The shocking truth about many "healthy" diets
Attention "healthy" eaters: Your diet may not be as healthy as you think.
We tend to make certain assumptions about diet: If it's organic (or all-natural), it's good for you. A meatless diet is a healthy diet. Vegans are all skinny.
People, it ain't necessarily so. Junk food comes in all varieties, including organic, raw, and vegan. And simply eliminating certain foods or classes of foods from your diet does not automatically yield a balanced, nutritious diet.
My colleagues who practice nutrition counseling are reporting an uptick in the number of obese vegan clients, including children. Their diets are found to be extraordinarily high in sugar, fat, refined carbohydrates and highly-processed junk food. Ironically, many vegans don't eat anywhere close to the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables.
Scientists also make false assumptions about "healthy" diets. A study recently published in the International Journal of Obesity notes that "A food pattern rich in vegetables is associated with lower risk of obesity and non-communicable chronic disease in Western countries."
However, the researchers went on to discover that in certain parts of China a diet rich in vegetables is linked to increased rates of obesity. Why? The researchers concluded that it's because all those healthy vegetables are stir-fried in oil, which makes these vegetable-rich diets higher in calories.
But as Dave Dixon points out in his blog, the vegetable-rich diets weren't all that much higher in fat or calories. They were, however, substantially higher in refined carbohydrates. Whatever the explanation, it's clear that eating more vegetables doesn't necessarily make your diet healthier.
Or, consider this recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which found that a "Prudent" diet pattern (higher in low-fat dairy, whole grains, fruit and fruit juice, legumes, and vegetables) was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. A "Mediterranean" diet pattern (higher in liquor consumption, poultry, seafood, vegetables, salad greens, and high-fat salad dressings) was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer.
This is, of course, a very surprising result that contradicts previous findings. Investigators acknowledge that more research is needed to figure out what it was about the "Prudent" diet pattern that seems to have contributed to higher breast cancer risk in this study. But the fact that scientists chose the value-loaded word "prudent" to describe this dietary pattern demonstrates that they are making certain assumptions about what makes diets healthy.
My real point here is this: We tend to think that our healthiest habits (such as eating a lot of vegetables or not eating meat) characterize the quality of our entire diet. Some might argue that it is our worst habits (such as drenching those vegetables in oil or eating a lot of junk food) that actually characterize the quality of our diets.
I'll take the middle road: You've got to look at the whole picture to really see what's going on.
Here are the take home lessons for all of us:
1. Vegans, vegetarians, raw foodists, and "health-food" aficionados still need to pay attention to the amount of calories, fat, and refined carbohydrates in their diets to maintain a healthy body weight.
2. Just because foods are organic, natural, vegan, or raw does not mean that they aren't fattening or that they are nutritious.
3. Even if all the foods in your diet are healthy ones, your diet is only healthy if it is balanced. Using Nutrition Data's diet tracking tools can help you ensure that your diet is balanced and meeting your nutritional needs.
Your thoughts?
 older posts |
home | newer posts  |
| Summer Travel Part 2: Gluten-Free on the Road | | Nutrition Data Blog | | Is watermelon the natural Viagra? |
Posted by: laverne | Jan 4, 2009 9:35:27 AM
Far too many of my friends and family have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Modern women and seniors. For how long has BC been a medical issue? In my grandmother's time?... prior to 1950. Or is it a disease of the industrial -chemical era? PERHAPS, our vegetables, should be purer,..cide-free? ...and what about the chemicalization of the soils in which the plant-nutrients for omnivores is grown. Beyond the inclusion of vegetables, perhaps it the chemical factor that may be the true culprit (plus the genetic factor) for BC.
Posted by: Nayna | Oct 20, 2008 2:00:42 PM
"Prudent" diet pattern (higher in low-fat dairy, whole grains, fruit and fruit juice, legumes, and vegetables) was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer"
I believe above statistic may have a point because produce growers using too many strong pesticides on Vegetables and fruits.
