University of Iowa Study Says Eating Out May Kill You Young

We all already know that having pizza delivered three times a week isn't exactly the healthiest diet, but it sure is convenient. It turns out, getting delivery at all might not be good.

via GIPHY

A new study from the University of Iowa analyzed 15 years years of dietary behavior among more than 35,000 adults aged 20 and older. The main finding was "frequent consumption” of restaurant-made meals is strongly linked to early death.

The research team analyzed data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey that polled adults between 1999 and 2014.

Those who ate two restaurant meals a day were more likely to die of any cause by 49%. This group also was found to have a 65% greater chance of dying of cancer.

Over the course of the survey, 2,781 of the respondents died, with 511 of them dying of heart disease and 638 of them were of cancer.

“This is one of the first studies to quantify the association between eating out and mortality,” notes Wei Bao, MD, PhD, a professor at the University of Iowa, in the study’s official release. “Our findings, in line with previous studies, support that eating out frequently is associated with adverse health consequences and may inform future dietary guidelines to recommend reducing consumption of meals prepared away from home.”

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There is difficulty in finding restaurant-prepared meals that are truly healthy, given so many of them are high in calories or are overdone with fat, sugar, and sodium.

Some restaurants serve salads, which one would believe are healthier options, that have the same number of calories as a Quarter Pounder Deluxe.

If you are reading your food's labels, just keep in mind that the American Heart Association recommends nobody consume more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium in one day.

Read more at EatThis