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They're good for you. We promise.
They're good for you. We promise. (Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

No, Eating Fruits and Vegetables Isn’t Bad for You

Despite what you hear in the media, the science of healthy eating is well-established. Instead of following the fads, rely on the fundamentals: stay away from processed foods and eat lots of vegetables.

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They're good for you. We promise.
(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

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Does any one diet regimen stand out above all others? Is there any consensus at all? Well, yes. And yes. But you wouldn鈥檛 know that if you just read the headlines.

Recently, vegetarian diets were found to be associated with 鈥溾 But only a few weeks later, research found that 鈥溾

Whom to believe?

Dr. David Katz, director of Yale University鈥檚 Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, sought to find out after the Annual Reviews asked him to compare the evidence for every mainstream diet.

In the recently published study, , and found that鈥攕urprise!鈥攏o specific diet is much better than the next. The evidence, instead, supports several common themes: Eating lots of vegetables is good for you. Probably the best. And stay away from processed foods. Do this and you鈥檒l perform better physically, mentally, and more than likely lengthen your lifespan.

鈥淥ur paper basically revealed the truth and what we鈥檝e been telling people forever,鈥 declares Dr. Katz, who claims to have no 鈥渄og in the fight,鈥 for one diet over any other. 鈥淓ating more fruits and vegetables is good for you.鈥

As for the reliability of the Austrian anti-vegetarian paper, 鈥淵our eyebrows go up,鈥 says Dr. Katz. 鈥淭he methodology doesn鈥檛 pass the sniff test.鈥 For one, dietetically, very few Austrians eat fruits and vegetables. 鈥淪o among the ones who say they do, who are they and why?鈥

In his experience, there are two groups who are vegans and vegetarians. 鈥淧eople who鈥檝e eaten according to this diet their whole lives. And those who have cancer. So it鈥檚 their doctors who鈥檝e advised them to go on this vegan or vegetarian diet.鈥 But it wasn鈥檛 reported that way in this Austrian study. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 just a very deeply flawed study.鈥

Besides, not all vegetarians are created equal. It鈥檚 easy to eat a vegetarian diet rich in fats and simple carbohydrates, which are terrible for you, says Dr. Aaron Baggish, associate director for the Cardiovascular Performance Program at Boston鈥檚 Massachusetts General Hospital. 鈥淎nd for athletes in particular, if they鈥檙e on a vegetarian diet, they tend to eat a lot of simple carbs.鈥

If, however, you鈥檙e consuming minimally processed foods and plenty of fruits and vegetables鈥攚hether you鈥檙e Paleo or vegan鈥攜ou鈥檙e eating pretty healthily. 鈥淓ating wholesome foods is the cornerstone,鈥 says Dr. Katz. 鈥淓specially for athletes.鈥 (Complex carbs take longer to break down, and so continue to provide you with more energy.)

What most distresses Dr. Katz is the overattention placed on this or that diet, and not enough on applying what we do know. Constantly adjusting or changing one鈥檚 diet according to the latest breakthrough regimen (Lose weight! Run faster! Eat whatever you want!) is just missing the old-growth forest for the faddish trees.

鈥淎ll we really need to do is commit to the fundamentals of what we know,鈥 says Dr. Katz.聽 鈥淭he theme of healthy eating is well-established, and the evidence is incredibly consistent鈥攁cross years, across cultures, across everything.鈥

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