Posted by: Lisa Morgan | Oct 9, 2008 11:04:59 PM
Thank you SO MUCH for posting this article, ND! I too am a vegetarian...and like many here, I avoid processed and junk food altogether. I get props for being a vegetarian all the time; even though it's a personal compliment, it's disturbing at the same time. It's disturbing because it means people assume I'm eating healthy without even seeing what I'm eating. It's a daily reminder of how little most people know about how to feed their body for lifelong optimal health. It continually inspires me to direct people to tools like ND to learn the facts about what's in their food instead of making assumptions.
Posted by: kat | Oct 4, 2008 2:09:52 AM
What you write is so true! I've been a vegetarian for over 20 years, but it's still hard to eat healthy because now all the prepackaged "health" food is often really junk food. For example, even lowfat yogurt often has MORE calories than regular yogurt because of all the additives like high fructose corn syrup! The important thing for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike is to try to stay away from highly processed foods with lots of additives and to read the labels to make sure what you're getting really is healthy.
Posted by: bruce | Aug 21, 2008 11:43:50 AM
I'll continue to stick with an all-encompassing global outlook toward healthful eating as embodied in my self-designed "Mexiterrasian Food Pyramid". The central themes are balance and variety. Because of the scheme's flexible design, it is doable by those embracing any form of vegetarianism to those who also eat omega-3-rich seafood, poultry, or lean beef. I've been adhering to this pattern of eating, along with appropriate cardio and strength-training exercise, adequate water intake, and proper rest for the last 8 years and have experienced no less than boundless energy and crystal-clear thinking ability dday-in and day-out. I'm sold for life!
Posted by: Jeff | Aug 19, 2008 9:45:58 PM
In the above paragraph, I meant when I started my diet I was eat very minimal amounts of sugar and sodium.
Posted by: Jeff | Aug 19, 2008 9:43:52 PM
I eat vegatables and meat, but I try to eat 80% vegatables, nuts, fish oil (don't like to eat fish), legumes, fruits and 20% meat (mostly turkey or chicken), not too much red meat, mostly pasta. I don't like diet drinks, as they have artificial sweetners (BAD). I think sugar is still needed daily in foods, especially for runners or cardio activity. I get most of my sugar, if I drink orange juice, gatorade, apple juice or grape juice. I started my diet a year ago and I was eating very sugar and sodium content. I had a few issues with dizzyness, vertigo like symptoms. I couldn't figure it out what was causing the problem, I had a brain mri, blood test and etc. Once I narrowed I started at least have 40 to 60 grams of sugar and around 1200 of sodium or less daily and I started feeling better after a week. Be careful what you exclude, you need a a well balanced diet, also I hear you need some saturated fat in your diets, as it helps with your thyroid. If you really want a good snack, I think watermelon is better than most snacks. It does have sugar, but mostly water, vitamin A and C. Thanks everyone for your comments, I just love this site.
Posted by: Angst | Aug 19, 2008 8:33:46 AM
I too am vegan - and while I realise that some ethical vegans may not eat an ideally balanced diet - most of the vegans I know (many, many - as I'm involved in vegan and animal protection campaigning) eat healthful diets - unlike most of the meat eaters I know.
Since I began studying I've come across a lot vegan bashing by other nutritionists. Not only is this really unhelpful, there can be no doubt that the SAD diet is far worthier of being bashed! Given vegans make up just a tiny percentage of the population there cannot be a practising nutritionist out there who has a steady stream of undernourished vegans wondering in for treatment - so why all the vegan bashing ?
Can't we all agree that a well balanced diet is the ideal - and it matters not if one chooses to avoid animal cruelty by making the decision to become veggie/vegan.
