Frailty, a state of increased vulnerability resulting from a decline in function due to the decline across multiple physiological system, often occurs as a result of multiple comorbidities effecting older people from physical reasons such as worsening heart function to psychological reasons, such as depression.
While it is true that our risks of becoming more frail increases as we age, important factors such as our diets can either delay frailty thus improving our ability to function and quality of life as we age, or expedite the frailty process.
Researchers published a recent study in The Journal of Gerontology: Series A about their findings on the effect diets on development of frailty.
For their study, investigators utilized data from the Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort of 1,701 non-frail participants and followed them for an average of 11 years, including reports of diets and depressive symptoms, with frailty reassessment.
They found that pro-inflammatory diets, diets characterized by trans fats, refined carbohydrates, and saturated fats, was linked to increased odds of frailty and appeared somewhat stronger among those with depressive symptoms.
Per author, Dr. Courtney Millar, “This study found that depressive symptoms may exacerbate the development of frailty in response to consuming an inflammatory diet. This suggests that consuming a diet rich in anti-inflammatory compounds (e.g., fiber and plant-based compounds called flavonoids) may help prevent the development of frailty,”
Also adding, “Our exploratory data also suggests that when middle-aged and older adults consume a pro-inflammatory diet, they are more likely to newly develop depressive symptoms and frailty at the same time rather than develop either condition alone.”
As one would expect, the American diet is loaded with pro-inflammatory foods. Good health is something you earn, it’s not a right nor an entitlement, and you certainly will not be purchasing good health at hospital or clinic. One very important and crucial component of earning good health and preserving our functions into our older years is what we choose to eat, and a eating whole-food plant-based diet has been proven to be what is best.
CL Millar et al. Association of pro-inflammatory diet with frailty onset among adults with and without depressive symptoms: results from the Framingham Offspring Study. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A. DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glac140
