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Even if you're a vegetarian, this type of food will raise your mortality risk.

This is for you!

By NimeshaPublished 2 years ago 5 min read
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A well-balanced, healthy diet is like a delectable recipe. A single nutritional error can destroy an otherwise healthy meal plan, just as one erroneous ingredient can turn a Michelin-star feast into a culinary disaster.

In the first place, what constitutes a healthy diet? In general, following a Mediterranean diet that emphasizes plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains while avoiding red meat and processed meals appears to be the way to go.

Following the fundamental pillars of a Mediterranean diet, which have been named the overall diet for 2022 by U.S. Health News, can boost your heart, waistline, and mind. Furthermore, recent study has shown that eating less meat and more nuts, vegetables, legumes, and other plant-based foods (essentially a Mediterranean diet) can extend one's life by up to 13 years!

You may have noticed that cutting back on meat, particularly red and processed meat, is a repeating topic when it comes to healthy eating. Many people who want to improve their diets go even further and try vegetarianism. While there are many good reasons to consider becoming a vegetarian, according to UC Davis research, most people do it for health reasons.

Even a vegetarian diet isn't without its flaws. A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition identified one type of food that has been shown to raise mortality risk even in vegetarians who eat a balanced diet.

Also see One in every four people contaminates their food when cooking with this ingredient, according to a new study.

Ultra-processed is ultra-deadly

This big research project (with over 75,000 participants) was conducted at Loma Linda University and found that eating a lot of ultra-processed meals is linked to an elevated death risk.

Importantly, both vegetarians and non-vegetarians who ate a lot of ultra-processed meals "had a similar proportionate rise in mortality outcomes," according to the study. In other words, even if you forgo meat, consuming ultra-processed foods on a regular basis may shorten your life.

Increased intake of ultra-processed foods was linked to higher all-cause mortality, as well as death from respiratory (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), neurological (dementia, Parkinson's), and renal disorders, according to the study's authors.

Corn chips, apple pie, just much anything in the confectionery section, and packaged breads and buns are all examples of ultra-processed foods.

Bad vegetarians & good non-vegetarians

In other words, both vegetarians and non-vegetarians share the same mortality denominator: ultra-processed meals. With this in mind, the researchers believe their findings show that being a "terrible vegetarian or a good non-vegetarian" is conceivable.

We tend to think of all vegetarians as healthy eaters, but these studies show that nutrition is more complicated than that.

In a university announcement, research author Gary Fraser, MBChB, PhD, a professor at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine and School of Public Health, said, "Our study addresses the topic of what can make a vegetarian diet beneficial or unhealthy." "With the exception of red meat, it appears that the proportion of ultra-processed foods in someone's diet is really more important in terms of mortality than the proportion of animal-derived foods they eat."

The research

Researchers set out to investigate the impact of two dietary determinants on mortality: the proportion of one's diet made up of ultra-processed foods against less processed foods, and the proportion of one's diet made up of animal-based foods (meats, eggs, dairy) versus plant-based foods.

The researchers were able to analyze the mortality effects of each dietary component (ultra-processed foods, meat) in isolation thanks to this novel approach.

As previously stated, this study included 77,437 male and female participants. Each subject was recruited from Seventh-day Adventist churches and completed a meal frequency questionnaire with over 200 questions. Researchers were able to learn about each person's daily diet thanks to the surveys.

Each participant also supplied additional health and demographic data, such as their educational level, smoking habits, sex, race, marital status, exercise habits, and BMI.

The study authors then evaluated each subject's reported medical and demographic data, as well as their mortality statistics, for an average of seven and a half years (provided via the National Death Index). After that, a statistical model was applied to examine each variable separately, resulting in a cause-specific mortality study.

Researchers found that those who consume about half of their total calories from ultra-processed meals have a 14 percent higher mortality rate than those who consume only 12.5 percent of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods.

Avoid red meat, too

What conclusions did the researchers draw about meat and mortality? Surprisingly, there was no link discovered between mortality and total animal-based food consumption.

However, when the LLU team divided animal-based foods and meats into several groups, one major offender emerged: red meat.

When compared to consuming no red meat at all, a modest (approximately 1.5-ounce daily) intake of red meat was related with a statistically significant 8 percent increase in death risk.

No one is claiming that eating healthy all of the time is simple. We all need a cheat meal or an unhealthy snack now and then. You don't have to completely avoid ultra-processed meals and red meat all of the time, but you shouldn't eat them on a regular basis.

Professor Fraser says, "If you're interested in living longer or to your full potential, you'd be prudent to avoid a diet high in ultra-processed foods and replace them with less processed or unprocessed ones." "Simultaneously, limit your intake of red meat. That's all there is to it."

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