Study: Following government food pyramid reduces deaths in women

April 25, 2000
Web posted at: 4:59 p.m. EDT (2059 GMT)

In this story: Good food over supplements Use common sense RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Laura Lane

(WebMD) -- Americans interested in good nutrition have been hit with a lot of bad news lately. It seems fiber may not prevent colon cancer, and vitamins C and E might not live up to their disease-preventing reputations.

If supplements disappoint, what can a health-conscious person do? Listen to mom and the federal government. A new study done on women indicates that following the Department of Agriculture's Food Guide Pyramid -- eating mostly fruits, vegetables, grains and lean meats -- can reduce the risk of death by about 30 percent.

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The study surveyed 42,000 women about their normal diets, then tracked them for six years. Those who followed the USDA Food Pyramid most closely were, on average, 30 percent less likely to die from any cause than women who didn't follow the guidelines, according to findings published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Moreover, women with the most healthful diets were 40 percent less likely to die of cancer and 33 percent less likely to die of heart disease than women with the worst diets.

"That's pretty significant. Clearly there's room for women in this country to make more healthful dietary changes," says Dr. Arthur Schatzkin, a co-author of the study and chief of the Nutritional Epidemiology Branch at the National Cancer Institute.

This research is among the first in the United States to examine overall diet rather than home in on one vitamin or nutrient. Nutritionists say they hope it will motivate Americans to turn away from trendy diets or wonder supplements and give the food pyramid a second look. Simply put: Eat at least five servings of vegetables and fruits a day, six half-cup servings of grains such as wheat bread, rice or pasta, and just two or three small servings of lean meat and low-fat dairy products.

The federal dietary guidelines provide a "nutrient soup, nature's balance of all the nutrients we need," says registered dietician Gail Frank, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. Yet "there's always interest in looking for a magic bullet, a megadose of a vitamin or mineral or a sexy new diet. Eating by the Food Guide Pyramid doesn't sell."

While the results appear significant, researcher Schatzkin says that the study doesn't definitively prove that good nutrition alone can help women live longer. "It may be other lifestyle factors, but the diet's role is certainly very provocative," he says. Women who had the healthiest diets in the study also tended to be somewhat more educated and physically active and to be nonsmokers.

Clinical trials such as the Women's Health Initiative, an ongoing 15-year study of 161,000 women, should provide more information. In that study, thousands of women are eating low-fat diets under the direction of dietitians. "That'll help to give a whole new dimension of information about whether dietary changes can improve health," Schatzkin says.

It's well known that diet influences health, says Dr. Frank Hu, a researcher with the long-running Harvard Nurses' Health Study, which has produced numerous published reports on nutrition and disease. The problem is that scientists have yet to compile enough evidence to draw conclusions, and many studies are too brief to be definitive. Consumers are often confused by contradictory results.

For example, Hu asks, did last week's startling study on fiber really prove that fiber doesn't prevent colon cancer? All the patients had at least one polyp before they began their high-fiber diet. Perhaps the study was too short, or perhaps one must eat a lot of fiber from childhood on to reap health benefits.

Until scientists work out the fine points, it's common sense that healthy eating helps build a healthy body. And while mom's you-are-what-you-eat mantra may not excite you like a best-selling diet book, its disease-fighting power is certainly worth tapping into.

Healthy eating is "a message that we can undress and redress and make sexy," says Gail Frank of the dietetic association. "Because (good nutrition) increases longevity, that has to be the most dramatic message and the most powerful goal we can have."

© 2000 Healtheon/WebMD. All rights reserved.

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Action list for fruits and vegetables
Action list for whole grains
Nutrition and your health: Nutrition guidelines for Americans

Journal of the American Medical Association
National Cancer Institute
USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
Interactive Healthy Eating Index

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