The 25-year study is published in The Lancet Public Heath, with researchers claiming that people who consumed 50 – 55% of their energy from carbohydrates had a slightly lower risk of death compared with the low and high-carb groups.
According to Kirsty Bamping, registered dietician and the British Dietetic Association spokesperson, carbohydrates are a necessary component in all people’s diets, regardless of whether they eat meat or not.
“The government’s healthy eating advice recommends that just over a third of your diet should be made up of starchy foods, such as potatoes, bread, rice and pasta, and another third should be fruit and vegetables.
"This means that over half of your daily calorie intake should come from starchy foods, fruit and vegetables. This applies whether you are a meat eater, vegetarian, or vegan.”
NHS guidelines recommend that individuals eat at least 260g of carbohydrates a day.
Researchers estimated that from the age of 50, people in the moderate carb group were expected to live for another 33 years on average, which is four more years than people who got less than 30% of their energy from carbs; 2 years more than the 30–40% group; and 1 year more than the 65+% group.
Carbohydrates included vegetables, fruit and sugar, but the main source of them was starchy foods, such as potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and cereals.
They found that eating more beef, lamb, pork, chicken and cheese in place of carbs was linked with a slight increased risk of death.
However, replacing carbohydrates with more plant-based proteins and fats, such as legumes and nuts was actually found to slightly reduce the risk of mortality.