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Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and physical resilience in older adults: The Seniors-ENRICA Cohort
As the evidence investigating the links between physical resilience and dietary intake remains lacking, Sotos-Prieto et al. (2021) conducted their study to look at the impact of dietary patterns, in particular, fidelity to the Mediterranean diet, on physical resilience, using data from a population of 1301 participants (60 or more years of age) of the Seniors-ENRICA (The Study on Nutrition and Cardiovascular Risk in Spain). The participants submitted a Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener and the Alternate Healthy Eating Index 2010 to evaluate their dietary fidelity, while their health was evaluated at baseline and during follow-up via a 52-item health Deficit Accumulation Index (DAI), which involved investigating four domains, namely physical and cognitive function, self-rated health/vitality, mental health, and morbidity. Finally, the physical resilience of participants was inferred as aggregating a lower DAI score than expected values according to age, irrespective of exposure status to acute and chronic stressors. Analysis of the results revealed that Mediterranean Diet fidelity was linked to higher chances of increased and maintained physical resilience, as evident in 610 participants observed over 3.2 years. This was further corroborated by observing how the individuals in the highest group of Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener scores demonstrated higher odds of physical resilience compared to those in the lowest adherence group. The authors conclude that Mediterranean diet fidelity is linked to higher odds of physical resilience. [NPID: Cohort study, Mediterranean diet, older adults, physical resilience]
Year: 2021