Posted by: Darren | Aug 18, 2008 11:15:40 AM
I think there a lot of good points here. There is no question though, that diets high in Carbohydrates and Fats share the most risk for chronic health problems (obesity, diabetes, etc.). Reducing startchy carbs (breads, pasta, potatoes) with fiberous carbs (ie: vegatables) is much better for you. Vegatables also mantain much higher levels of nutrients (especially raw) than grains and whole grains. Large amounts of carbs create insulin spikes, combined with fats, you store fats. We are evolutinarily desighned to burn sugars for energy first since fats are more efficient for storage.
Posted by: mallory | Aug 15, 2008 10:18:28 PM
this article has an excellent point and I consider this as a vegan, battered fried vegetables are a lot worse than baked chicken breast. That is why I chose to eat raw vegetables and lots of fruit and avoid fried foods. I know a few vegans who live off of junk food such as chips and candy and they look sickly and pale, I feel sorry for them, they don't know what to eat. However these diets can be unhealthy the other way around by being deficient in nutrients and calories. The raw food diet especially, I went to the hospital for food poisoning and malnutrition because I didn't eat a balanced raw food diet. Not enough fat and protein or calories in general. PLAN PLAN PLAN before you start. It is also good to get advice from experienced individuals.
Posted by: John P | Aug 1, 2008 4:36:16 PM
For Kathy entry date July 28:
In round numbers a mile run uses about 100 calories ... 6 miles run is 600 calories burned. The exact number will infact vary based on the person's weight ... this 100 calories per mile would be considered a ballpark estimate.
Posted by: Mark | Jul 29, 2008 5:20:14 PM
You may find my comparison of 6 super-fruit juice products (including acai)interesting. I looked at them mainly from an ORAC perspective, but indexed them to sugar content, calories, etc.
Posted by: Bob Gwynn | Jul 28, 2008 10:10:25 PM
The item that is practically ignored by all of the diet expertise and advice is using little or no sodium. It actually appears that many of the healthy reciepes make up for lost flavors by using more sodium. I realize it's a big challenge to cook good foods while reducing sodium, i.e., what's the last cooking program you've saw that addressed this issue?? Oh yes, several cooks on the Food Channel use low sodium chicken stock -- then immediatly throw in SALT and pepper!! I don't have the answers, only posing the problem and looking for some good advice. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.
thanks,
Bob
PS: Desserts anmd sweet foods are not the problem -- good wholsome meals are the problem.
Posted by: Elizabeth | Jul 28, 2008 5:18:36 PM
There is alot of support for a Vegan diet here, being more healthy then the typical american diet. I work very hard at making sure I read close to 100% in all categories with the nd tools. I do this with a mix of Meat, Vegetables, and grains. My fiber intake is always over 100%, achieved with Fruit, grains, and vegetable, as I am ill if I don't maintain this. This doesn't mean I have to give up meat I love. Any diet that aims to get the viatmins and minerals necessary within the daily allowed calories will be realtively healthy. Being Vegan or meat eater is not, or should not be, the issue. As the article states, Choosing poor quality foods of low nutrition and high caloric intakes for the majority of your meals in a day can happen in any type diet and is the unhealthy culprit, not whether you are vegan, etc. An unhealthy eater that eats meat and gives it up for social reasons will highly likely be an unhealthy vegan eater, unless they make a concious effort to be a healthy eater. They will choose vegan ice cream substitutes, veggie chips, etc and not really change their eating habits.
Posted by: Daniel | Jul 28, 2008 3:52:04 PM
It's also quite possible to eat too many healthful foods, even if they are just vegetables, are low in fat and simple carbohydrates, etc. Someone might think that they'll lose weight by stuffing themselves with vegetables and complex carbohydrates, but they might just gain weight from eating too much. It's important to remember that healthful doesn't mean low-calorie or that unlimited quantities of the food are okay. Moderation applies even to fruits and vegetables. It's just that a moderate intake of the plants is generally higher than a moderate intake of meat.
Posted by: Kathy | Jul 28, 2008 1:39:54 PM
I have a question for Dr. Steve Parker blog date entry July 11th.
