TABLE 1.
Consistent evidence for nutrition parameters and prevention and treatment of common aging-associated diseases and functional losses1
| Prevention(derived from expert consensus reports, or umbrella/systematic reviews, or meta analyses) | Reduced disease progression and or remission(derived from expert consensus reports, or powered randomized trials) | |
|---|---|---|
| Musculoskeletal | ||
| Frailty/sarcopenia, risk falls | • Healthy BMI (18.5–25 kg/m2) (71)• Dietary patterns: “Prudent” (72), Mediterranean (73) | • Specific nutrients: High protein: 1.3–1.5 g/kg protein alone or combined with exercise (74–76) |
| • Specific nutrients: Recommended protein (77), high total antioxidants (40, 78) | • For sarcopenic obesity: high-protein and weight loss with or without exercise (79) | |
| Osteoarthritis | • Healthy BMI (80) | • Weight loss (81) |
| Osteoporosis | • Specific nutrients: Adequate intakes of calcium (82), protein (83), vitamin D (84) | • Specific nutrients: 1200 mg Ca + 800 IU vitamin D + weight-bearing exercise (85, 86) |
| Cognition | ||
| Cognitive decline | • Healthy BMI (87) | • Weight loss (88) |
| • Dietary patterns: Mediterranean diet (89, 90), HEI, WHO's Healthy Diet Indicator (91) | ||
| Dementia/Alzheimer disease | • Healthy BMI (87) | |
| • Dietary patterns: Mediterranean diet (90, 92) | ||
| • Specific nutrients: Low saturated fat (92, 93) | ||
| Sense-organ diseases | ||
| Age-related macular degeneration | • Healthy BMI (7, 94)• Dietary patterns: Mediterranean diet, oriental diet, low-glycemic-index diet (95) | • Nutrients: High vitamins C + E, lutein, zeaxanthin, zinc, copper (96) |
| Cataracts | • Healthy BMI (97), healthy glycemic control in type 2 diabetes (98) | |
| • Specific nutrients: Multivitamin-mineral supplement (99, 100) | ||
| Hearing loss | • Healthy BMI (101)• Dietary patterns: HEI, low-glycemic-index carbohydrates (102, 103) | • Nutrients: Folic acid in individuals with high homocysteine (104) |
| Noncommunicable diseases | ||
| Type 2 diabetes | • Healthy BMI (105, 106)• Dietary patterns: Mediterranean (107, 108), DASH, and HEI (109), plant-based (110), low glycemic index, and low glycemic load (111) | • Lifestyle intervention with weight loss, healthy diet, and exercise (105, 112, 113)• Dietary patterns: Mediterranean, plant based (114, 115), low-carbohydrate (116, 117) |
| Cardiovascular disease | • Healthy BMI, weight loss if obesity (105, 106) | • Weight loss with healthy diet, exercise (105, 118) |
| • Dietary patterns: Mediterranean (107, 119, 120), DASH, and HEI (121, 119, 109), plant-based (119) [not low-carbohydrate (122)] | • Dietary patterns: Mediterranean (123), DASH (124) | |
| Cancers | • Healthy BMI (125, 126) | |
| • Dietary patterns: Mediterranean (107, 127–129, 120), DASH/HEI (109), plant-based diet (130, 131) | ||
| Sleep | ||
| Obstructive sleep apnea | • Healthy BMI (21) | • Weight loss (132) |
| Gastrointestinal | ||
| Chronic constipation | • Specific nutrients: Recommended fiber intake, including coarse wheat bran fiber (133–135) | • Specific nutrients: Coarse wheat bran fiber, adequate fluid (133) |
| Urinary incontinence | • Healthy BMI (136) | • Weight loss (24) |
1
DASH, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Trial; HEI, Healthy Eating Index.