A new study found a strong link between a healthy diet and a reduced risk for death from Parkinson’s disease. People with Parkinson’s disease who had the healthiest eating habits before their diagnosis had a 31% lower mortality risk compared to those with the least healthy diets. Those who followed a healthier diet after being diagnosed had a 41% lower mortality risk.

According to Eat This, Not That!, those percentages were even higher for participants in the study who included physical activity in their regular routine. In the population-based cohort study, participants with the healthiest eating and exercise regimen prior to their Parkinson’s diagnosis reduced their all-cause mortality by 49%, while those who adopted healthy habits after diagnosis were 65% less likely to die, compared to those individuals who had the worst pre-and post-diagnosis habits, says Medscape.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, looked at 1,251 men and women with Parkinson’s disease who were previously involved in either the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, which spanned from 1986 to 2012, or the Nurses’ Health Study from 1984 to 2012.

The researchers noted that 942 of the total participants died over the 34-year timeframe after the initial research, according to the National Death Index. The diet and physical activity of the participants was analyzed relative to the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI). This index has a scoring system based on the types and qualities of certain foods.

“We found that diet and physical activity levels before Parkinson’s disease clinical onset were associated with the risk of mortality afterwards, which means lifestyle habits could have a long-term effect on human health,” said Xinyuan Zhang, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, one of the study authors. Zhang added that it is never too late to make positive changes to your diet.

In a supplementary editorial published in JAMA Network Open, Kimberly C. Paul, Ph.D., a UCLA researcher, pointed out that Zhang’s findings did not make it clear whether positive lifestyle changes actually reduce the progression of Parkinson’s disease symptoms, or are helpful in managing other chronic conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol, in older adults.

Paul added that the principle of the Alternative Healthy Eating Index is that variety is important.

“It is important to include foods from a wide variety of sources such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, legumes, fish and fats in moderation,” she says. “If this sounds familiar, it may be because this is very similar to the Mediterranean diet, which has also been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.”

Dr. Gabe Mirkin, a noted expert on lifestyle choices for better health, and the author of The Healthy Heart Miracle, notes that since we have no drugs to cure Parkinson’s disease, paying attention to the results of the study can have an impact on its outcome.

“The same anti-inflammatory lifestyle factors that help protect you from heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and several cancers may also help delay the ravages and progression of Parkinson’s disease,” he says.