{"id":4745,"date":"2023-01-06T04:46:49","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T04:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthnewscentral.com\/?p=4745"},"modified":"2023-01-06T04:46:49","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T04:46:49","slug":"healthy-diets-may-not-be-as-good-as-people-assumed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthnewscentral.com\/healthy-diets-may-not-be-as-good-as-people-assumed\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthy Diets May Not Be As Good As People Assumed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Meredith Corp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Study participants met with a dietitian. The purpose was to monitor what they ate and drank on a daily basis. This was when they found a gap between perception and reality, something that could hinder people from achieving true health, as per experts.<\/p>\n

Those who are trying to shed off some pounds may feel that they\u2019re losing their willpower as the days progress. This is because of many factors such as cravings, temptation, and the like. For some, they don\u2019t see the scale move even when they stick to the plan. When this happens, their resolve weakens. Researchers wanted to know about this and they saw that part of the problem is due to the common dietary perceptions and misperceptions.<\/p>\n

Those trying to lose weight often overestimate how healthy the plan they\u2019re following is. This knowledge gap makes or breaks it. The preliminary research that was made will be shown at the American Heart Association\u2019s Scientific Sessions 2022<\/a>, in Chicago and virtually on November<\/p>\n

.\u201cWe found that while people generally know that fruits and vegetables are healthy, there may be a disconnect between what researchers and healthcare professionals consider to be a healthy and balanced diet compared with what the public thinks is a healthy and balanced diet,\u201d<\/strong> <\/em>Jessica Cheng, PhD<\/a>, said. She is the study doctor and a postdoctoral research fellow in epidemiology at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and in general internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, both in Boston. She talked about this in a\u00a0press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Almost 50% of Adults in the U.S. Try to Diet on a Yearly Basis<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Almost 50 percent of U.S. adults try to diet every year. This was found by the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)<\/a>\u00a0(PDF). Many of them try to integrate more fruits, vegetables, and salads in their meals.<\/p>\n

This is something they need to improve on. A\u00a0CDC report<\/a>\u00a0(PDF) that was published on January of this year that saw only about 1 in 8 adults consume the recommended serving of 1.5 to 2 cups of fruit each day. There was also 1 in 10 eat who followed recommended 2 to 3 cups daily of vegetables.<\/p>\n

Most Diets Need to be Adjusted<\/strong><\/h2>\n

To see if the perceptions aligned with reality, researchers recruited 116 adults aged 35 to 58 years old. They lived in the Pittsburgh area and were trying to shed off pounds.<\/p>\n

The participants individually met with a dietitian to talk about nutrition. They monitored what they ate and drank every day for one year using the Fitbit app. They were also asked to weigh daily and wear a Fitbit device to track physical activities.<\/p>\n

The researchers then evaluated their diets from start to end before giving each one of them a Healthy Eating Index (HEI) score that considered the types of foods they ate.<\/p>\n

The HEI is a measure to assess how closely a dietary pattern aligns with with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans<\/a>. They then assigned a score of 0 to 100 based on how much they had the different dietary components like fruits, vegetables, whole and refined grains, meat and seafood, sodium, fats and sugars The ones that garnered the highest scores ate healthier. They were also tasked to complete a 24-hour food recall for two days for every point in time.<\/p>\n

When the year was done, the participants had to look at the HEI guidelines and score themselves. The self-assessment at the start was a \u201clook back\u201d<\/strong><\/em> as they scored the beginning and end of their diets; the difference between the beginning and the ending score was the perceived diet change. The difference of 6 or less between the researchers\u2019 and the participant\u2019s HEI perceived score was meant that they were in \u201cgood agreement.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The researchers discovered that 3 out of 4 participants\u2019 scores were in poor agreement. They didn\u2019t align with the assessments of the experts.<\/p>\n

In looking at the changes over the course of the one-year study, only 1 in 10 participants made correct estimations on how much they had improved their diets. As an average, the improvement of the quality was only by 1 point based on the researcher-assessed point system. As for the self-estimate, they saw an 18-point improvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople attempting to lose weight or health professionals who are helping people with weight loss or nutrition-related goals should be aware that there is likely more room for improvement in the diet than may be expected,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> said Dr. Cheng.<\/p>\n

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Limitations Seen on the Study<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The authors did acknowledge the limitations found. The participants they had were mostly female (79 percent) and the majority (84 percent) were white. This may not be applicable to many groups of population. Moreover, they only assessed diet quality perceptions at the end. Assessments that happened while the study was ongoing could have helped to answer questions such as whether perception turned more realistic over the course or whether perception assists or stops them from making changes in the diet.<\/p>\n

Lack of Awareness May Bring About Weight Gain<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cOverestimating the perceived healthiness of food intake could lead to weight gain, frustrations over not meeting personal weight loss goals or lower likelihood of adopting healthier eating habits,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> said\u00a0Deepika Laddu, PhD<\/a>, in a press release. She is an assistant professor in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois in Chicago. She\u2019s also the chair of the AHA\u2019s Council on Lifestyle Behavioral Change for Improving Health Factors.<\/p>\n

While dieters often overestimate the health of the foods they have, the findings made was still an added support for behavioral counseling interventions. Such interventions are frequent contacts with healthcare professionals to solve the gaps in perception in order to have a more long-lasting, realistic healthy eating behavior, Dr. Laddu also said.<\/p>\n

Link between 2 out of 3 Heart Disease-Related Deaths and Food Choices<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Healthy eating is vital for general health, especially for the heart as well as longevity, said AHA. Heart disease is the top cause for death in both men and women in the U.S. According to the\u00a0CDC<\/a>, there is an estimated 659,000 deaths every year.<\/p>\n

More than two-thirds of heart disease-related deaths all over the world can be pointed to food choices, according to a\u00a0study published in October 2020 in the\u00a0European Heart Journal Quality Care Clinical Outcomes<\/em><\/a>. The authors of the study made an estimate and saw that six million casualties could have been saved if they only had better diets.<\/p>\n

Where to Find Reliable Information on the Nutritional Content of Food<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Dietary guidance from the AHA<\/a>\u00a0was issued in 2021. They made the following recommendations:<\/p>\n