2507: Can You Enjoy Junk Food Without Sabotaging Your Health? by Emma Hogan of LesMills

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[00:00:55] This is Optimal Health Daily Episode 2507. Can you enjoy junk food without sabotaging your health by Emma Hogan of Les Mills.com and I'm Dr. Neal Malik reading you some of the most popular health and fitness blogs out there with permission from the websites, of course. And with that let's get right to it as we optimize your life.

[00:01:20] Can you enjoy junk food without sabotaging your health by Emma Hogan of Les Mills.com? There's no doubt that too much junk food can mess up your life, but healthy foods have issues too. With this latest roundup of research we revealed the healthy staples that get a black mark and how the humble sandwich could be healthier than you think.

[00:01:42] Listen on and find out how to make smart food choices backed by science.

[00:01:47] junk food is shaving years off your life, but a peanut butter and jelly sandwich could save you. Thanks to a new study from the University of Michigan we now know every hot dog you eat can shorten your life by 36 minutes.

[00:02:01] But you don't need a dramatic shift in diet to undo the damage. In fact, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches could fix it.

[00:02:09] Researchers found that you can almost mitigate the life shortening effects of a hot dog with a portion of nuts one portion adds 26 minutes to your life.

[00:02:19] And they specifically recommend peanut butter and jelly sandwiches saying that the high nut content outweighs the downsides of the jelly.

[00:02:27] If you eat meat, another life lengthening tactic is to replace 10% of your calorie intake with nuts, fruits or vegetables instead of meat.

[00:02:36] Every day you do this can add 48 minutes of healthy life, which is defined as a good quality disease free life.

[00:02:44] The researchers made these calculations using a health nutritional index. They took into account risk factors such as sodium and trans fatty acids along with the benefits of polyunsaturated fat and fiber and established the health burden program of 5800 different foods.

[00:03:03] The healthy foods you should cut back on. As the hot dog study mentioned, researchers also used the health nutritional index to unearth the environmental impact of 5800 foods.

[00:03:15] They evaluated how foods are produced, harvested, processed, consumed and disposed of as well as how nutritionally beneficial or detrimental they are.

[00:03:25] Again, they found replacing 10% of your calorie intake with nuts, fruits or vegetables instead of meat was a smart move.

[00:03:33] It can cut your daily dietary carbon footprint by a third. They also identified that salmon is not the wonder food it's often made out to be.

[00:03:42] While it can add 16 minutes to your healthy life, it got the red light for environmental impact and a recommendation from experts that you reduce intake.

[00:03:52] Bean-based chili con carne was also in the same boat. Interestingly, while it's no surprise that regular sodas bad for your health, since each drink can cut 12 and a half minutes from your life, it was given the green light for environmental impact.

[00:04:07] What is too much sugar actually doing to your body?

[00:04:11] The average American eats about 22 teaspoons of added sugar a day. That's more than three times the recommended daily amount for women and twice the recommended daily amount for men.

[00:04:22] It's well known that such overconsumption can result in high blood pressure, diabetes, fatty liver disease and an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

[00:04:32] But why? Thanks to a new study published in cell reports, we can now see what surplus sugar does at a cellular level.

[00:04:40] The scientists found that too much sugar results in too much glucose in cells. This affects fat composition throughout the body and in turn the mitochondria, which are energy generators within each cell, which become then less efficient and reduce their output.

[00:04:56] Study author Ningwu PhD explains that while we may not notice the sugar induced difference in mitochondrial performance, our bodies do.

[00:05:06] If the lipid balance is thrown off for long enough, we may begin to feel subtle changes such as tiring more quickly.

[00:05:14] End quote. And when the mitochondria are underperforming in this way, it sets the stage for metabolic diseases to kick in.

[00:05:22] Which foods will pay off decades down the track?

[00:05:26] While eating healthy plant-based foods is a good move for us all, it's particularly good for young adults.

[00:05:32] A new study found that those who ate a healthy plant-centered diet as young adults tended to have a lower likelihood of heart disease years later.

[00:05:41] Working with 4946 women who were aged between 18 and 30 back when the study began in 1985,

[00:05:50] researchers scored the quality of each woman's diet using an A-priori diet quality score to record intake of beneficial foods, neutral foods and adverse foods.

[00:06:01] After 32 years of follow-up, 289 of the participants developed cardiovascular disease.

[00:06:08] 28th the most nutritionally rich plant foods and were in the top 20% on long-term diet quality score were 52% less likely than others to suffer cardiovascular disease.

[00:06:20] Those who ramped up the quality of their diet and ate more beneficial plant foods between the ages of 25 and 50, were 61% less likely to develop subsequent cardiovascular disease.

[00:06:31] The researchers noted that a nutritionally rich plant-centered diet does not necessarily have to be vegetarian.

[00:06:38] It simply involves foods that are as close to natural as possible, not highly processed and any animal products or items like non-fried poultry, non-fried fish, eggs and low fat dairy.

[00:06:52] You just listen to the post titled, Can You Enjoy Junk Food Without Sabotaging Your Health by Emma Hogan of Les Mills.com and I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:08:46] Dr. Neal here for my commentary. Today's author Emma posed the question can you enjoy junk food without sabotaging your health? And the answer is yes, you can enjoy junk food without sabotaging your health if you do so in moderation.

[00:09:02] We don't need to hyper focus on the fact that say eating a hot dog may shorten our lifespan by a few minutes. Instead, remember the message that came after like the fact that we could offset some of that by eating more nutritious foods.

[00:09:17] What we're finding for most studies is that it's not necessarily those that are perfect with the food intake that tend to live longer, healthier and happier lives. Instead, it's those that tend to eat nutritious foods most of the time that live longer, healthier and happier lives.

[00:09:34] So it's not about perfection. It's about progress. Are we able to continue eating more nutritious foods as often as possible?

[00:09:44] That's the key take home message.

[00:09:47] Alright, that'll do it for today. Thank you so much for being here every day and sharing this show with others. Don't forget I'll be back tomorrow for our usual Friday Q&A.

[00:09:56] So definitely stay tuned for that with your optimal life awaits.