n’s largest ever survey redefines Healthy Eating
In 2005 the Institute for Optimum Nutrition (ION) conducted a survey of over 37,000 people’s health and diet, the results of which were presented to the UK Government at the House of Commons. The results of the survey were shocking.
The first part of the study investigated the state of people’s health in Britain. Only 6% of those surveyed were in ‘optimal health’, 50% said they had moderate health and 44% were in poor health.
Interestingly, 79% of the people surveyed had not consulted their doctor within the past year. “The survey shows that most people are ‘vertically’ ill. Still upright, but not feeling great.” said Professor Patrick Holford, founder of ION. “Doctors deal with sick people, the ‘horizontally ill’, but what the survey shows is that most people are living with low energy, aches and pains that are preventable with simple diet changes.”
The second part of the survey defined what kind of diet was associated with health. The results show that the worst foods for health are:
The best foods for health were
People who drank eight glasses of water a day were twice as likely to be in optimal health. While the report endorses the Government’s ‘5 a day’ campaign, it found that the healthiest people ate 8 or more servings of fruit and vegetables.
The negative effects on health of eating sugar and sugary snacks was five times worse than the positive effects of eating fruit and vegetables. The survey shows that government campaigns to curb sugar and caffeine consumption would do much more for the nation’s health than just eating more fruit and vegetables.
It also shows that the conventional wisdom that a well balanced diet should contain plenty of dairy products and bread, is wrong. The survey found that the healthiest people were the lowest consumers of wheat and dairy products.
Amidst growing fears that high dairy consumption is linked to increased rates of breast and prostate cancer, and recent discoveries that 1 in 100 adults are seriously allergic to gluten in wheat, the survey results confirm what nutritionists have been saying for years.
The New Optimum Nutrition Bible by Patrick Holford corroborates the survey results. In the book, he extols a diet closer to that consumed in Asia, where breast and prostate cancer are virtually unheard of, with less meat, more fish and very little milk and wheat, substituting oats, rice, plus other grains. He also recommends eating more beans, lentils, nuts and seeds.
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