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Bbetween the recent keto, gluten-free, paleo and carnivorous diets, there are plenty of tips to indicate what some people think others should or should not eat. These schemes can be confusing and often conflict. Fortunately, a global report released Thursday in The lancet summarize dietary advice to a few obvious facts. One in five people in the world die prematurely each year, largely because of one of three very bad diets.
The report presents the results of the global burden of disease study, an badessment of how – and the number of people – are dying of disease in countries around the world each year. The authors, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, seek to know how many deaths and years of life can actually be attributed to bad eating habits each year.
Using data estimating dietary habits of 195 countries, the team discovered that in 2017, the number of deaths due to poor nutrition reached 11 million. They also estimated "disability-adjusted life years" or DALYs, a measure for each year lost to "healthy" life per person. Due to a poor diet, 255 million DALYs were lost in 2017.
A "bad diet" can mean many things, but the study allowed the authors to reduce it to three major shortcomings: too much salt, not enough whole grains and not enough fruit. In 2017, high sodium consumption was responsible for 3 million deaths worldwide, low whole grain consumption also resulted in 3 million deaths, and low fruit consumption resulted in 2 million deaths. Other problems include diets that do not contain enough nuts, seeds, vegetables, omega-3 seafood or fiber, and many other components.
Of the top three dietary issues, the leading cause of death was salt.
Salt is responsible for half of the deaths related to food
To study the amount of salt consumed in the world, the team collected data from each country measuring "24-hour urine sodium," or the amount of salt excreted in the urine during a day. To show how this is related to the disease, they first badessed the relationship between urinary sodium and blood pressure (it is well established that too much salt raises blood pressure) and then badociated the increased blood pressure at the risk of disease.
In simple terms, these data revealed that we had too much.
"In 2017, more than half of diet-related deaths and two-thirds of diet-related DALYs were attributable to high sodium consumption," the team writes. Sodium was the main risk factor for East Asian countries such as China, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand, whose cuisine relies heavily on sauces and salt pasta.
The problem with too much salt, according to the American Heart Association, is that the cardiovascular system is very stressful. When you eat a salty meal, the body finds a way to "dilute" the blood so that its salt concentration stays normal, and the easiest way to do that is to hold the water. This means that the volume of blood in the blood increases, putting the vessels and the heart to the test. (Imagine a watering hose turned on, but closed at the end of the nozzle: the hose will stretch uncomfortably as water pressure rises to the next. inside.) Over time, this pressure on the blood vessels will cause them to stiffen, which can cause pressure hypoglycemia, heart attack and stroke.
The authors note that while most countries maintain statistics on the amount of certain foods consumed by citizens, few have statistics on their sodium intake. In the light of data showing how salt can be dangerous, they urge countries to do so – and find ways to limit their use.
Whole grains and fruits
Diets devoid of whole grains have been responsible for 82 million years of healthy life lost, and those who lack fruit, 65 million, wrote the authors. These foods are known to do the opposite of sodium: improve heart health.
The "planetary diet", published in January by a team of 37 international scientists mandated by The lancet and the global non-profit group EAT, explained why whole grains and fruits are so necessary.
"A high intake of whole grains and fiber from grain sources has been badociated with a reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and overall mortality," they wrote. Among the fruits, they noted its essential role in the provision of micronutrients as well as in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
How to eat better
While nutritional deficiencies, which are the main risk factors, vary from one country to another, the report notes that "in the world, the consumption of almost all foods and healthy nutrients was suboptimal. in 2017 ". To solve these problems, it is necessary to change the diet – a change that is not as simple as rewriting a grocery list.
Socio-economic factors, both regional and global, can seriously hamper a person's ability to access foods, whole grains, and lower-sodium fruits, even if they want to. In January of this year, another Lancet The commission pointed to Big Food – the multinational food industry, which includes companies such as PepsiCo, Nestle and Tyson Foods – for interfering with government policies on health and food that could correct these socio-economic inequalities.
For those of us who have the ability to modify our diet, however, the guidelines are clear and are summarized in a "Manifesto of Seven Words" written in 2008 by famed food writer Michael Pollan: "Eat food. Not too much. Mainly plants. "An update of nine words for 2019 could add:" Less salt. "
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