8 out of the 20 top risk factors are dietary and 4 others are strongly diet-related. That accounts for 60% 12 out of 20 of the top risk factors of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (i.e. years of life lost to ill health, disability or early death). The Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Expert Group identified 11 foods/nutrients that had a protective effect and 6 foods/nutrients with a harmful effect on cardiometabolic risk (stroke, coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease and diabetes). Protective effect: ❇️ fruits (excluding juices) ❇️ vegetables (excluding juices and starchy vegetables) ❇️ beans/legumes ❇️ nuts/seeds ❇️ whole grains ❇️ fish ❇️ yoghurt ❇️ fibre ❇️ seafood omega-3s ❇️ polyunsaturated fats replacing carbohydrates or saturated fats ❇️ potassium Harmful effect: ⛔️ unprocessed red meats ⛔️ processed meats ⛔️ sugar-sweetened beverages ⛔️ glycaemic load such as having too much carbohydrates at a time (carbohydrate quantity and quality) ⛔️ trans fats ⛔️ sodium ⛔️ alcohol (not in this study but evaluated in other studies)
Source: Micha R, Shulkin ML, Peñalvo JL, Khatibzadeh S, Singh GM, Rao M, et al. (2017) Etiologic effects and optimal intakes of foods and nutrients for risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses from the Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Expert Group (NutriCoDE). PLoS ONE 12(4): e0175149. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0175149