Women who eat the 'right' carbs in midlife are more likely to age in good health
Women who eat mostly unprocessed carbs -- like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and fiber -- and avoid refined carbohydrates in midlife may be more likely to reach age 70 in good health, according to a new study.
The study, published Friday in JAMA Network Open, spanned more than 30 years and followed over 47,000 women who completed detailed food and health questionnaires every two years.
Researchers used these responses to track diet patterns and assess healthy aging outcomes later in life.
Healthy aging meant reaching age 70 without a diagnosis for any of 11 major chronic diseases. It also meant no memory loss, mental health problems or physical limitations.
"Dietary fiber and high-quality carbohydrates are really good at preventing chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, some forms of cancer," Andres Ardisson Korat, the study's lead author and a scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, told ABC News. "But the novel finding of our paper is that it really affects all aspects of healthy aging."
High-quality carbohydrates are minimally processed, nutrient-dense and come from natural sources that are low in added sugars, Ardisson Korat explained.
Simple or refined carbs are often referred to as "bad carbs." They include highly processed foods that are often high in sugar and stripped of all fiber and nutrients such as white bread, pastries, chips and junk food.
Women in the study who regularly ate high-quality carbohydrates were 30% more likely to maintain their physical abilities and mental sharpness as they aged. Swapping out fat, animal protein and refined carbs -- such as white rice and sugary cereals -- for whole grains, fruits and vegetables offered even greater protection against disease and decline.
The study didn't prove that "good" carbs directly cause healthy aging, only that they are associated with better health for the women as they entered their golden years. But the researchers did take into account other key factors like exercise, weight, smoking, and overall diet.
The study also isn't without limitations.
Most participants were well-educated nurses who tended to eat more high-quality carbohydrates than the average U.S. adult, which may make the findings harder to apply to the general population.
Both the diet data and health outcomes are more than a decade old, so the study doesn't reflect more recent trends in eating habits or advances in detecting age-related conditions -- an area future research could explore.
But in a time of growing consumption of processed foods, Ardisson Korat said that this study emphasized the importance of eating the "right" carbs for a longer, healthier life.
"Seeking out the consumption of whole fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains really goes a long way in terms of improving carbohydrate quality," he said. "This is helpful for not only the chronic disease component but all components of being a healthy, older adult."
Dr. Zakia Jabarkheel is a family medicine resident physician at Emory University and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
