Older adults who follow high-quality diets rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, legumes, and unsaturated fats accumulate chronic diseases more slowly.
Diets with higher inflammatory potential—those heavy in red/processed meats, refined grains, sweets—accelerate the accumulation of diseases.
Benefits are especially clear for cardiovascular and neuropsychiatric conditions; diets had little effect on musculoskeletal disease accumulation.
As we get older, many of us worry about developing multiple chronic conditions — heart disease, dementia, depression, and more.
A large recent study out of Sweden asks an important question: can what we eat slow down the rate at which these health problems pile up?
The short answer seems to be yes.
The research shows that older people who stick to healthier, less inflammatory diets tend to accumulate fewer chronic diseases over time compared to those who favor more inflammatory diets.
”Our results show how important diet is in influencing the development of multimorbidity in ageing populations,” researcher Adrián Carballo-Casla said in a news release.
The study
The researchers tracked 2,473 community-dwelling older adults (aged 60+) from the SNAC-K cohort in Stockholm for up to 15 years.
They collected information on participants’ diets using food frequency questionnaires in the first three “waves” of the study (during the first ~six years). They also gathered data on chronic diseases at multiple points over all 15 years, through interviews, medical records, and health registers.
To measure how “good” or “inflammatory” a diet was, they calculated how closely each person followed four established dietary patterns:
MIND (focused on brain-healthy eating)
AHEI (Alternate Healthy Eating Index)
AMED (Alternative Mediterranean Diet)
EDII (Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Index) – this one measures how much a diet might promote inflammation.
They then used statistical models to see how diet quality related to the rate at which chronic conditions accumulated, overall and in three organ-system categories: cardiovascular, neuropsychiatric, and musculoskeletal. They adjusted for things like age, sex, education, smoking, physical activity, total calorie intake, and others.
The results
The people who scored higher on the “healthy diet” scales (MIND, AHEI, AMED) accumulated chronic diseases at a significantly slower annual rate. For example, each standard deviation increase in AHEI or MIND corresponded to noticeably slower disease gain per year.
By contrast, those with diets scoring high on the inflammatory index (EDII) had faster accumulation of chronic diseases.
When breaking down by disease type: diet quality had strong associations for cardiovascular diseases (like heart disease, stroke) and neuropsychiatric diseases (such as depression, dementia). But for musculoskeletal diseases (bones, joints), there was no clear relationship.
Some differences showed up by age and sex: for instance, the healthy diets seemed especially beneficial in slowing cardiovascular disease accumulation among women, and neuropsychiatric benefits were more pronounced in the oldest participants.
How to Put the Research into Practice
Want to eat in a way that slows the build-up of chronic conditions as you age? These tips, based on the Swedish study’s findings, show what a healthier, less inflammatory plate can look like:
Simple Swaps
Load up on vegetables, leafy greens, and fruits.
Choose whole grains instead of refined (brown rice, oats, whole-wheat bread).
Use olive oil, nuts, seeds, and fish for healthy fats.
Cut back on red/processed meats, sugary drinks, and packaged sweets.
Add beans and legumes regularly for protein and fiber.
A Sample Day
Breakfast: Oatmeal with berries and walnuts
Lunch: Lentil and veggie soup with whole-grain bread
Snack: Apple slices with almond butter
Dinner: Grilled salmon, roasted vegetables, and quinoa
Dessert: Fresh fruit or a square of dark chocolate