How healthy do you eat? It seems a simple question. Yet we appear to massively overestimate the health of our diet.

We all know that healthy eating is very important. This is mainly because it significantly reduces the risk of various diseases, including the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. However, it often proves difficult to maintain a healthy diet. But surprisingly, most of us still seem convinced to eat healthy even when we don’t, a new study shows.

How healthy do you eat?

In a new study, researchers asked more than 9,700 Americans the simple question: How healthy are you eating? The participants first had to fill in a questionnaire about what their diet consisted of. They were then asked to rate their diet. They could choose from excellent, very good, good, fair and bad.

Did you know…

…unhealthy food is estimated to kill up to 11 million people a year?

Rating

After the participants had first made their own judgments about their diet, it was the researchers’ turn. They examined the completed questionnaires and the test subjects’ assessments and then determined the actual health of the diet for each participant. It leads to a striking discovery. Because the study reveals significant differences between the scores calculated by the researchers and how the participants themselves rated their diet. Of the more than 9,700 participants, about 8,000 (about 85 percent) rated their nutritional quality inaccurately. Of these, almost everyone (99 percent!) overestimates the health of the diet.

Healthier than it is

It means that we en masse think that we eat healthier than is actually the case. But that’s not even the most surprising, according to researcher Jessica Thomson. “What we found most surprising is the extent to which people overestimate the health of their diet,” she tells Scientias.nl† “For example, they perceived their diet as very good, when in fact their diet was bad.”

Unhealthy eating pattern

Only a small percentage of American adults were found to accurately estimate the health of their diet. And strikingly enough, these were mainly those who had an unhealthy diet. The researchers’ scores matched the participant’s assessment in 97 percent of these cases. In short, the worse you eat, the better you know.

Declaration

A pressing question, of course, is why most people think their diet is healthier than it actually is. Unfortunately, Thomson still owes us the answer. “Based on our research results, I can’t explain that,” she says. “More research is needed to determine exactly what factors people consider when asked to rate the health of their diet.”

Wrong perception

For example, it could be that most people don’t really know which foods are healthy and unhealthy. Also, they may not be well aware of certain dietary recommendations and may not consider where they buy their food or how it is prepared. And so Thomson hopes the study will spur policymakers into action. “People should be better informed,” she argues. “I also hope that more efforts will be made to help people better assess whether the foods they are eating are really in line with a healthy diet.”

What is a healthy diet?
What exactly does a healthy diet look like? To eat healthy you should not consume too many calories. In addition, it should consist of a variety of plant foods and less animal foods. Saturated fats should also make way for unsaturated fats and there should be less refined grains, processed foods and added sugars on the menu. A healthy diet also consists of less red meat and sugar and more nuts, fruit, vegetables and legumes. You should really go back to the primordial diet of our distant ancestors. In short, examples of foods that are considered healthy are fruits and vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, low-fat dairy products, seafood and vegetable proteins. Foods to avoid are refined grains, foods that are very salty, added sugars and saturated fats.

All in all, the researchers underline a true diet delusion with their study. Apparently there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that people can better estimate the health of their diet. And if we come to realize that our diet may be worse than we think, this can lead to an improvement in our diet.