Eating healthy can be like trying to solve a mystery. What foods are best for us? Should we ditch red meat and whole grains or embrace them?
A recent study spanning 80 countries across the globe, published in the European Heart Journal, throws a fresh perspective on this topic.
What We Knew and What We’ve Learnt
Fruits, vegetables, dairy (preferably full-fat), nuts, legumes, and fish have always been hailed as superstars of a healthy diet.
The study confirms that they can indeed help lower the risk of heart disease and early death.
The twist, though, comes with red meat and whole grains. It seems their presence or absence doesn’t affect the health benefits too much.
Time to Shift the Spotlight
Dr. Andrew Mente, one of the researchers, suggests a change in focus.
He points out that instead of being obsessed with cutting fat and saturated fat, we should put more emphasis on adding “protective foods” such as nuts, fish, and dairy to our diet.
He explains that consuming up to two servings a day of dairy, primarily whole-fat, can fit into a healthy diet.
This approach aligns with recent research showing that whole-fat dairy may guard against high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome.
Crafting the Healthy Diet Score
The research team created a diet score based on six food types linked to long life.
This diet includes daily servings of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and fish, and weekly servings of dairy products. The healthier the diet, the higher the score.
To test the health outcomes linked to this diet, they worked with a population of 147,642 people from 21 countries.
The study considered factors like age, physical activity, and income that might influence the results.
Crunching the Numbers
The average diet score among the participants was 2.95. During a follow-up period of 9.3 years, the study recorded 15,707 deaths and 40,764 heart-related events.
A healthier diet (score of 5 or more) was associated with a 30% lower risk of death and 18% lower chances of heart disease, among other benefits.
These associations were confirmed in other studies, covering a total of 96,955 patients from 70 countries.
Not Just About the Wealthy
The fascinating aspect of this study, as per Dr. Mente, was its broad representation. It included high-, middle-, and low-income countries.
The link between the recommended diet and health outcomes was found in generally healthy people and patients with heart diseases or diabetes, across all income levels.
The most significant connections were in areas with the poorest diet quality, like South Asia, China, and Africa, where the calorie intake was low and mainly from refined carbohydrates.
This led the researchers to suggest that undernutrition, not overnutrition, might be a significant factor in many adult deaths and heart diseases worldwide.
Time for Change
In response to these findings, Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian from Tufts University, US, called for a reevaluation of guidelines recommending avoiding whole-fat dairy products.
He stressed the urgent need for updates in national nutrition guidelines, government tax policies, and food-based healthcare interventions to match the current scientific understanding. In his words, “millions of lives depend on it.”
So, next time you plan your meals, remember it’s not just about cutting fat. It’s about striking the right balance with a variety of healthy foods.
If you care about nutrition, please read studies about breakfast linked to better blood vessel health, and drinking too much coffee could harm people with high blood pressure.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about unhealthy habits that may increase high blood pressure risk, and results showing plant-based protein foods may help reverse diabetes.
The study was published in European Heart Journal.
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