As reported at the European Congress on Obesity, May 2021, nearly 180,000 British people aged 37-73 were recently recruited to evaluate their dietary habits. The object of the study was to produce an analysis of how eating patterns affect the number of serum [blood], and urine biomarkers indicating subjects’ risks for cancers, heart disease, diabetes, and chronic, age-related conditions like joint deterioration and inflammation.

Nineteen biomarkers, known to be indicators of those quality, and length of life, issues were the focus of this study. Vegetarians were shown to have lower levels of thirteen biomarkers of those nineteen on which the researchers focused. The findings in this study add more data to the well-publicized admonitions from scientists, nutritionists, and medical professionals to eat like people who live on the Mediterranean Sea, or in Asia.

Those diets have in common the emphasis of colorful produce [mostly vegetables], reduced intake of saturated fats from animals and coconuts, inclusion of starchy vegetables and grains [whole grains are best], and the addition of animal protein as a condiment to flavor food—and not used as the main event on the plate. Sweets can be eaten in moderate amounts, as long as they do not substitute for nutritious foods, and as long as sugary drinks are excluded.

Thanks to the British researchers for more data to help keep us on the right track.

Dateline: Latham, Albany County, New York