A healthy, well-rounded diet is like a delicious recipe. Just like one wrong ingredient can turn a Michelin-star meal into a culinary mess, a single dietary oversight can sabotage an otherwise healthy meal plan.
What makes up a healthy diet in the first place? Generally speaking, adopting a Mediterranean approachto 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 as the #1 overall diet for 2022 by U.S. Health News, following the general pillars of a Mediterranean diet will benefit your heart, waistline, and mind. Moreover, recent research showed that eating less meat and more nuts, veggies, legumes, etc. (basically a Mediterranean diet) can add up to 13 years to one's lifespan!
You may have noticed 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 take things a step further and try vegetarianism. While there are plenty of valid reasons to contemplate going vegetarian, research from UC Davis reports most people consider going vegetarian for their health.
Unfortunately, even a vegetarian diet isn't foolproof. Eye-opening new research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has uncovered one particular type of food shown to increase mortality risk even among vegetarians following an otherwise healthy diet.
And don't miss One in Four People Contaminate Their Food When Cooking With This Ingredient, New Study Shows.
Conducted at Loma Linda University, this massive research project (including over 75,000 participants) demonstrated that eating a lot of ultra-processed foodsis associated with increased mortality risk
Importantly, the research also notes that both vegetarians and non-vegetarians eating high amounts of ultra-processed foods "faced a similar proportionate increase in mortality outcomes." In other words, eating ultra-processed foods consistently may lower your lifespan—even if you're avoiding meat
Importantly, the research also notes that both vegetarians and non-vegetarians eating high amounts of ultra-processed foods "faced a similar proportionate increase in mortality outcomes." In other words, eating ultra-processed foods consistently may lower your lifespan—even if you're avoiding meat.
Study authors say greater 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 renal conditions.
Examples of ultra-processed foodsinclude corn chips, apple pie, pretty much anything in the candy aisle, and packaged breads and buns.
Dietary fats are a vital component of the regular diets of nearly all mammals. They collectively comprise one of the three macronutrient food sources — along with protein and carbohydrates — that are eligible for consumption. However, for several decades of the 20th century, millions of human beings fell prey to advertising campaigns and misinformation suggesting that we’d all be better off without fats.
The earliest advocacy for fat-free dieting was actually rooted in sound medical reasoning, and isolated to cases where it might have proven to be legitimately beneficial. In 1929, renowned baby expert, author and reporter Myrtle Meyer Eldred explained in the Des Moines Register how some children find all dietary fats problematic, and how fat-free substitutes might help to alleviate some of that fat-spawned irritation. “Buttermilk made from churned sour milk is entirely fat free, and for those children who find fat in any form irritating, it is a more successful food than skimmed milk, which cannot be made entirely free of fat,” she wrote.
Similarly, in February 1931, the York Dispatch published a column by Dr. Logan Clendening in which a fat-free diet was advised for combating a very different medical malady — inflammation of the gallbladder. “Gallbladder inflammation of the mild catarrhal form is usually amenable to medical care,” Clendening explained. “The arrangement of the diet is based on known facts of physiology — that bile is used in the digestion of fat. A fat-free diet is therefore indicated.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.