PURE Study Results Ignore Impact of Poverty

The results of the PURE study ignore the role of poverty in improving health, according to a letter to the editor published in The Lancet. The recently published PURE study argued that high carbohydrate consumption increased mortality risk. The letter argues that these results ignore socioeconomic factors associated with poor health outcomes, including pollution and health care, and that it is misleading to condemn foods such as fruits, vegetables, and legumes. The authors suggest that revised global dietary guidelines focus on efforts to relieve poverty and increase access to healthful foods and health care to improve mortality rates.