Although there is a belief that vegetarians generally follow a healthier diet, a study disproves this.
Vegetarians include more processed and highly processed foods in their diets than vegetarians, according to a new study.
A team of researchers at Imperial College London, in collaboration with the University of São Paulo and the France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer, have studied the prevalence of cancer in people in the UK who follow a predominantly vegetarian diet. tend to eat more processed foods than meat eaters.
In a study published in the journal eClinicalMedicine Lancet analyzed data from 200,000 people from UK Biobank on highly processed food consumption in the UK.
Previous research has shown that consumers in many Western countries are reducing their meat consumption and therefore switching to a more plant-based diet.
Many people become vegetarians because they want to eat healthier, more ethically, or even because the price of meat is rising.
However, Studies show that vegetarianism is not always healthier. In the UK, vegetarians (those who do not eat meat but do eat animal products) and vegans (those who do not consume any animal products) eat more highly processed foods than meat eaters.
Vegetarianism is often equated with eating lots of fruits, nuts, and vegetables. However, in practice it also includes eating highly processed foods such as cereals, sweets, pasta, ‘fake’ (substitute) meat and pizza.
Such foods sometimes contain a number of additives unhealthy compounds and chemicals to improve taste and texture. On the other hand, meat is less processed than these.
Researchers claim the health benefits of eating less red meat are significant lost due to health risks found in highly processed foods.