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The World's Leading Cause of Death? A Bad Diet (nbc12.com)
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."
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."
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.
Modern Humans didn't evolve on a diet of whole grains or fruits; they at meat and fat. Fat (oil) is the natural energy source for the body, with sugar being a sometime alternative, or required in only very small amounts in the form of glucose (which can be derived from meat protein via gluconeogenesis).
Meat. Fat. Water. Minerals (including salt).
That's the proper diet. The Powers that Be are trying to kill you, and they're trying to prop up existing government-subsidized industries.
I'll add that you should be eating fewer meals a day, too.
Digestion is a dirty, industrial process. You want there to be ample time for your body build up and then tear down that process, and clear away the inflammatory byproducts; at night, when you're sleeping, you want your body putting energy into rebuilding, not digesting.
So, eat at most 2 meals a day, mostly in the middle of the day (e.g., a late lunch and/or and early dinner), and then fast until meal-time the next day; if you're powering yourself by fat rather than by sugar (and thereby keeping your insulin levels relatively low), you'll find that you're never really hungry, anyway.
That's what makes sense for a human: Eating basic food that is readily available in animals, and not being hungry the rest of the time.
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.
The correct answer is time. Doesn't matter what you eat, you're not going to escape it...
The longest lifespans are in Japan.
The highest sodium consumption is in Japan.
In many other countries, the source of high consumption of sodium is processed foods.
Consumption of large percentages of diet from processed foods is understood to reduce lifespan.
I don't know why it isn't more obvious to people that sodium is a confounding variable, not a causal one.
I mean -- even if I happily accept that a poor diet is the leading cause of premature death? They claim that low consumption of fruits is one of the major problems. One of the first things I hear from dieticians trying to solve obesity problems is to curb one's intake of fruit juices, because they contain so much natural sugar and calories.
I'm sure the fruits themselves are better for you than drinking fruit juice ... but even so? What part of a balanced diet is so contingent on eating fruit? It seems to me you could get most of the same vitamin and mineral benefits from a good selection of vegetables - not to mention all the "vitamin fortified" products out there like our cereals.
My grandmother smoked a pack a day since she was 14 and lived to be a hundred, guess everyone should start smoking.
My sig doesn't address Anons, sigs aren't visible to them.
>"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."
Interesting. Because from everything I have learned, those would not be the main three, especially as presented. I would say my top 5 issues, at least with the typical American diet, would be:
1) High consumption of simple carbohydrates (especially sugar)
2) High consumption of fried and overly processed foods
3) Low consumption of whole grains and fiber-rich foods
4) Low consumption of a variety of fresh vegetables
5) Over-consumption, in general (too many calories)
Fruit can be a good part of a varied diet (if in moderation, and WHOLE, not processed, and certainly not juice) but that wouldn't even make my "most important" list. Nor would sodium.
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...
Most people would rather have a limb amputated rather than exercise regularly, just like most people won't keep track of what they eat or how many calories it is because if they knew how bad they were screwiing up they'd feel guilty for eating all that shitty food -- and they'd rather stay in denial so they can keep eating things they like, and screw what happens to them later. Broken cookies have no calories, LOL! Then add food companies and fast food into the mix and you get people addicted to cheap shitty unhealthy food that is designed to be addictive so you buy more and more of it, and healthy food in comparison tastes like shit to them because it's not full of sugar and fat.
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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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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Also, MCTs are probably the most easily digested form of stored energy, which is why they are a popular addition to coffee.
Fiber is rough on the delicate digestive tract; in contrast, fat induces the production of bile, which coats and protects the digestive tract.
Fats do not result in an increase in blood sugar; they also produce a really small bump in insulin levels as a result. That is key to good health: Keeping insulin levels relatively low and consistent. Fat and sugar are not the same thing; fat is not merely another way to store sugar. This idea that sugar is the main fuel and that fat is some secondary system is nonsense; the main fuel is fat, and sugar is meant for specialized uses in addition to being a secondary fuel in the absence of a good source of dietary fat.
Your body has 2 energy paths, one for sugar and one for fat, and they actually don't play together that well; if you want to be and feel healthy, then you need to switch your metabolism to fat.
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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