Lifestyle

Eating bread and pasta is good for your health, says study


Time to load up on the carbs (Picture: Getty)

We’re often told that beige foods are bad for us.

This is because colourful foods – such as fruit and vegetables – contain the vitamins and antioxidants our bodies need to function. Typically, the less colourful the food, the fewer nutrients it has.

But a new study has found that eating protein from plant-based foods – such as pasta and bread – has been linked to a lower risk of dying.

Yes, science says our carb cravings are doing us some good.

In a recent study – which was published in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal – researchers looked at data on 416,104 men and women, over a 16-year-period. On average, participants got 15% of their daily energy intake from protein, 40% from plants, and 60% from animal proteins – including 19% for dairy.

It found that eating plant protein was linked to a lower chance of dying overall and from cardiovascular disease. 

What’s more, this association was particularly strong when foods such as bread, cereal and pasta (AKA – all the good stuff) were consumed over meat and eggs.

It showed that swapping eggs for foods with plant protein was linked to a 24% lower risk of death in men and 21% in women.

When meat was swapped, the risk dropped to 13% in men and 15%t in women.

This also remained the case when researchers took into account different lifestyle choices that could affect participants’ health, such as smoking, diabetes, fruit consumption and vitamin supplement use.

The team behind the study say their findings provide evidence that changing an individual’s diet may affect health and lifespan.

The research also supports previous studies which have found substituting certain carbohydrates for proteins is linked to improved blood pressure and better fat and sugar levels in the blood.

This really is the good news we’ve all been waiting for.

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Get in touch at MetroLifestyleTeam@metro.co.uk.

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