What is better for your health: meat, fish, fruits or veggies?

In the Western countries, we eat more meat (13% of our daily calories) than fruit and veggies (7%) and fish (1%). But when the goal is to live long and healthy lives, is this the right approach?

Let’s see what the science has to say on the topic:

- A 2017 scientific review with 2 million participants found that eating fruit and vegetables is associated with a lower mortality risk of up to 31%

- Another 2017 scientific review with 1.7 million participants, found that eating fish is associated with a lower mortality risk of up to 14%

- The same 2017 study found that eating red meat is associated with an increase in mortality risk of up to 21% (depending on how much you eat), whereas a different 2017 study, with 1.3 million participants, found that eating processed meat (e.g. sausages, bacon, ham) is also associated with an increase in mortality risk of up to 58%. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any relevant studies for white meat (e.g. poultry)

What does this mean to you? If you follow the typical Western diet, you should consider eating less meat (at least processed and red) and adding more fruit, vegetables and fish to your diet. There’s good evidence that doing so could help you be healthy for longer.

To find other habits that can help you be healthier try our Healthy Habits app.

A special thank you to inesvanmuysen for her help and feedback on this story!