- "The Western diet is definitely making you sick"
A review of around 300 scientific papers from the last five years has, for the first time, comprehensively shown the link between Western diet and chronic diseases. The article, created by gastroenterologists Herbert Tilg and Timon Adolph of the Medical University of Innsbruck and published in the prestigious journal "Nature Medicine", highlights the harmful effects of excessive meat consumption, sugar, and highly processed foods on our health.
According to the scientists, specific Western dietary components can reduce the diversity of microbes in the gut, thereby promoting chronic inflammation in the human body. Long-chain fatty acids, sugar, excessive meat consumption leading to increased cholesterol intake, and highly processed foods are some of the main culprits.
"Global Westernization of Diet"
This issue is no longer limited to Europe and the US, but is gaining global significance. The so-called Western diet has spread to various parts of the world, leading to a "global Westernization of diet", as the scientists write.
The study found that, in addition to inflammatory bowel diseases, various cardiovascular and metabolic diseases have also increased in recent years. "Western diet definitely makes us sick. Now it's up to us to prove through clinical studies based on this article which components lead to which diseases and how they make our body sick," explained Adolph.
Healthy Diet is Individual
The authors emphasize that it's important not only to understand which diet leads to health problems but also what constitutes a healthy diet for individual people or groups. "Not everyone gets sick from the same diet, and potentially healthy diets may not be suitable for everyone," says Adolph.
Adolph suggests conducting large-scale clinical nutrition studies to determine which dietary components are healthy or harmful for each individual. However, such extensive investigations require significant financial resources.
The overall study supports the notion that the global Westernization of diet is contributing to an increase in various cardiovascular and metabolic diseases worldwide. Furthermore, understanding the individual effects of Western diet components on health is essential, as not all individuals are affected in the same way.
