Year: 2019

A recent study funded by the Gates Foundation and published in the Lancet found that around 11 million global deaths in 2017 could be attributed to diseases caused by poor diet, such as high sodium diets and low fruits and grains consumption. The study was conducted over the span of 27 years (1990 – 2017) and included data from 195 countries. The authors chose 15 well-researched and accepted adverse dietary risk factors to correlate with available data for each population’s morbidity and mortality rates. These risk factors included but were not limited to, diet low in whole grains, fiber, fruits, vegetables, legumes and diets high in red meat, sodium and trans fatty acids. The study concluded that diet-related diseases were “responsible for more deaths than any other risks globally, including tobacco smoking” and that “improvements of diet could potentially prevent one in every five deaths globally…unlike many other risk factors, dietary risks affected people regardless of age, sex, and sociodemographic development of their place of residence. Although the impact of individual dietary factors varied across countries, non-optimal intake of three dietary factors (whole grains, fruits, and sodium) accounted for more than 50% of deaths and 66% of DALYs attributable to diet.” At NutriFit, it has always been our mission to improve the health of our clients through diet. For over 30 years, we have promoted a diet that is low in sodium, high in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts and seeds with limited amounts of red meat and no highly processed foods or unhealthy trans fats. The study’s findings are another validation of these diet philosophies we incorporate in each of our client’s meal plans.   Link to full study. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)30041-8/fulltext