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Variety may be good for your portfolio, but it isn’t good for your health.
People who eat a greater variety of food eat more junk, according to a review of scientific literature published between 2000 and 2017 and released by the American Heart Association this week. The researchers found no evidence that a diverse diet promotes a healthy weight. Instead, people indulge in good and bad food, said Marcia de Oliveira Otto, lead author of the paper.
Instead of telling people to eat a variety of foods, the researchers concluded that dietary recommendations should emphasize adequate consumption of plant-based foods, such as fruit, vegetables, beans and whole grains, plus low-fat dairy products, non-tropical vegetable oils, nuts, poultry and fish. Avoid fried foods, if at all possible, they added.
When people are faced with more complex menus in restaurants, they too often overlook the healthier options. Most diners either think low-calorie food either tastes bad or won’t fill them up, a separate 2014 study published in the Journal of Consumer Research and carried out by researchers at Georgia State University in Atlanta and Columbia University, found.
“By calorie-organizing a menu, restaurants make it easier for people to use the general low-calorie label to dismiss all low-calorie options early in the decision process,” that study concluded. In fact, participants who were given traditional menus without any calorie information and menus with the low-calorie food lumped together ordered food with similar amounts of calories.
As the obesity rate is expected to hit 50% by 2030, many health gurus say the best approach is a low-sodium, low-fat diet that mostly includes fresh fruit and vegetables, and the warn that variety only serves as a temptation. Americans should consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day, the Centers for Disease Control recommends, but most people don’t.
While fewer people are drinking soda and eating red meat, and other food deemed unhealthy, they’ve become more lax in other ways, allowing themselves more salt. In fact, Americans are currently consuming around 3,400 milligrams of salt per day, the CDC said. To put this in a real-world context, a Big Mac from McDonald’s MCD, -0.39% has 960mg of sodium.
As you age, it’s especially important not to become complacent about including too many treats in your diet, studies show. People who gained a moderate amount of weight (5 to 22 pounds) before the age of 55 increased their risk of premature death, chronic diseases and decreased the likelihood of achieving healthy aging. And the higher the weight gain, the greater risk of chronic diseases.
That’s according to a study by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Our study is the first of its kind to systematically examine the association of weight gain from early to middle adulthood with major health risks later in life,” said senior author Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the school, said. The study analyzed data from nearly 93,000 participants.
Women gained an average of 22 pounds over this time, while men gained 19 pounds. “The findings indicate that even a modest amount of weight gain may have important health consequences,” he said. Worse, early and middle adulthood is the time of life most people actually gain weight, as their metabolism slows, recurring knee and back injuries become more common.
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