Does the American Diet Cause Inflammation?
A recent Ohio State University study shows many Americans have diets that promote inflammation, which increases the risk of health problems, such as cancer and heart disease. The study, published in Public Health Nutrition, shows six out of 10 Americans have pro-inflammatory diets. To get the results, researchers examined the diets of more than 34,500 adults in the 2005 to 2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey using a tool called the dietary inflammatory index, which includes 45 dietary components.
“Overall, 57% of U.S. adults have a pro-inflammatory diet and that number was higher for Black Americans, men, younger adults and people with lower education and income,” said lead author Rachel Meadows in a release. The study was based on self-reported diets, ranging from -9 to 8, where 0 shows a neutral diet. According to the researchers, 34% of people in the study had anti-inflammatory diets and just 9% had neutral dietary inflammatory levels.
According to Harvard University, several foods can cause inflammation, including: Margarine, shortening and lard, Refined carbohydrates, Fried foods, Soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages, Red meat or processed meat.
Excerpted from Spectrum News
