Whole-grain intake in mid-life and healthy ageing in the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health cohort

• DOI: 10.1007/s00394-024-03357-3
• Publication Date: 2024-03-07T16:43:25Z
• Authors: Anne Kirstine Eri...; Mia Klinten Grand; Cecilie Kyrø; Jan Wohlfahrt; Kim Overvad; Anne Tjønneland; Anja Olsen
• Keywords: Danish; Healthy ageing; Diet and cancer; Healthy diet

Growing elderly populations worldwide have sparked interest in factors promoting healthy aging. Diet and other lifestyle patterns are key factors for healthy ageing; however, evidence is sparse for specific dietary guidelines that are easily implemented in everyday life. Whole grains constitute specific dietary components with unexplored potential in healthy ageing.We applied an illness-death multistate model to assess the association between whole-grain intake and life expectancy, both with and without disease, over a 20-year period. Healthy ageing was defined as absence of cancer, ischemic heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and dementia during follow-up.Based on information from 22,606 men and 25,468 women in the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health cohort, followed for an average of 13.8 and 17.5 years, respectively, a doubling in whole-grain intake was associated with 0.43 (95% CI: 0.33-0.52) and 0.15 (0.06-0.24) additional years without disease for men and women, respectively. Comparing the highest and lowest quartiles of whole-grain intake, with a special emphasis on men, we found that those with the highest intake lived, on average, one year longer without disease compared to those with the lowest intake. Additionally, although a high intake of whole grains yielded longer life expectancy, the duration of living with disease was shorter.Intake of whole grains in mid-life was associated with healthy ageing looking 20 years ahead.