TheDailyMail.com
Not eating enough of these six foods may lead to heart disease and an early grave, global study warns (and it doesn’t look good for vegans)
Despite being linked to cancer and heart troubles in recent years, red meat was also said to make up a healthy diet so long as it was eaten in ‘moderation’.
However, they argued the logic only applied to unprocessed meat, as opposed to the likes of bacon and sausages.
Coordinated by the Population Health Research Institute at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, the results were then examined against five large independent studies from 70 countries.
Writing in the European Heart Journal, they said an optimum healthy diet, dubbed PURE, was three to four weekly servings of legumes, seven portions of nuts, two to three servings of fish and 14 helpings of full-fat dairy – including milk, yogurt or cheese.
‘Moderate amounts’ – or one serving daily – of whole grains and unprocessed meats can also be consumed, researchers said.
This could include one slice of bread, half a cup of cooked rice, barley or quinoa and approximately three ounces (85g) of cooked red meat or poultry.
The study’s lead author Dr Andrew Mente said: ‘Low-fat foods have taken center stage with the public, food industry and policymakers, with nutrition labels focused on reducing fat and saturated fat.
‘Our findings suggest that the priority should be increasing protective foods such as nuts, often avoided as too energy dense, fish and dairy, rather than restricting dairy, especially whole-fat, to very low amounts.
‘Our results show that up to two servings a day of dairy, mainly whole-fat, can be included in a healthy diet.’