Nearly twelve million deaths in 2017 worldwide were connected to poor dietary habits according to a recently published global study. These poor dietary habits included eating high-salt, high-sugar and/or processed meat in greater quantities than recommended.  The global study published in The Lancet had followed 195 different countries and found that the highest amounts of deaths correlated with diet took place in Uzbekistan, the lowest in Israel. Some other noteworthy rankings were Britain at 23rd place, the US at 43rd, India at 118th and China at 140th. 

Eating of healthier kinds of foods like whole grains, seeds, nuts, etc. was at an overall below-average level all across the board. People’s diets tended to include high amounts of sugary drinks, meat (especially processed meats, such as cold-cuts, hot dogs, etc.) and salt. This, unsurprisingly, resulted in the startling ‘one out of five deaths’ ratio uncovered by the study.

Unhealthy eating habits have been linked with 11 million deaths worldwide in 2017.

The study revealed the global diet’s abysmally low levels of healthy food consumption with most people falling far short of daily recommended amounts. Here are some quick stats:

• People ate 29 grams of whole grains (on average) compared to the recommended 125 grams.
• People ate approximately 12% of recommended amount of seeds/nuts, on average this boils down to 3 grams a day, which is a paltry entry compared to the 21 grams that are recommended.
• People around the world drank 10 times the suggested amount of sugar-packed drinks on average.
• People ate double the amount of processed meats than they should, with 4 grams a day VS the recommended 2 grams

These findings are disappointing and alarming, as the science doesn’t lie…diets that are higher in salt, sugar and unhealthy fats dramatically increase your risk of dying from things like strokes, heart attacks, diabetes, cancer, and more. The study confirmed this with the more detailed breakdown of dietary-related deaths revealing that of the 11 million deaths, 10 million were from cardiovascular-related diseases, over 900,000 were from different cancers and the remaining 339,000 were from type-2 diabetes. A similar study published earlier in the year found an ‘ideal diet’ for health and the environment would necessitate doubling dietary consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts/seeds and a halving of sugar and meat consumption.

While this seems unattainable for many, dietary changes can dramatically impact your health for the better, be sure to visit my page on nutrition for more information about how to take control of your health through diet.