Diets High In Fruits And Vegetables Lower Heart Disease Risk
Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of both men and women in the U.S., claiming an estimated half a million lives each year. Ischemic heart disease (ISD), which occurs when the blood supply to the heart is compromised, is the most common form of the condition, resulting in angina, chest pains, and a heart attack. ISD is in fact a leading cause of death in America and Europe. The tragedy is, in many cases, certain measures could have been taken to greatly reduce a person's risk for the disease.
This includes lifestyle choices like being active and choosing not to smoke or drink alcohol. Another important consideration is diet. In addition to lowering your salt intake and reducing the amount of saturated fat that you consume, a new study has determined that eating more fruits and vegetables is also associated with a decreased risk of mortality from ISD.
The authors of the study, published in the European Heart Journal, stress that it is difficult to determine a causal relationship because people who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables tend to embrace other healthy lifestyle habits. Nonetheless, the data supports the importance of a healthy diet in maintaining good heart health.
In the study in question, researchers looked at over 300,000 people in 10 different countries. Of those people, 1,636 died from IHD. However, for every portion of fruit or vegetable eaten every day, there was a 4% decline in the risk of dying from IHD. People who consumed at least eight portions of fruit and vegetables each day lowered their risk by 22% when compared individuals who ate fewer than three portions each day. A portion was identified as the equivalent of an apple or banana.
The study spanned over eight years and focused on people between the ages of 40 and 85 years. Profiles were established regarding a patient's diet at the beginning of the study as well as their overall health, socio-economic status, and lifestyle choices, including whether or not they smoked, drank alcohol, and exercised regularly. Follow up information was gathered after an average of eight-and-a-half years.
The authors of the study acknowledge that while there were some limitations to the study, the overall conclusion was that eating more fruits and vegetables seemed to be linked to a lower risk for ISD. However, before any causal relationships can be determined, more work needs to be done to better understand the physiological processes that are involved in the relationship.
If you have questions or concerns about your diet and heart disease, talk to your doctor. For more information about heart disease, visit the website for the American Heart Association. To learn more about the benefits of fruits and vegetables, visit the website for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).