The Study
Diet, cardiovascular disease, and mortality in 80 countries
This study looked at what people ate and whether they got sick or died over many years. It found that people who ate more fruits, nuts, and dairy tended to be healthier, but it didn’t prove that the food itself made them healthier—maybe they also had better doctors, less stress, or more money.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
Scientists looked at what people ate in 80 countries and found that those who ate more fruits, veggies, nuts, beans, fish, and whole-fat dairy lived longer and had fewer heart problems.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 559 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — even small increases in these foods, especially where people eat very little, can make a big difference in preventing early death and heart disease.
- 2People who ate the most of these foods had a 30% lower risk of dying from any cause and an 18% lower risk of heart attacks or strokes compared to those who ate the least.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
European Heart Journal
Year
2023
Authors
A. Mente, M. Dehghan, S. Rangarajan, M. O’Donnell, Weihong Hu, G. Dagenais, A. Wielgosz, S. Lear, Li Wei, R. Díaz, Á. Avezum, P. López-Jaramillo, F. Lanas, S. Swaminathan, Manmeet Kaur, K. Vijayakumar, V. Mohan, Rajeev Gupta, A. Szuba, R. Iqbal, R. Yusuf, N. Mohammadifard, R. Khatib, N. M. Nasir, K. Karşıdağ, A. Rosengren, A. Yusufali, E. Wentzel-Viljoen, J. Chifamba, A. Dans, K. Alhabib, K. Yeates, K. Teo, H. Gerstein, S. Yusuf
Related Content
Claims (6)
People who eat walnuts have a lower rate of death from any cause compared to those who do not.
In low-income countries, people who eat healthier diets have a stronger reduction in heart disease and death compared to people in high-income countries who eat similarly healthy diets.
People who eat moderate amounts of unprocessed red meat as part of a healthy diet pattern still show lower rates of heart disease and death, suggesting that this level of red meat intake does not significantly increase risk in global populations.
People who consume up to 185 grams of whole-fat dairy per day have a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease and dying from any cause compared to those who consume less.
Adults who consume more fruit, vegetables, nuts, legumes, fish, and whole-fat dairy have a 30% lower risk of dying from any cause and an 18% lower risk of major cardiovascular events, with the strongest benefits seen in low- and middle-income countries where these foods are eaten less often.
A dietary score that counts only healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, fish, and whole-fat dairy predicts the risk of heart disease and death just as accurately as scores that also count unhealthy foods.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.