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Diet and healthy ageing

corresponding

DEMOSTHENES PANAGIOTAKOS
Harokopio University, School of Health Science and Education, Department of Nutrition – Dietetics, Athens, Greece
Member of AgroFood industry Hi Tech Scientific Advisory Board

According to the World Health Organization the proportion of people over the age of 60 is growing faster than any other age group (1); it has been reported that from 1970 to 2025 a growth of 223 percent is expected in older adults. During the past years, health care scientists have examined ways to improve well-being and to prevent disease at every stage of life, and particularly cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer (2, 3). It is now widely appreciated that the health status of the population is the result of interactions between genes and a number of environmental factors. However, human genetic profile has not changed over the past 10000 years, whereas major changes have been made in food supply and habits, as well as in energy expenditure (4). Several foods have been associated with morbidity and mortality. Specifically, many epidemiologic studies during the past decades have demonstrated that the consumption of fish oil protects against the development of CVD and various types of cancers (5, 6). However, current research tends to evaluate diet holistically, i.e., through the evaluation of dietary patterns, instead of single foods and nutrients. The role of dietary pattern ...