When it comes to diets, every kind of eating plan boasts different benefits, whether it’s weight loss, reducing inflammation, or boosting your brain power. Now, new research finds out if a low-carb diet or a low-fat diet promotes longevity.

The study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine looked at the effects of both low-carbohydrate diets and low-fat diets to determine which of the two helped people live a longer life—and the results may surprise you.

A healthy low-carb diet was defined as a high intake of unsaturated fats with limited consumption of low-quality carbohydrates, such as refined grains, added sugars, fruit juice, and starchy vegetables. A healthy low-fat diet included plant-based proteins, high-quality carbohydrates, like whole grains, whole fruit, legumes, and non-starchy vegetables, and limited saturated fat.

After following up around 23.5 years later, researchers found that participants whose eating patterns were most similar to the healthy low-fat diet had an overall mortality rate that was 18% lower than those with eating patterns that least resembled the healthy low-fat diet. On the other hand, participants whose eating patterns were most similar to the healthy low-carb diet had only a slightly lower mortality rate compared to those with eating patterns that least resembled this diet.

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