Just my view - whole food plant based - China Study and Dr. Greger ... I am a numbers guy and the numbers are there !!!
My rules in terms of research and studies -
1) I can NOT just look at one item - my body and how it all works is so complex we still don't fully understand "it"
2) my baseline is the "healthiest people in this world". And that ain't the Western diet ... my influencers are Blue Zones, longevity and all I have seen and read... I think Seventh Day Adventists are closest for "me" to healthy nutrition - and as far as I can tell, numbers are clear that for example vegans are overall healthier than vegetarians in terms of cancer, heart disease and so on ... thats makes it clear to me. Does one cheese sth a month make a difference - you body is amazing and it probably doesn't but I don't use that as an excuse to make that weekly.
3) So with the baseline - when I look at a study, it has to be based or be able to relate it to my diet and lifestyle - otherwise its not meant for me (and probably not for most others ... ). If somebody who eats 2 bad processed hamburgers every day switches to much less processed steaks - the "study" will show that steaks are healthy ... but to me each steak is like smoking a cigarette ... one won't kill you tomorrow but cancer odds are just bigger.
4) Why do people not believe in this ? Its sad but its ALL $$$$$$$$$$ .
5) One of my favorite fact - doctors we have now learned less than 25hrs about nutrition in medical school - our medical care system is NOT based on prevention at all - we have great doctors but they treat the disease when its there and our body may take 80 years to create the disease...
Why post this for USMS - I am a swimmer FOREVER and I wanted to share my views ...