More than 133 million Americans (40%) had at least one chronic disease in 2022, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Topping the list of chronic diseases are heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and diabetes.
Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a cardiologist and public health campaigner based in London, believes a big part of what’s fueling all those conditions are the foods on Americans’ plates.
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“I think you cannot fix health or health care without fixing the food,” he said during an on-camera interview with Fox News Digital.
Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a cardiologist and public health campaigner based in London, believes a big part of what’s fueling diseases are the foods on Americans’ plates. (Dr. Aseem Malhotra)
Studies have shown that only one in eight Americans has optimal metabolic health, which Malhotra defines as “the state of balance the body maintains between storing fat and burning it for energy.”
What drives metabolic health?
In his bestselling book, “The 21-Day Immunity Plan,” Malhotra writes that metabolic health is measured using five markers.
Those include blood glucose levels, blood pressure, waist circumference, cholesterol profile (the body’s levels of triglycerides, a type of harmful fat found in the blood), and high-density lipoprotein (a beneficial cholesterol-carrying molecule).
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“A person is considered to have metabolic syndrome when they fail to meet three of these optimal values,” he writes. “For example, someone who has high blood pressure, high blood glucose and high triglycerides would be considered to be at the highest risk of experiencing health problems.”
Poor metabolic health is directly linked to the development of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke, Malhotra cautioned.
Improvements can happen within just 21 to 28 days, according to Malhotra — purely from changing dietary habits. (iStock)
It also puts people at a higher risk of cancer and dementia, as well as complications from infections.
The worst things someone can do for their metabolic health, Malhotra said, is to eat a diet high in ultraprocessed foods, sugar and other low-quality carbohydrates, such as flour-based products, rice and pasta.
More than 133 million Americans (40%) had at least one chronic disease in 2022.
To optimize metabolic health, he recommends eating whole foods, avoiding the aforementioned foods, keeping active and reducing stress through yoga, Pilates, meditation or even regularly hugging close friends and loved ones.
Improvements can happen within just 21 to 28 days, according to Malhotra — purely from changing dietary habits.
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“That means cutting out ultraprocessed foods and eliminating what we call low-quality carbohydrates — the refined breads, the pastas, rice, potatoes,” he said. “If you eliminate those — I’m not saying forever, but if you do that for four to six weeks, you will actually start to reset your metabolic health.”
“And then, of course, you can have those foods occasionally.”
Topping the list of chronic diseases are heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and diabetes. (iStock)
Optimizing metabolic health doesn’t mean people can’t enjoy food, said Malhotra, whose father taught him to cook when he was a teenager.
“I love food like most people — it’s one of the greatest pleasures of life,” he told Fox News Digital. “I cook every day.”
“But I have the resources to be able to afford healthy food as well, which a lot of people don’t have, and that’s a real issue,” he added.
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In his daily diet, Malhotra avoids ultraprocessed foods — but it wasn’t always that way. He refers to himself as a “reformed junk food and sugar addict.”
“I used to eat fast food all the time and lots of sugar,” he shared. “But when I realized it wasn’t good for me, I looked to the research. I converted very quickly and broke that addiction.”
Fighting ultraprocessed foods
Sixty percent of the calorie consumption in the U.S. diet comes from ultraprocessed foods, the doctor pointed out, going on to share his definition.
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“These are industrial formulations made up of five or more ingredients, usually with additives and preservatives, and they basically contain unhealthy oils, sugar. They lack fiber [and have] a lot of refined carbohydrates.”
In Malhotra’s view, ultraprocessed foods have been “designed deliberately” by the food industry to make them “hyper-palatable and probably addictive.”
Sixty percent of the calorie consumption in the U.S. diet comes from ultraprocessed foods, the doctor pointed out. (iStock)
“I think that would be one of the most important things that needs to be tackled — how do we curtail the consumption of ultraprocessed food while simultaneously increasing consumption of whole foods?”
To accomplish this, Malhotra suggested taking lessons from tobacco control, which he believes the U.S. did very well.
“I think you cannot fix health or health care without fixing the food.”
“Public health advocates and scientists called out the manipulations of big tobacco through three processes — targeting the availability, the affordability and the acceptability of cigarettes,” he said.
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Malhotra recommends applying the same principle to processed foods, which might mean raising the price or using the taxation of those foods to subsidize healthier foods.
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“I also think banning advertising of ultraprocessed foods … would definitely go a long way to curbing that consumption,” he added.
There is also a need for public health education campaigns to help people understand what ultraprocessed foods are, according to the doctor.
