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05.08.2021

This is the unhealthiest food habit of all | And this is the healthiest...

The unhealthiest nutritional habit of all? That's snacking with chips and cookies, According to an American-Chinese study. And the healthiest food habit? That's an evening meal with a generous amount of vegetables.

Study
Epidemiologists from Harbin Medical University in China analyzed data from 21,503 Americans in their thirties, who had participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. When the study participants signed up for the study, researchers had determined their dietary habits through questionnaires and then followed the study participants for an average of 7 years.

During that period, 2,192 study participants died; 676 due to cardiovascular disease and 476 due to cancer.

When the researchers calculated the health effect of diet, they adjusted for all possible factors.

Results
The study participants who consumed a relatively large amount of vegetables at the largest meal of the day reduced their risk of death. This food habit reduced both the risk of death from cancer and the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

Another healthy nutritional habit was to include fruit for breakfast. This habit also reduced the risk of death. A breakfast with fruit reduced the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

Click on the figure below for a larger version.

The researchers also looked at snacking habits, and found that study participants who snacked on fruit after breakfast and snacked on dairy after the big meal lowered their risk of dying.

In contrast, starchy snacks - such as chips and cookies - increased the risk of death. It didn't matter after which meal the study participants consumed those snacks; starchy snacks were always unhealthy.

Click on the figure below for a larger version.

The figures below summarize the results again.

The researchers calculated the positive and negative effects by comparing the study participants in the highest quartile with the study participants in the lowest quartile. For example, they compared the 25 percent of study participants who consumed the most vegetables with dinner with the 25 percent of study participants who consumed the least amount of veggies with dinner.

Conclusion
"Based on the findings in this study, the optimal consumption time for fruit was likely in the daytime, and the optimal consumption time for vegetables was at dinner", the researchers summarize. "Dairy products could be consumed as a snack after dinner."

"This information is of importance in providing nutritional recommendations for the public."

Source:
J Am Heart Assoc. 2021 Jul 6;10(13):e020254.

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