I am very interested in the Mediterranean diet but I have questions about the daily caloric intake. I don't walk daily but I do log 30-40+ miles per week running. One day per week will be a distance of 10-20 miles. The other four days are 6-8 miles per day. How do I factor my activity level for caloric intake? ( I also strength train twice a week for 1 hour) I need to loose about 10-12 lbs. I typically don't by diet books because they do not address the activity level that applies to me. I would love to be able to eat the right amount of calories and loose this weight and be healthy! Thank You for your time and advice.
Kathy
Posted by: John | Jul 28, 2008 12:59:00 PM
I really like your website and all the nutritional tips, but why, oh why join all the others in replacing the correct word "healthful" with the incorrect use of the word, "healthy", such as "healthy foods"?
Using terminolgy that is commonly misused doesn't make it acceptable.
Please try not compromising your grammar for the sake of popularity.
Posted by: Geri | Jul 28, 2008 12:30:30 PM
The important thing with any diet is that it is balanced and provides good nutrition. Many people, especially if they are trying to lose weight end up malnourished. Our bodies need to be fueled. We wouldn't think of heading out on vacation without fueling our vehicle, we shouldn't try to run our bodies without the necessary fuel, either.
Unfortunately, it is way too easy to get caught up in the sea of bad food available and unless we are diligent about reading nutritional information and educating ourselves, and being ever mindful that our health is important it can be a never ending cycle.
It's not a matter of following one well known diet or another, it's a matter of common sense. When a food has more chemicals in it than it has actual food, well, do you want to nourish your body or embalm it? I don't buy deli cold cuts anymore. If I want meat for sandwiches, I cook my own. Not only can I season it to my liking, it's cheaper and I know what's in it. Why should I pay for them to add chemicals and water to my food? Makes no sense to me.
Seven years ago my doctor told me my cholesterol was high (290) and my blood pressure was higher than it should be 169/83. I was 47. He wanted to give me medications, because he felt it was hereditary as I only weighed 136 at 5'5". I didn't want them. He gave me 6 months to turn it around.
I went home, threw out everything in the house that was processed or contained refined sugar. Started walking at least a mile a day and cut my coffee intake from a couple pots a day to no more than 2 cups. From that day on it was only whole grains, only olive or canola oil, only real foods. But balanced. My average daily intake is 40% protein, 40% carbohydrate and 20% fat. And I make sure I get in a good hour a day of exercise of one form or another.
The six months passed and the cholesterol was 220 and the BP was 142/78 and I weighed 128. Still not where he wanted them to be, but enough of an improvement that he agreed to let me keep going. Now, cholesterol is 165, last week BP reading was 116/63 and I weigh 117.
My overall health is better than it has ever been. Other that a few hot flashes, menopause was a breeze, didn't affect my metabolism any, didn't slow me down or drain me of energy like so many complain it does and it didn't pack on any weight.
Posted by: Yvette | Jul 28, 2008 11:56:55 AM
My husband and I follow the paleolithic diet which has been well-researched by Loran Cordain PhD. The diet is high in complex carbs (fruits & veges), lean protein and unsaturated fats. The diet allows you to be satiated and helps to control weight. It's worked well for us.
We still have treats but make them the side dish. Example, I buy super mini chocolate muffins and serve with raspberries, blueberries, blackerries and strawberries As my 105 year old grandmother used to say, "A little bit of what you fancy does you good."
Yvette
Posted by: janiejaner | Jul 28, 2008 11:51:13 AM
I still love Michael Pollan's quote: "Eat real food. Not too much. Mostly plants." I find it to be a helpful guideline when I get paralyzed by the overwhelming amount of nutrition information that comes at us every day. And I particularly enjoy his definition of "real food" as something that our great-grandparents would recognize. Eliminates lots of things in the supermarket!
