Ever hear a news segment or read an article that makes a certain found sound like the equivalent of eating arsenic? Always leave me wondering, “well, what can I eat!” This is one of the first studies telling us “hey don’t eat this, eat that” instead of “don’t eat this or that, or that.” Quite refreshing in a world that tends to demonize every food under the sun
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows just how strong the link is between cardiometabolic diseases (heart disease, stroke, diabetes) and the food we put in our bodies. Researchers found 10 key areas where people with cardiometabolic diseases fall short:
- Decreased nuts and seeds intake
- Decreased fruit intake
- Decreased vegetable intake
- Decreased whole grain intake
- Decreased fish intake
- Decreased vegetable oil intake
- Increased sodium intake
- Increased processed food intake
- Increased sugar and sugar-sweetened beverage intake
- Increased intake of processed red meat
Using various risk-assessment models, researchers concluded that almost 50% of 702,308 deaths due to cardiometabolic diseases were DIRECTLY related to these 10 risk factors. One of the most interesting factors of this study is that it didn’t only look at what not to eat, but included foods commonly omitted from the diet that are essential to heart health. “And, it wasn’t just too much ‘bad’ in the diet — much of the burden was caused by too few healthy foods, which should be emphasized,” according to Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., one of the study’s lead researchers.
Moving forward, try getting more fish, nuts and seeds, fruits, veggies, and vegetables oils in the diet and less sodium, processed foods, sugar, and processed red meat. Don’t become another statistic and get on your way to becoming a healthier, stronger, and more pain-free human.