Harvard Diet Can Help You Live Longer

Talk about living longer, a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine says, it could be achievable. The study published in 2023, titled Healthy Eating Patterns and Risk of Total and Cause-Specific Mortality, found that people who followed specific diets were 20% less likely to die. This study went on for 36 years and found that certain diets lower risks of cancer, respiratory diseases and cardiovascular diseases. The diet patterns are: The alternate Mediterranean Diet, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (MyPlate Diet), the Healthful Plat-Based Diet Index, and the Alternate Healthy Eating Index, also known as the 'Harvard Diet'. The last one is what garnered the most attention.

Experts have pointed out that Harvard Diet is almost identical to the MyPlate Diet, which was developed by the USDA in June 2011. However, there are some differences between the two.

While both diets recommends that half of your plate must have fruits and vegetables, a quarter must be grain and another quarter must be protein, the Harvard Diet however advises a larger proportion of vegetables versus fruits in the diet.

Another key difference is in the fat and dairy recommendation, which the MyPlate recommends dairy with each meal, the Harvard Diet replaces milk with water, tea, or coffee. This is because of the higher prevalence of lactose intolerance in the US. Furthermore, replacing dairy would also promote avoiding sugary beverages.

The Harvard Diet also recommends moderate amounts of healthy fats, which is the plant-based fats like plant oils from olive, soy, peanut, corn, and sunflower. It also recommends avoiding trans fat.

The benefits include lowering the risk of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension. Experts say that weight loss too could be an added benefit.

This happens because the body is consuming less processed foods and saturated fats, which are linked to such health conditions.

Experts have also noted that the Harvard Diet is more of a 'plan' than a 'diet'. This is because the word 'diet' has a bad reputation to it, whenever people hear the word 'diet', they automatically think about quick weight loss. Therefore, to promote healthy eating habits, experts say to think of this as an eating plan rather than a diet.

This way of eating, experts suggest will ensure that your body is getting all the important nutrition it needs including healthy carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, healthy fats, and phytochemicals, which being low in cholesterol, saturated fats, and sodium.

This diet was originally compiled by experts and researchers at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, in collaboration with Harvard Health Publication, which is what the name also suggests. As per Lilian Cheung, a lecturer of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, this diet could prevent major chronic diseases and "this way of eating [cab]...be helpful to prevent those diseases that are common in America and the world".