Research
Mixed
Women experience smaller detrimental cardiometabolic effects from diet than men, as measured by the Adverse Diet-Health Index (IDHIadverse).
Men are statistically more vulnerable to the negative cardiometabolic effects of a poor diet than women. This means men should be particularly vigilant about limiting processed meats, sodium, and sugar, as their bodies may suffer greater immediate harm from these factors compared to women.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
By sex, women experienced smaller detrimental cardiometabolic effects of diet than men: (females IDHIadverse range: −0.480... to −0.314...; males IDHIadverse range: (−0.617... to −0.346...)).
Why this rating
Based on large-scale global data and meta-analyses, providing robust population-level evidence.
Source
The International Diet-Health Index: a novel tool to evaluate diet quality for cardiometabolic health across countries
Jifan Wang et al. · BMJ Global Health · 2020
DOI 10.1136/bmjgh-2019-002120
cross_sectionalCited 14×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Dietary intake of risk-increasing factors (processed meat, red meat, sugar-sweetened beverages, sodium, saturated fat) has a greater detrimental cardiometabolic impact on younger adults (25-44 years) than on older adults, while risk-reducing factors (fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, PUFA, seafood omega-3) provide the greatest benefit to middle-aged adults (45-69 years).Good
- Sodium and Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSB) are the primary drivers of adverse cardiometabolic health impacts globally, with sodium being the largest contributor in most regions and SSB being the largest in Latin America and the Caribbean.Good
Related findings · Mixed
- Bariatric surgery (VSG and RYGB) is the most effective and sustainable treatment for obesity, producing marked and sustained weight loss that non-surgical interventions cannot match.Strong
- Severely protein-deficient diets (2–3% energy) induce lean body mass loss and metabolic imbalance, whereas adequate protein intake (0.66 g/kg/d minimum) is a prerequisite for maintaining muscle, bone, and physiological function.Strong
- For patients with Class III obesity (BMI >39.9 kg/m2), metabolic bariatric surgery (MBS) is significantly more effective than any currently approved medication, with BilioPancreatic Diversion (BPD) showing the highest estimated weight loss.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →