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The World's Leading Cause of Death? A Bad Diet (nbc12.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the going-against-the-grains dept.

An anonymous reader writes: "A bad diet kills more people globally than tobacco," reports Bloomberg, citing a new study funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and published Wednesday in Lancet. The study argues that poor diets led to 11 million deaths in 2017 -- and that more than half of them were caused by just three main dietary factors: low consumption of whole grains, low consumption of fruits, and high intake of sodium.

In fact, bad diets are responsible for more deaths worldwide than any other cause, the researchers concluded. "We found that improvement of diet could potentially prevent one in every five deaths globally."

8 of 195 comments (clear)

  1. Re:correlation by Tranzistors · · Score: 3, Insightful

    On one hand we have study in the Lancet, on the other we have:

    I really doubt that high sodium is the biggest killer, for example.

    I mean, both sides are equally valuable.

  2. I don't think so... by qzzpjs · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The correct answer is time. Doesn't matter what you eat, you're not going to escape it...

    1. Re:I don't think so... by qzzpjs · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'm saying that everyone is going to die some day. It doesn't matter what you eat, how you exercise, etc. You could be the healthiest eater in the world and you're still going to die at some point. You might last a few more years than others but you're not going to stop it by changing your diet.

      Articles like this try and give you the idea that if you do this or that, you're going to prevent your death. This one actually says a better diet will prevent 1 in 5 deaths globally. I'm pretty sure all 5 out of 5 are going to die at some point. It's just a matter of time.

      Maybe if the article gave a chart of life expectencies of people based on diets or lifestyles it might be more accurate. But claiming that your death will be prevented is just wrong.

  3. Re:correlation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't know why it isn't more obvious to people that sodium is a confounding variable, not a causal one.

    It breaks my heart, because my dad, at 59, just had a stroke (first one). It wasn't a bad stroke, and he is fine. However, now he has to listen to the doctors. And, I just know they aren't giving him a good diet for his heart. They just don't know any better. Drink lots of nutrasweet? No problem. Better stop eating eggs...

  4. Um, lots of folks enjoy excersise by rsilvergun · · Score: 3, Insightful

    when they're not working 50+ hours a week and taking care of kids the remaining hours.

    As a people we're massively overworked. We use soda & junk food for the quick bursts of energy needed to get through the day. This has been and is getting worse because while food is widely available good paying jobs are not.

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  5. Once you put on weight it is permanatly harder by rsilvergun · · Score: 3, Insightful

    to lose it. That's because your body creates fat cells when you gain weight but does not destroy them when you lose it, they just shrink.

    So a few high stress years (say when your kids are born and both you and the wife work full time because one income hasn't been enough to afford a family since before Reagan was president) and you've just permanently made it harder to stay fit.

    Add in the health problems that come with getting older (worse sleep being the big one) and you just can't burn as many calories as you used to, making it harder to keep the weight off.

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  6. Re:Wrong. Sugar is bad, mkay? by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you eat "whole grains", the body just sees a bunch of sugar.
    If you eat "fruits", the body just sees a bunch of sugar—the worst kind, in fact: fructose.

    Not quite... You might find this interesting: Sugar: The Bitter Truth (90min)

    Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin.

    The video is a university lecture describing fructose metabolism in great detail and how it's similar to that of alcohol metabolism, without the self-limiting effects of alcohol consumption, and it's affects on blood lipids and fatty liver, etc... Basically, sugar bound up with fiber is (way) less destructive than sugar alone -- i.e., Apple/Orange okay, Apple/Orange Juice not okay.

    In addition, fructose can *only* be metabolized by the liver whereas glucose can be metabolized by every cell in the body. Sugar itself isn't necessarily bad and it's more about what how much, what type and how it's processed and how fast it's processed by the body.

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  7. Re: correlation by quantaman · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Agreed.

    Also this doesnt prevent death, the cause just moves to another category when a person dies. Everyone dies after all.

    And in my view the people that live longer don't necessarily live happier lives overall. I'd rather eat what works for me and live however long I live.

    You're focusing on the wrong thing.

    It's not about the choice between a long life and a short life.

    It's about the choice between a healthy life and a sickly life.

    It's not hard to tell which life will be happier.

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