Posted by: Aurelie | Jul 26, 2008 8:40:25 AM
I completely agree with this. I am a vegan myself and I'm appalled at the junk food some other vegans eat. I personally always use whole grain flours in my cooking and baking (even desserts my desserts are made whole grain and I sweeten them with apple juice instead of sugar), eat omega 3 rich foods, and eat lots of fruits, veggies and legumes; but I see a lot of vegans who still drink soda pop,eat tons of sugar and eat twice their weight in preservative and additive laden soy meats.
Posted by: Herbalife | Jul 17, 2008 2:22:58 AM
Great blog thanks for the info. Are tomatoes neutral?
Posted by: Mark | Jul 16, 2008 5:12:13 PM
It also seems that a lot of "bad" foods (from the past) are suddenly good. For instance dark chocolate (anti-oxidants) and coffee (forget what exactly). Tomatoes used to be considered neutral at best, and are now the in thing to eat.
Mark
www.acai-berry.tv
Posted by: lily_pads90 | Jul 12, 2008 1:27:37 AM
Actually, speaking of refined carbs, there was something I wanted to ask.
I eat about 50-60 grams of sugar a day, which is a lot. But I practically never eat processed foods, and virtually all of that sugar comes from fruits. Is it still a bad thing that I get so much sugar, considering that it's all from fruit?
Posted by: HappyMan | Jul 11, 2008 11:45:37 PM
I agree with many of the responses that well balanced is a way to go; however, should someone choose a vegan lifestyle they should certainly do all of their research, Carefully looking at the pros and cons as they relate to their life.
While I do practice a healthy lifestyle, I am not a vegan. I choose a well balanced diet. It is difficult to practice healthly dieting for many people for two reasons. 1) There are thousands of "experts" telling you what you should and should not eat (and even their opnion seems to change with the times). and 2) is that food labels can be misleading. Just because something says "lower fat, less sugar, all natural, low carb, or reduced calorie" does not mean it is healthy. Much of that is clever marketing.
Practice learning the truth about foods and practice regular exercise until it becomes habit.
Go to www.HappyManOnline.com for more about a healthy life and improving your skill of happiness.
Posted by: Steve Parker, M.D. | Jul 11, 2008 3:27:09 AM
I had a chance to carefully review the journal article I mentioned earlier, the one discussing reduced cancer associated with the traditional Mediterranean diet.
The associated reduction in cancer is better than the 12% I wrote earlier. Here's an excerpt from my blog entry on the study:
"Participants’ conformity to the Mediterranean diet was graded on a 10-point scale based on consumption of vegetables, legumes, fruits and nuts, cereals, fish, meat and meat products, dairy products, ethanol (alcohol), and the monounsaturated to saturated lipid ratio. A score of zero indicated minimal adherence; maximal adherence scored a nine.
Every two-point increase in adherence was associated with a 12% reduction in the incidence of overall cancer. So those participants with greatest conformity to the traditional Mediterranean diet had a dramatically reduced incidence of cancer compared to those with minimal adherence."
-Steve
If interested in my full blog entry:
http://advancedmediterraneandiet.com/blog/?p=53
Posted by: Herbalife | Jul 11, 2008 12:16:59 AM
If anyone has time, take a look at some of our Herbalife diet programs. The website is http://www.herbalbuddy.com. Thanks.
Posted by: lily_pads90 | Jul 10, 2008 9:19:10 PM
"Whatever the explanation, it's clear that eating more vegetables doesn't necessarily make your diet healthier."
Please do not tell me that you're trying to say that vegetables aren't actually healthy...
I agree with you that just because something is vegan, organic, etc doesn't mean it's healthy. Heck, oreo cookies are vegan!
Having said that, I think a WELL-BALANCED vegan diet (one that includes whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts & seeds, beans % lentils, herbs & spices), would not only help most people loose some weight but also decrease the incidence of disease, and to a much larger degree than many of the fad diets out there (à la Atkins, SugarBusters, South Beach, the Zone, etc).
