Poor diet 'biggest contributor to early deaths across the world'
(Guardian UK) Poor diet has emerged as the biggest contributor to early death around the world, according to new analysis from the leading authorities on the global disease, with red meat and sugar-sweetened beverages among the foods implicated in 21% of global deaths.
Smoking cigarettes still carries the highest risk factor of premature death in the UK, followed by high blood pressure and obesity. But the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IMHE) in the US says that a combination of dietary factors, from eating too few fruit and vegetables, nuts and whole grains to too much sodium and cholesterol, is taking a toll on health in the UK and across the globe.
The IMHE’s study found that the biggest contributor to early death globally is high blood pressure, in which age and family history play a part, but so do obesity, smoking, excessive salt consumption, lack of exercise and drinking large amounts of alcohol. In the UK, alcohol is also one of the top ten risk factors associated with the highest number of deaths for both men and women.
The study looked at 14 dietary risk factors. Cumulatively, unhealthy eating, including diets low in fruit, whole grains, and vegetables, and diets high in red meat and sugar-sweetened beverages contributed to more deaths than any other factor, causing ischemic heart disease, stroke and diabetes. ........................(more)
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/11/poor-diet-biggest-contributor-early-deaths-world-study
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My personal experience is that I had very high blood pressure for 40 years, (over 190/100) since I was in my 20s. (I'm 70 now) Trying one medication after another did nothing to help it. I switched to a vegan diet, and after 40 years of meds it took 3 to 4 weeks on a vegan diet to bring my BP down to low, low normal. And my cholesterol went from too high to low as well. That's my personal experience. And I've studied the subject too, and it's also my passion, and I also walk the walk. I know my way works for me, and that's all that really matters to me. I could cite more studies, but you seem predisposed to not read studies that contradict your beliefs. But then that's human nature.
I don't mind reading studies that don't agree with me because I seldom have much trouble poking holes in them.
What say about these, for example?
H. Noto, A. Goto, T. Tsujimoto, M. Noda. Low-carbohydrate diets and all-cause mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. PLoS ONE 2013 8(1):e55030.
J. Merino, R. Kones, R. Ferré, N. Plana, J. Girona, G. Aragonés, D. Ibarretxe, M. Heras, L. Masana. Negative effect of a low-carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat diet on small peripheral artery reactivity in patients with increased cardiovascular risk. Br. J. Nutr. 2013 109(7):1241 - 1247.
R. M. Fleming, K. Ketchum, D. M. Fleming, R. Gaede. Treating hyperlipidemia in the elderly. Angiology 1995 46(12):1075 - 1083.
R. M. Fleming, L. B. Boyd. The effect of high-protein diets on coronary blood flow. Angiology 2000 51(10):817 - 826.
F. L. Santos, S. S. Esteves, A. da Costa Pereira, W. S. Yancy Jr, J. P. L. Nunes. Systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials of the effects of low carbohydrate diets on cardiovascular risk factors. Obes Rev 2012 13(11):1048 - 1066.
L. Schwingshackl, G. Hoffmann. Low-carbohydrate diets impair flow-mediated dilatation: Evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br. J. Nutr. 2013 110(5)
69 - 970.
R. M. Fleming. Reversing heart disease in the new millennium--the Fleming unified theory. Angiology 2000 51(8):617 - 629.
The fact is weight loss by any means can drop your cholesterol. You could go on an all-Twinkie diet and lower your cholesterol if you were unable to eat the dozen daily Twinkies necessary to maintain your weight. That’s why a good cocaine habit could end up lowering your cholesterol. Chemotherapy, can drop your cholesterol like a rock. Tuberculosis can work wonders on your waistline. Anything that drops your weight can drop your cholesterol, but the goal isn’t to fit into a skinnier casket, the reason we care about cardiovascular risk factors like cholesterol is because we care about cardiovascular risk, the health of our arteries.
Well now we have studies that have measured the impact of low carb diets on arteries directly, and a review of all the best studies to date found that low carb diets impair arterial function (see references above), as evidenced by a decrease in flow-mediated dilation, meaning low carb diets effectively stiffen people’s arteries, And since that meta-analysis was published a new study found the same thing. A dietary pattern characterized by high protein and fat, but low carbohydrate was associated with poorer peripheral small artery function, again measuring blood flow into people’s limbs. But peripheral circulation is not as important as the circulation in the coronary arteries that feed our heart.
There has only been one study ever done measuring actual blood flow to the heart muscles of people eating low carb diets and this is it. Dr. Richard Fleming, an accomplished nuclear cardiologist, enrolled 26 people into a comprehensive study of the effects of diet on cardiac function using the latest in nuclear imaging technology--so-called SPECT scans, enabling him to actually directly measure the blood flow within the coronary arteries.
He then put them all on a healthy vegetarian diet, and a year later the scans were repeated. By that time, however, 10 of the patients had jumped ship onto the low carb bandwagon. At first I bet he was pissed, but surely soon realized he had an unparalleled research opportunity dropped into his lap. Here he had extensive imaging of 10 people following a low carb diet and 16 following a high carb diet. What would their hearts look like at the end of the year? We can talk about risk factors all we want, but compared to the veg group, did the coronary heart disease of the patients following the Atkins-like diets improve, worsen, or stay the same?
Those sticking to the vegetarian diet showed a reversal of their heart disease as expected. Their partially clogged arteries literally got cleaned out. They had 20% less atherosclerotic plaque in their arteries at the end of the year than at the beginning. What happened to those who abandoned the treatment diet, and switched over to the low carb diet? Their condition significantly worsened. 40 to 50% more artery clogging at the end of the year. Thanks to the kind generosity of Dr. Fleming we see the changes in blood flow for ourselves.
Here are some representative heart scans. (Images at this link) The yellow and particularly red represent blood flow through the coronary arteries to the heart muscle. This patient went on a plant-based diet and their arteries opened right up increasing the blood flow. This person, however, started out with good flow, but after a year on a low carb diet, they significantly clogged down their arterial blood flow.
So this is the best science we have, demonstrating the threat of low carb diets, not just measuring risk factors, but actual blood flow in people’s hearts on different diets. Of course the reason we care about cardiac blood flow, is we don’t want to die, and a meta-analysis was recently published that finally went ahead and measured the ultimate end-point, death, and low-carb diets were associated with a significantly higher risk of all-cause mortality, meaning living a significantly shorter lifespan.
My bad. 
