Eat Everything in Moderation – Not Necessarily!

Contrary to popular belief you may be surprised to learn that eating everything in moderation is good for your health.  A new study found that greater “diet diversity” was not actually associated with better outcomes relating to our waistlines, as well as risk of type 2 diabetes.  It turns out that eating everything in moderation was more likely to add inches around your middle.  Moreover, “diet diversity” was connected to poorer diet quality.

Why is this you may be asking?  The problem is that consuming a more diverse diet may include items like sodas, cookies, chips, and cupcakes.  When you think about it, even in moderation these choices contribute to higher intakes of trans-fats, sugar, sodium, starch, and refined carbohydrates.  In actuality, Americans with the healthiest diets eat a small range of healthy foods. That means that eating everything in moderation is worse than eating a smaller number of healthy foods states Dariush Mozafarian, MD, DrPH from Tufts’ Friedmann School.

Another noteworthy finding was with diet quality.  The researchers studied how diet quality related to metabolic health.  At five years there was not much association with diet quality and change in waist circumference.  However, at 10 years, a higher diet quality was associated with about a 25% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This shows that eating a basic healthy diet is more beneficial than eating a diverse diet.

And, as far as everything goes in moderation you’re better off choosing a range of fruits and vegetables, which offer vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients than widening out to include foods like donuts, chips, and fries.  It’s best to choose a few healthy favorites and stick to them.

Reference:  Health & Nutrition Letter, Tufts University, February 2016, VOL. 33, NO. 12, Eat Everything in Moderation? Not Necessarily Good Advice (p.6).