Once again a huge study comes out that says it’s what you eat (or don’t eat) that matters. Monday the Archives of Internal Medicine published a study of more than 88,000 women who were tracked for almost 25 years. The ones who ate closest to the DASH diet — one high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low fat dairy, and low in red and processed meats had a 24 percent lower risk of heart attack. And they had an 18 percent lower risk of stroke.

In short, “eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Those words, by the author Michael Pollan (here’s his website), are the best summary of a good diet that I’ve ever read. Now, he went on to use a lot more words (not too many) in his most recent book “In Defense of Food.” But this is basically what he meant by that short formula:

Eat food means eat only things that your grandmother would have eaten. That means minimally processed food that’s a close to it’s original form as possible. That way you avoid all the calories, fats and additives that the food industry puts in processed food to make them taste better.

(Forgive my peeve moment here: It annoys me that the Food and Drug Administration does not require manufacturers to list the sugar they add to a product separately from the sugar that occurs naturally in the food. Fruit juice, for example, often contains both natural and added sugars. Which is which? They don’t tell us.)

Not too much means a calorie is a calorie is a calorie whether it comes from broccoli or a Pop Tart. So don’t consume more than you need. (Yes, I know, easier said than done.)

Mostly plants means just that. It means eat less meat and the stuff that comes from animals, like cheese and milk products.

That in essence is the DASH diet. ( Here are some guidelines and recipes from the National Institutes of Health.) Women who followed it had lower blood pressure, and fewer heart attacks and strokes. It also turns out, as always, that diet isn’t everything. The researchers found that the women who ate a DASH diet also exercised more, smoked less, ate fewer calories, and were more likely to take multivitamins.

But the next time you or those you love get confused about what to eat, just remember: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

And enjoy.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 7:39 am and is filed under what to eat (and not). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.