Brazil
Leading cause: Heart Disease · 57% plant-based · 76.8 yr life expectancy · UHC 84/100
What People Eat
Traditional beans-and-rice diet is significantly protective. Shift to ultra-processed food is driving Brazil's CVD crisis.
Disease Burden
Leading cause of death: Heart Disease · 119 / 100k
Bars show each rate against the global range; the tick marks the world median.
Heart disease (119/100k) leads Brazilian mortality, but the most striking figures are diabetes (30/100k) and kidney disease, driven by a rapid shift from the traditional beans-and-rice diet to ultra-processed foods. Brazil's own NOVA research links that shift to higher mortality, while the traditional pattern is protective.
Healthcare System
Sources: WHO UHC Service Coverage Index (SDG 3.8.1) & WHO Global Health Expenditure Database. Latest available year.
What Could Improve
- Protect and revive the traditional beans-and-rice diet, which NOVA research links to 14% lower mortality than ultra-processed eating.
- Cut ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks, the clearest driver of the diabetes surge.
- Use Brazil's pioneering food-based dietary guidelines to steer the population back toward whole foods.
Explore the evidence: Heart Disease
NOVA Classification · Monteiro et al., 2019 · Public Health Nutr
→ Traditional diet: 14% lower mortality vs. ultra-processed