In recent findings, half of the cases of death from type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke may be linked to certain kind of foods.
Up to 45 percent cases of death due to cardiometabolic disease in 2012 was associated with these foods people usually eat. This finding is based on the data gathered by researchers from several sources like that National Center for Health Statistics and The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.
Based on the result, about 700,000 death cases of cardiometabolic disease in 2012 were likely due to diet. As per Renata Micha, a research assistant professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Tufts University in Boston who led this study, the estimated cases of deaths were linked to poor consumption of healthy foods and overconsumption of unhealthy foods.
The researchers analyzed ten group of foods and nutrients. These are; vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds, sugar-sweetened beverages, omega-3 fats from seafood, unprocessed red meat, polyunsaturated fats, salt, and processed meat.
They found that each of these foods and nutrients has an optimal intake. If a person consumes less or more than the required amount of optimal intake, it will be considered as suboptimal.
In the total cases, the suboptimal sodium intake or high sodium intake was linked to the greatest number of death cases. The data gathered from 2012 found that there are 66,500 cases of cardiometabolic deaths associated with increased sodium intake.
The second highest is linked with poor consumption of nuts and seeds with 59,000 death cases. Next is a high intake of processed meat with 58,000 death cases, followed by not eating enough vegetables with 53,000 death cases, eating a small amount of fruits with 52,500 death cases, and overconsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages with 52,000 death cases.
The researchers also considered demographic factors in the study. In their findings, there were more deaths linked to dietary factors in men compared to women, and more death cases among younger people linked to dietary factors than older people. Also, more African-Americans and Hispanics deaths were linked to diet than non-Hispanic whites.
The study has a potential to guide public policy planning so that early deaths can be prevented and health disparities will be reduced, according to the editorial written by Dr. Lawrence Appel, professor of medicine at the same institution, and Noel Mueller, assistant professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.