A diet low in nuts and seeds has a bigger impact on disease burden than a diet low in vegetables, according to data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (1).

The AIHW Burden of Disease data ranked 12 dietary risk factors, based on their impact on disease.

Top dietary risks

Figure 1: Percent of disability-adjusted life years (DALY) due to dietary risks (2018)

A diet low legumes was the leading dietary risk, contributing to 1.2% of the total disease burden in Australia in 2018. A diet low in nuts and seeds contributed 0.7% of the total burden, and a diet low in vegetables contributed to 0.6% of the total burden.

Looking at deaths, from the same AIHW data, a diet low in legumes contributed to 2.3% of total deaths in Australia in 2018. A diet low in nuts and seeds contributed to 1.3% of total deaths, and a diet low in vegetables contributed to 1.2% of total deaths.

Nuts are essential for good health. Based on AIHW data, eating enough nuts is just as important as eating enough vegetables, to reduce the burden of disease in the Australian population (1).

Food for thought on dietary guidance

The AIHW Burden of Disease data – which has been published since the release of the existing (2013) Australian Dietary Guidelines – highlights how important it is to consider foods and dietary patterns for good health, including a greater emphasis on plant-based foods, like nuts. Food for thought as the National Health and Medical Research Council reviews the 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines.

What is burden of disease?

The AIHW describes burden of disease data as the best measure of the impact of different diseases or injuries on a population.

Burden of disease analysis quantifies the gap between a population’s actual health and an ideal level of health (that is, every person living without disease or injury to their maximum life span) in a given year.

What else did the AIHW study find?

Thirty-eight per cent of the total health burden faced by Australians could have been prevented by removing modifiable risk factors, such as tobacco use, overweight and obesity, and dietary risks.  

The 7 risk factors that caused the greatest health burden in 2018:

• Tobacco use (responsible for 8.6% of total burden)
• Overweight and obesity (8.4%)
• Dietary risks (5.4%)
• High blood pressure (5.1%) and
• High blood plasma glucose (including diabetes) (4.3%)
• Illict drug use (3.0%)
• High cholesterol (2.7%).

Did you know? Australians are not consuming enough nuts. Only 2% of us meet the daily target of a 30g handful of nuts (2).

The enormous impact of diet

Dietary risks were the third leading risk factor contributing to the burden of disease. All dietary risks combined contributed 50% of coronary heart disease burden, 26% of type 2 diabetes burden, 26% of stroke burden and 26% of bowel cancer burden. The combination of dietary risks was linked to 16 diseases.

Figure 2: Disability-adjusted life years (DALY) due to all dietary risks (2018)

Did you know? The latest Global Burden of Disease study (2019) found the top five risk factors for death in Australia were high blood pressure (contributing to an estimated 25,500 deaths), dietary risks (21,600 deaths), tobacco use (20,100 deaths), high body mass index (18,700 deaths), and high blood sugar (17,700 deaths) (2).