Posted by: Dave | Jul 10, 2008 7:14:05 PM
Matt's comment illustrates my point. When people switch from the admittedly poor standard American diet to a vegan diet, is their health improvement due to increased intake of fruit/veggies, reduced intake of refined carbohydrates, elimination of meat, or some combination thereof?
For instance, a high-carbohydrate diet increases requirements for Vitamin C, since both are chemically similar and compete for binding sites. Eliminating refined carbohydrates by itself gets rid of this problem.
There are no essential foods, only essential nutrients. Whatever combination of foods that gets you those essential nutrients will work - that's why we're omnivores (with the obvious caveat that you're not consuming anything toxic). Consider the opposite extreme of a vegan diet: cow guts.
Posted by: Steve Parker, M.D. | Jul 10, 2008 5:29:49 PM
The Mediterranean diet is associated no only with lower incidence of breast cancer, but also less cancer of the colon, prostate, and uterus.
How much lower overall cancer incidence? The current issue of British Journal of Cancer indicates 12% lower, at least in a Greek population. Here's a link to the article abstract:
http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v99/n1/abs/6604418a.html
Posted by: Matt | Jul 10, 2008 1:57:30 PM
Your argument is right on, but rather misleading since you focus on the problems associated with high fat or high sugar vegan diets but don’t touch on the vastly more significant problems with the average meat eater’s diet. This leaves the impression that vegan diets are bad, when in fact, on average, vegans eat more healthy foods than non-vegans and, on average, are less likely to be obese or die from heart disease, cancer and other chronic illnesses. Granted, vegetables fried in oil or sugary cookies and cakes may be vegan and are certainly unhealthy, but that doesn’t change the fact vegans are more likely to eat a healthy, balanced diet than meat eaters.
You should remind people that most American’s are already not getting the proper nutrition and that by adopting a vegan diet they are at least increasing the chances that they are eating healthfully.
For example, a fairly recent study found that the diets of vegans, on average, are deficient in calcium, iodine and vitamin B12. Using the same standards, though, the standard American diet is deficient in 7 nutrients, not just 3! The diet of your average American is not only also deficient in calcium and iodine, it's deficient in vitamin C, vitamin E, fiber, folate, and magnesium as well. Not only does the American public have over twice as many nutritional deficiencies in their diets, vegans were shown to have higher intakes of 16 out of the 19 nutrients studied, including calcium. The vegans were getting more than enough protein on average and three times more vitamin C, three times more vitamin E, three times more fiber. Vegans got twice the folate, twice the magnesium, twice the copper, twice the manganese. And of course the vegans had twice the fruit and vegetable intake and half the saturated fat intake, meeting the new 2003 World Health Organization guidelines for fat intake and weight control. Almost 2/3 of Americans are overweight. In contrast, only 11% of the vegans were overweight. Almost one in three Americans are obese. Zero of the 98 vegans in this study were obese.
Posted by: Dennis Allio | Jul 10, 2008 1:10:43 PM
This statement sums it up.
"I'll take the middle road: You've got to look at the whole picture to really see what's going on."
Each person's nutrition is individual and cannot be related to any specific statistic. You do need to look at the big picture, and follow general good practices for nutrition. "Good" can actually vary from person to person, but generally things that are "bad" are much easier to determine.
Posted by: Dave | Jul 10, 2008 11:52:49 AM
Hi Monica. Nice post, thanks for the link.
One point to make in interpreting studies of the impact of diet on health is that it is rare that only one variable is changing. Thus, a study may purport to show that higher vegetable intake reduces obesity, but increasing intake of one food usually decreases intake of something else. If you replace refined carbohydrates with veggies you'll likely see a different result than if you replace meat with veggies, as meat and refined carbs have very different effects on hormones and metabolism. I believe the authors of the recent study of Chinese diets are guilty of precisely this sort of tunnel vision.
