Justification not yet generated — showing supporting facts

• The Mediterranean diet, which is associated with beneficial effects on cardiovascular health, comprises fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and healthy fats such as olive oil and nuts, contrasting with the highly processed foods found in the Western diet.
• Standardizing the quantification method for food components like whole grains and legumes (e.g., specifying grams of cooked vs. dry weight) is necessary to improve comparisons and prevent discrepancies arising from user interpretation.
• To improve population health, policy measures should support increased intake of health-promoting foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts/seeds, while reducing the intake of unhealthy foods such as red meat, processed meat, and sugary beverages.
• Globally, between 1990 and 2018, AHEI scores increased for non-starchy vegetables (+1.1), legumes/nuts (+1.1), and fruit (+0.1); decreased for red/processed meat (−1.4), sugar-sweetened beverages (−0.6), and sodium (−0.4); and remained stable for whole grains (+0.1), PUFAs (0), and seafood omega-3 (0).
• Diets globally continue to lack sufficient amounts of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains, while including excessive and sometimes rising amounts of red meat, processed meat, and sugary drinks.
• Risks related to dietary composition in the 2021 Global Nutrition Report analysis included low intake of fruits (2.8 million deaths), whole grains (2.3 million), vegetables (1.7 million), legumes (1.5 million), nuts and seeds (1.0 million), and high intake of red meat (980,000), processed meat (880,000), and sugar-sweetened beverages (290,000).
• Consuming foods rich in soluble and insoluble fiber, such as beans, legumes, whole grains (like oats), apples, bananas, and citrus fruits, may help fight inflammation.
• The Healthy Diet Indicator (HDI) scores dietary intake based on eleven components: fruits and vegetables (≥ 400g), beans and other legumes (> 0g), nuts and seeds (> 0g), whole grains (> 0g), dietary fiber (> 25g), total fat (< 30% total energy), saturated fat (< 10% total energy), dietary sodium (< 2g), free sugars (< 10% total energy), processed meat (0g), and unprocessed red meat (≤ 71g).
• Suboptimal diets are characterized by low intake of fibers, fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, milk, seafood, calcium, and healthy fats (omega-3 fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids) and high intake of trans-fatty acids, sodium, red or processed meat, and sugar-sweetened beverages, according to Afshin et al. (2019).
• In high-income countries, Central/Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Northern Africa, improvements in dietary quality driven by increased intake of fruit, non-starchy vegetables, legumes/nuts, and whole grains have been offset by stable or only minor reductions in red/processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), and sodium.
• A healthy diet consists of plenty of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and oils high in unsaturated fats, while containing little to no red and processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages, refined grains, and oils high in saturated fats.
• The planetary health diet prioritizes the consumption of vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and fish, while limiting the intake of red meat and tubers, and promoting moderate consumption of eggs, poultry, and dairy products.
• Imbalanced diets low in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains, and high in red and processed meat are responsible for one of the greatest health burdens globally and in most regions.
• Globally, urban residents had higher AHEI scores for fruit (+0.2) and whole grains (+0.2), but lower scores for sugar-sweetened beverages (-0.5), red/processed meat (-0.4), and legumes/nuts (-0.1).
• The EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems established specific dietary recommendations for minimum intake of health-promoting foods (fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains) and maximum intake of foods with detrimental health or environmental impacts (red meat, processed meat, dairy, fish).
• Replacing high-fat and sugar products in the Western diet with fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains may reduce low-grade inflammation and prevent the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
• The Mediterranean-Style Dietary Pattern Score (MSDPS) assigns points based on daily or weekly servings of specific food groups, including whole grains (8 servings/day), fruits (3 servings/day), vegetables (6 servings/day), dairy (2 servings/day), wine (1.5 servings/day for women, 3 servings/day for men), fish/seafood (6 servings/week), poultry (4 servings/week), olives/legumes/nuts (4 servings/week), potatoes/starchy roots (3 servings/week), eggs (3 servings/week), sweets (3 servings/week), and meat (1 serving/week).
• The GDR Score categorizes diet quality by assigning positive scores to the consumption of dark-green leafy vegetables, vitamin A-rich orange-colored vegetables, roots, tubers, other vegetables, vitamin A-rich fruits, citrus fruits, other fruits (including red/purple/blue fruits), legumes, nuts/seeds, and whole grains.
• Plant-based diets are characterized by a high intake of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, and nuts, while minimizing or excluding animal products like red meat, fish, and dairy. This dietary pattern is high in fiber and nutrients and may support heart health, blood sugar management, and overall well-being.
• The Western pattern diet is rich in red meat, dairy products, processed and artificially sweetened foods, and salt, with minimal intake of fruits, vegetables, fish, legumes, and whole grains.
• In dietary indices, fruits and vegetables demonstrate robust correlations with total scores, underscoring their importance in evaluating both health and sustainability, whereas whole grains and legumes exhibit weaker correlations.
• In 2018, the highest global AHEI component scores for healthier items were for legumes/nuts (5.0), followed by whole grains (4.7), seafood omega-3 fat (4.2), and non-starchy vegetables (3.9).
• Increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and lean protein sources is associated with a reduced risk of metabolic diseases, type 2 diabetes, and mortality.
• The Global Nutrition Report 2021 analysis includes diet-disease associations for low intake of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts/seeds, and whole grains, as well as for high intake of red meat, processed meat, and sugary drinks.