Encouraging people to eat a wide variety of foods to ensure they meet all their nutritional needs may backfire, according to a new scientific statement.
"Eating a more varied diet may be associated with eating a greater variety of both healthy and unhealthy foods," the statement's lead author said. “Combined, such an eating pattern can lead to increased food consumption and obesity.
“Eating a variety of foods” has been a public health recommendation worldwide for decades. While some dietary guidelines emphasize a greater diversity of recommended foods, there is little consensus about what so-called dietary diversity is, how it is measured, and whether it is a healthy dietary goal. The authors of the statement conducted a thorough scientific literature review of articles published between January 2000 and December 2017. They concluded:
*There is no evidence that greater general food diversity promotes a healthy weight or optimal eating.
*There is some evidence that a wider variety of food options during a meal can slow people's feeling of satiety (fullness), reducing the amount of food they eat. eating, increases.
* Limited evidence suggests greater dietary diversity is associated with higher calorie intake, poor eating patterns and weight gain in adults.
Rather than telling people to eat different foods, the authors conclude that dietary advice should emphasize adequate consumption of plant foods, such as fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains, low-fat dairy products, non-tropical vegetable oils, nuts, poultry and fish, and the consumption of red meat, sweets and sugary drinks should be restricted.
