Eating can be worse than smoking

That's what the Lancet found. Our diet results in 11 million of us dying early each year. The study found that our diet is involved in one in five deaths around the world. The biggest cause is salt; too much results in three million deaths. But, we don't eat enough whole grains (also leading to three million deaths) and fruit (two million). And we should eat more nuts, seeds, vegetables, omega-3 from seafood and fiber.

The vast majority of the 11 million deaths is due to cardiovascular disease. Too much salt raises blood pressure and that in turn raises the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Whole grains, fruit and vegetables have the opposite effect - they are "cardioprotective" and lower the risk of heart problems.

Mediterranean countries, particularly France, Spain and Israel, have some of the lowest numbers of diet-related deaths in the world. Countries in South East, Southern and Central Asia are at the opposite end of the spectrum. Israel has the lowest diet-related deaths - 89 per 100,000 people a year. Uzbekistan has the highest diet-related deaths - 892 per 100,000 people a year