Another scientific study is here to break your heart. Coming from the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, it turns out that “frequent consumption of meals prepared away from home is significantly associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality.”
Translation? Eating out from home — twice a day — can shave years off of your life. So those of you who buy lunch at work and then go out for dinner after work (guilty)…you may want to read on.
The study looked at over 30,000 adults for over 15 years (from 1999-2014); by the time the entire study had concluded (including interviews) in 2015, 2,781 participants had died of heart disease and 638 had died of cancer, according to the results.
In a shocking statistic from the data’s analysis, those who ate out or ordered takeout an average of two or more times a day were 95% more likely to suffer an early death, than those who ate out less than once a week.
This is backed up by a study that came out of Tuft’s University, in early 2020. The study found that less than 0.1% — literally almost none — of the restaurant meals consumed throughout the study were of ideal quality. However, this one can be taken with a (metaphorical, please) grain of salt, as the study was conducted in America.
Although, the senior author of the study, Dariush Mozaffarian, did state that “Our findings show dining out is a recipe for unhealthy eating most of the time.” The study encouraged restaurants to add more whole grains, nuts, legumes, fish, vegetables and fruits to their meals to boost the nutritional value.
So yes, as fun as dining out is — especially with some state governments encouraging residents to dine out with vouchers — if you are eating out, choose a restaurant where you can find the aforementioned ingredients — and make an effort to order meals that actually contain them.
Or if you’re looking to cook at home, here are some delicious plant-based recipes you can make (that your kids will love too).
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