" Eating lots of vegetables is often said to be the key to living a long and healthy life.
However a major UK study has claimed that this will not help to ward off heart disease.
Researchers at Oxford University looked at data from 400,000 Britons, who were tracked for 12 years. "
Very interesting comment on NHS food plate?
"Meals should be based on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally wholegrain, according to the NHS"
Link to the article below.
The article is pretty confusing sandybrown . What is NHS saying? Should we eat vegetables or not?
Thanks - an interesting read. I’m not sure what this study really means sandybrown as we know heart disease is multifactorial but I wouldn’t base my diet on the NHS eat well guide which advocates a high proportion of carbs, most of which have a lower nutritional value than fruit and veg and contribute to weight gain. Pretty outdated advice in my view.
we need more salt, as in a pinch of salt whenever looking at a Daily Mail article.
Oxford University did the research work.
"Researchers at Oxford University looked at data from 400,000 Britons, who were tracked for 12 years. " The Daily Mail carried the story.
I follow the advice of a nutritionist and Prof Tim Spectre with very good results and tend to ignore anything the NHS recommend because they are usually about 10 years behind the science.
Good general advice here nutrition.org.uk/ which includes the Eatwell Plate.
I never read the Daily Fail or any newspapers as I’d much rather go to the source. I could not see a link to the source paper? I’m always very suspicious when journalists fail to include a link to the source. Tracking 400,000 people over 12 years will not really show much in my opinion because most of them won’t be following a good quality diet and less than 5% of the population actually follow the NHS Healthy Plate.
Many people in the UK are/were fed a diet of tinned foods, take always, pie and chips, potatoes, bread (usually processed with so many added chemicals it’s an insult to the name Bread) and not a green, purple or red veg in sight and look were we are regarding health so something needs to change.
My healthy eating plan highlights are based on the Eatwell Guide plate and my favourite phrase from my Nutritionist - eat the Rainbow - the natural colour of the food indicates the benefits. Ensure that all grains are whole, generally bread is limited to 1 small rye sour dough loaf between 2 of us a week and we eat at least 30 different foods in a week - I can get 10-20 into one meal. Variety is the key.
The Diet Myth by Prof Spectre explains exactly how and why we should be eating a plant based diet high in raw (not cooked) vegetables, (as stated in the article) low in animal protein, using good quality natural fats such as Olive Oil, including fermented foods and good quality whole grains and pulses, olive oil but most of all avoid ALL ultra processed foods and limit any processed foods and keep starches to 10% of your plate, vegetables 50%.
tim-spector.co.uk/the-diet-...
We should NOT be basing meals around potatoes/bread and pasta if they are white and processed. We should be limiting or even removing red meat, using more sustainable fish, using olive oil, limiting dairy and using a lot more seeds and nuts.
I think that report just muddies the waters and demonstrates nothing. The take away from the article is
Any link between eating vegetables and heart health is because those who eat lots tend to be healthier in other aspects of their life, suggests a report in the journal Frontiers of Nutrition.
Eat more variety, eat less generally and eat better quality whenever you can. Eating well need not cost more if you know how.
I’ll get off my soap box now………
Good reply. I lived on a South Pacific island for a few years and diabetes was very low . Now it is an issue because of the junk food available to many people there. Also a taxi driver in the Caribean island we were on said that the younger generation were not living to the age of their parents . Again because of the change in diet
The study was basically saying that eating plenty of vegetables alone will not be a help in reducing heart disease.. IF.. lifestyle changes are not also adhered to.. no point in smoking, not doing much exercise, drinking alcohol to excess.. and then eating loads of vegetables to combat all those bad habits.. its is very irresponsible to then say that the eating of plenty of vegetables wont help reduce chances of heart disease.. as a good lifestyle without booze and fags and plenty of fairly moderate exercise AND plenty of vegetables and some fruit WILL make a huge difference. stupid stupid reporting.. akin to some sensationalistic 'cheap rag' reporter.
Look at COVID-19 jabs, a quick research, jab developed and given to people all over the world. Research and trials are important as well as reporting the findings. Because of multimedia we get information very quickly.
Food what ever it is there are some benefit to some people like driving different makes of cars?
Research is important - but like everything else there are studies grounded in science, thoroughly thought out and evidenced research and then there is outrageous headlines by uninformed people completely misrepresenting or dramatising the content, often employed by the Daily Fail.
The data is completely flawed in its projection of the results. It should have stated that ..if you don't have a healthy lifestyle ie.. no smoking and exercise moderately..(not extreme exercise) and consume alcohol to excess.. then don't expect a diet of fruit and vegetables to save you.. they didn't give the full message of the result.. this is akin to some cheap newspaper with sensationalistic 'news'. .. Take no notice of rubbish .. Exercise..no alcohol or very little.. no smoking.. no processed foods.. avoid takeaways.. not too much sugary food treats.. keep off milk and not too much dairy.. keep off red meats or no meats at all is better.. and eat a diet high in vegetables.. eat oats and grains.. not too much fruit (fructose).. WILL ward off heart disease.. absolutely.!! (The fact that the article was in the Daily Mail gives more than a clue to idiotic journalistic sensationalism.)
The problem is with announcing what we should eat/shouldn’t eat is that certain foods are ok for some but poison or misery for others if you have irritable bowel or bladder syndrome you can forget spicy food, citrus fruits a lot of berries etc . Heart disease used to be assessed by which type of personality you had . If I remember type A was the highly stressed type and type B was the opposite so what has happened to that .
To take or not take Statins?
Insulin, Not Cholesterol, Is the True Culprit in Heart Disease.
Statins, cholesterol and lifestyle choices.
Man with hardened arteries some 5,300 years ago.