A healthy and complete diet is like a delicious recipe. Just as one wrong ingredient can turn a Michelin-starred meal into a culinary disaster, a single dietary oversight can sabotage an otherwise delicious meal. healthy eating plan.
What constitutes a healthy diet in the first place? Generally speaking, adopting a mediterranean approach to eating that emphasizes lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, as well as minimal meats and processed foods, seems to be the way to go.
Ranked #1 Overall Diet for 2022 by US Health Newsfollowing the general pillars of a Mediterranean diet will benefit your heart, waistY mind. Besides, recent research showed that eating less meat and more nuts, vegetables, legumes, etc. (basically a Mediterranean diet) can add up to 13 years to life.
You may have noticed that a recurring theme when it comes to healthy eating is cutting back on meat, especially red meat and processed meat. Many people looking to revamp their diets go a step further and try vegetarianism. as long as there is lots of valid reasons to contemplate becoming a vegetarian, investigate of UC Davis reports that most people consider becoming a vegetarian for their health.
Unfortunately, even a vegetarian diet is not foolproof. Revealing new research published in the American journal of clinical nutrition has discovered a particular type of food that increases the risk of mortality even among vegetarians who follow a healthy diet.
and don’t get lost One in four people contaminate their food when cooking with this ingredient, a new study shows.
Ultra processed is ultra deadly
Conducted at Loma Linda University, this massive research project (including over 75,000 participants) showed that eating a lot ultra-processed foods is associated with an increased risk of mortality.
Importantly, the research also notes that both vegetarians and non-vegetarians who ate large amounts of ultra-processed foods “faced a similar proportional increase in mortality outcomes.” In other words, consistently eating ultra-processed foods can shorten your life expectancy, even if you’re avoiding meat.
The study authors say that higher consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with higher all-cause mortality, as well as mortality related to respiratory (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), neurological (dementia, Parkinson’s) and kidney conditions.
Examples of ultra-processed foods they include corn chips, apple pie, just about anything in the candy aisle, and packaged breads and rolls.
Bad vegetarians and good non-vegetarians
Put another way, ultra-processed foods are the common denominator of mortality between vegetarians and non-vegetarians. With this in mind, the researchers posit that their work illustrates that it is quite possible to be a “bad vegetarian or a good non-vegetarian.”
Socially, we tend to view all vegetarians as healthy eaters, but these findings indicate that nutrition is not that simple.
“Our study addresses the question of what may or may not make a vegetarian diet healthy,” says the study’s author. Gary FraserMBChB, PhD, professor, Loma Linda University School of Medicine and School of Public Health, in a college throw. “It appears that the proportion of ultra-processed foods in a person’s diet is actually more important with respect to mortality than the proportion of animal foods they eat, with the exception of red meat.”
The investigation
From the beginning, the researchers set out to examine the Independent impact on mortality of two dietary factors: the proportion of the diet made up of ultra-processed foods compared to less processed foods AND the proportion of the diet made up of foods of animal origin (meats, eggs, dairy) compared to vegetarian food.
This unique approach allowed the research team to examine the mortality implications of each dietary component (ultra-processed foods, meat) in a vacuum.
As mentioned above, 77,437 participants (both men and women) participated in this study. Recruited from Seventh-day Adventist churches, each subject filled out a food frequency questionnaire with more than 200 foods. The surveys gave the researchers an idea of each person’s daily diet.
Each participant also provided additional demographic and health information about themselves, such as level of education attained, smoking habits, gender, race, marital status, exercise habits, and BMI.
Then, over an average period of seven and a half years, the study authors analyzed the medical and demographic data submitted by each subject in combination with their mortality data (provided through the National Death Index). A statistical model was then used to assess each variable independently, ultimately producing a cause-specific mortality analysis.
When the researchers modified their statistical model to focus solely on ultra-processed food intake, regardless of meat-eating habits or age, they found that people who get about half of their total calories from ultra-processed foods experience a 14% increase in mortality compared to others who only get about 12.5% of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods.
Also avoid red meat
What did the researchers notice regarding meat and mortality? Surprisingly, no association was found between mortality and dietary intake of total foods of animal origin.
That said, when the LLU team separated animal foods and meats into specific categories, one offender in particular became apparent: Red meat.
A statistically significant 8% increased risk of mortality was associated with a moderate intake (approximately 1.5 ounces daily) of red meat compared with no red meat at all.
Nobody says that eating clean all the time is easy. Every once in a while, we all need a cheat meal or unhealthy snack. You don’t have to strictly avoid ultra-processed foods and red meat all the time, but don’t make a habit of eating these foods on a daily basis.
“If you’re interested in living longer or reaching your full potential, you’d be wise to avoid a diet full of ultra-processed foods and replace them with less processed or unprocessed foods,” Professor Fraser concludes. “At the same time, avoid eating a lot of red meat. It’s as simple as that.”
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