Diet-related diseases

Will caffeinated drinks make you dehydrated? Should you limit egg consumption or avoid cooking vegetables? Can eating certain nutrients at certain times of the day help you lose weight? Fact is not always easy to distinguish from fiction.

Dietary guidelines say that we should eat fat in moderation and include lots of fruit, vegetables and grains in our meals. The recent results of the largest ever dietary intervention trial did not demonstrate a beneficial effect of such recommendations on the risk of developing cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Or did it? In reality, the interpretation of this milestone study needs nuanced careful interpretation.

Despite major health gains over recent decades, there continues to be wide variations in health status, risk factors for health, and health care provision across European countries. To help explain the underlying causes of these variations, and to guide future policy development, a groundbreaking report ‘Health at a Glance: Europe 2010’ has been published.

In November 2007 a major report was published that reviewed existing studies on the relative risk of different types of cancer through lifestyle choices. Drawing together high quality research and international scientific expertise, this report, published jointly by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) is the state of the art on the relationship between food, body composition, physical activity and different types of cancer.

Improving diets by changing the composition of processed foods is considered one of many means to help reduce the prevalence of diet-related diseases. Food reformulation initiatives have so far aimed at reducing salt, trans-fatty acids, saturated fatty acids, sugars and total energy. Eventually, any impact of such programmes largely depends on consumers’ food choices and will only show in the long term.

Emerging research suggests some saturated fats carry out important functions in the body. However, this does not counteract the advice that people should reduce saturated fat consumption.