a decade using data from the U.K. Biobank.

Their findings suggest that people who consumed the highest quantity and diversity of flavonoid-rich foods had a 6–20 percent lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, respiratory illness and neurodegenerative diseases—and a lower risk of dying from any cause.

"Flavonoid intakes of around 500 milligrams a day was associated with a 16 percent lower risk of all-cause mortality, as well as a ~10 percent lower risk of CVD, type 2 diabetes, and respiratory disease," Benjamin Parmenter, research fellow at Edith Cowan University and co-lead author of the study, said in a statement.

"That's roughly the amount of flavonoids that you would consume in two cups of tea."

The researchers focused not only on the existence of flavonoids in participants' diets but also on the diversity of flavonoid subclasses they consumed. This is because it is already well known that flavonoids offer a variety of health benefits. Foods high in flavonoids include tea, blueberries, strawberries, oranges, apples, grapes and dark chocolate.

Parmenter emphasized that the diversity of flavonoids consumed was even more important than the total amount.

Those who consumed the widest diversity of flavonoids had an even lower risk of these diseases, even when consuming the same total amount. The study points to it being better to eat a range of flavonoid-rich foods to make up your intake, than just tea, for instance, because different flavonoids come from different foods.

The researchers noted that while the benefits of flavonoid intake are becoming clearer, the mechanisms behind why a wider variety offers greater protection are still under investigation.

Nevertheless, the data points toward the idea that dietary variety—especially among flavonoid-rich foods—could be a more effective approach to reducing chronic disease risks than focusing on a single 'superfood.'

Human performance scientist and longevity expert Mark Kovacs agreed that flavonoids are key to safeguarding one's health.

He told Newsweek that berries are among the best foods to add to your diet to minimize chronic illness risk. He explained that blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are all loaded with polyphenols, of which flavonoids are a specific type of.

"Berries support brain health, reduce oxidative stress, and may delay biological aging" Kovacs said.

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