AHEI is not a diet - it is an index that is calculated; can't format the text but I used ** to try to emphasize his words when he wrote,
"Specifically for the dietary data, the participants reported their intake of 130 items at baseline (in 1986) and then every 4 years, from which eight dietary pattern scores were computed (and adherence by quintiles)
**along with the **calculated** Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) based on 11 foods: fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, alcohol, red and processed meat, whole grains, sodium, trans fats and long-chain n-3 (omega-3) fatty acids."**
I see your description of the AHEI in the paragraph above the list, but that description just lists the categories of foods evaluated, not proportions. Then the list you give of foods with effects indicated by colors does indicate the direction of effect of many more categories. But is there such a thing as the "AHEI diet"?
I really appreciated this article. There are so many things not in our control, but a healthy diet definitely is, and this article is encouraging in reinforcing how doable it is—not perfectly, but at least reasonably well. You may be amused to know that I actually thought of you on this topic yesterday. I really enjoy having something on the sweeter side after dinner, so I do my absolute best to make it fruit. Last night, we were out of fruit, but instead of going for the ice cream we had on hand, I went out and bought us a bag of clementines. Thank you for the inspiration!
For cheap produce consider supporting your community supported ag (CSA) program. At $15-45 per week you'll receive ultra-fresh fruits and veggies from a local farmer. Getting a weekly delivery of delicious plants will help keep you on the green side of the AHEI.
Eric- I just finished reading the Diet section of your Super Ager book - an excellent review consistent with my findings designing the programs for the wellness/lifestyle company where I was previously the CMO.
I am puzzled by the estimated daily caloric needs amount you cite in the chart on pg 27. 3,544 cal/day is lot for anyone. I tried reproducing what a 70 year old, BMI 23.6, very active person would require using that tool and come up with 2,934 cal/day.
Is there a typo in the book or is one or your inputs skewing the output towards a higher calorie need?
Hmmm I’m 70 and have slowly modified my diet since age 58. In 2019 I went low carb no sugar. I now moderate processed carbs and eat low sugar. I am quite healthy with minor GI issues though I have gallstones and fatty liver and borderline high cholesterol. I was dx with osteoporosis two years ago - numbers remain stable. I take no medication except vitamins. I walk 5-6k steps everyday. It’s hard to get diet right. Intermittent fast and try to eat healthy. I’m 131 lbs and 5’3. I tend to gain weight in midsection hence fatty liver. No alcohol. Quit smoking in 1988.
Boy am I confused. Or maybe reading it wrong... but in the chart with the multi-colored markers, I see where the AHEI acronym scores the highest (ie, healthiest.) . In the same chart, as I read it, the hPDI (healthful plant-based diet) scores the lowest (UNhealthiest) ??? True??
What I needed was a diet against sarcoid. being a lacto egg veggie occasional chicken and turkey, for thirty years didn't do it. As a youngster I ate horse meat **and later beef. But by 30 I had moved off mammal flesh. So now I've got congestive heart failure (enlarged heart) and about 10% lung function due to too many granulomas. I think my Biden syndrome is probably normal and I'm five years older than he is. The best prognosis I was able to get out of my many specialists is I'll live to film the total solar in Zaragoza next year.
the top diet, AHEI, is not among the acronyms you listed as the "8 diets' you listed above that. What is the AHEI?
AHEI is not a diet - it is an index that is calculated; can't format the text but I used ** to try to emphasize his words when he wrote,
"Specifically for the dietary data, the participants reported their intake of 130 items at baseline (in 1986) and then every 4 years, from which eight dietary pattern scores were computed (and adherence by quintiles)
**along with the **calculated** Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) based on 11 foods: fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, alcohol, red and processed meat, whole grains, sodium, trans fats and long-chain n-3 (omega-3) fatty acids."**
Yes, exactly. Thanks for replying to Dr Light
I wondered about that, too.
I see your description of the AHEI in the paragraph above the list, but that description just lists the categories of foods evaluated, not proportions. Then the list you give of foods with effects indicated by colors does indicate the direction of effect of many more categories. But is there such a thing as the "AHEI diet"?
No. it is just a computation, an index. Sorry for any confusion I had hoped to preempt.
I really appreciated this article. There are so many things not in our control, but a healthy diet definitely is, and this article is encouraging in reinforcing how doable it is—not perfectly, but at least reasonably well. You may be amused to know that I actually thought of you on this topic yesterday. I really enjoy having something on the sweeter side after dinner, so I do my absolute best to make it fruit. Last night, we were out of fruit, but instead of going for the ice cream we had on hand, I went out and bought us a bag of clementines. Thank you for the inspiration!
love it!
For cheap produce consider supporting your community supported ag (CSA) program. At $15-45 per week you'll receive ultra-fresh fruits and veggies from a local farmer. Getting a weekly delivery of delicious plants will help keep you on the green side of the AHEI.
Eric- I just finished reading the Diet section of your Super Ager book - an excellent review consistent with my findings designing the programs for the wellness/lifestyle company where I was previously the CMO.
I am puzzled by the estimated daily caloric needs amount you cite in the chart on pg 27. 3,544 cal/day is lot for anyone. I tried reproducing what a 70 year old, BMI 23.6, very active person would require using that tool and come up with 2,934 cal/day.
Is there a typo in the book or is one or your inputs skewing the output towards a higher calorie need?
Hmmm I’m 70 and have slowly modified my diet since age 58. In 2019 I went low carb no sugar. I now moderate processed carbs and eat low sugar. I am quite healthy with minor GI issues though I have gallstones and fatty liver and borderline high cholesterol. I was dx with osteoporosis two years ago - numbers remain stable. I take no medication except vitamins. I walk 5-6k steps everyday. It’s hard to get diet right. Intermittent fast and try to eat healthy. I’m 131 lbs and 5’3. I tend to gain weight in midsection hence fatty liver. No alcohol. Quit smoking in 1988.
Boy am I confused. Or maybe reading it wrong... but in the chart with the multi-colored markers, I see where the AHEI acronym scores the highest (ie, healthiest.) . In the same chart, as I read it, the hPDI (healthful plant-based diet) scores the lowest (UNhealthiest) ??? True??
What I needed was a diet against sarcoid. being a lacto egg veggie occasional chicken and turkey, for thirty years didn't do it. As a youngster I ate horse meat **and later beef. But by 30 I had moved off mammal flesh. So now I've got congestive heart failure (enlarged heart) and about 10% lung function due to too many granulomas. I think my Biden syndrome is probably normal and I'm five years older than he is. The best prognosis I was able to get out of my many specialists is I'll live to film the total solar in Zaragoza next year.
**The best dog food available.
If you hope to fix our problem of poor nutrition and especially obesity, you need to understand the nature of the problem: https://carbsyndrome.com/obesity-it-is-all-in-your-head/