Eating 1 hot dog takes 35 minutes of life, study finds

Researchers this week released a nutritional index aimed at informing guidelines and helping Americans adopt healthier, more eco-friendly diets. The index ranked foods based on minutes gained or lost of healthy living per serving, with processed meats and sugary drinks among the biggest offenders.

The results included more than 5,000 foods in the American diet classified by health burden and environmental impacts.

“We use the results to inform marginal food substitutions, which are realistic and achievable,” the authors wrote. “We are finding that small, targeted substitutions at the food level can provide compelling nutritional benefits and reduced environmental impact.”

Foods studied ranged from 74 minutes lost to 80 minutes gained per serving. Sugary drinks, hot dogs, burgers, and breakfast sandwiches were linked with the most wasted healthy living minutes, while fruits, non-starch and mixed vegetables, ready-to-eat cereals, and grains cooked were associated with the greatest gains.

Specifically, the researchers found that consuming an 85 gram serving of chicken wings resulted in a loss of 3.3 minutes of life due to sodium and harmful trans fatty acids, while a hot -dog with beef on a bun resulted in a loss of 36 minutes “largely due to the detrimental effect of processed meat,” the study authors wrote. Plus, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were associated with a 33-minute increase.

Foods like salted peanuts, baked salmon, and rice with beans were also associated with gains between 10 and 15 minutes.

Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, published results in the journal Nature, detailing their new nutritional index for health, building on the study GBD of 2016 on Dietary Risk Components and Adverse Health Effects from Certain Foods.

“Previous studies on healthy or sustainable diets have often narrowed their results down to a discussion of plant-based foods versus foods of animal origin, the latter being branded as the least nutritious and sustainable,” it reads. in the study. “Although we find that plant-based foods generally work best, there is considerable variation within plant and animal-based foods that should be recognized before such generalized inferences are substantiated.”

Researchers also categorized foods based on their nutritional and environmental impact, or shorter-term global warming. Healthy and environmentally sustainable foods included nuts, fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and some seafood, while foods with low nutritional value and production linked to high environmental impacts ( c. -salmon feeds and some salmon dishes In contrast, most poultry, dairy, egg feed and cooked cereals fell to an intermediate zone.

“Consistent with previous studies, this suggests that nutritionally beneficial foods do not always generate the lowest environmental impacts and vice versa,” wrote the study authors.

Finally, the researchers found that swapping 10% of the daily calorie consumption of beef and processed meat for fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and some seafood could provide significant health benefits, the team citing a saving of around 48 minutes per person per day and a 33% smaller Food Carbon Footprint.