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Healthy food more important than type of diet to cut heart disease risk
Everyone knows that achieving or maintaining a healthy body
weight is one key to preventing cardiovascular disease. But
even experts don’t agree on the best way to achieve that goal,
with some recommending eliminating carbohydrates and
others emphasising reducing fats to lose weight. Few studies
have investigated the effects of these specific macronutrients
on cardiovascular health.
In a study, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
Centre (BIDMC) examined the effects of three healthy
diets emphasising different macronutrients – carbohydrates,
proteins, or unsaturated fats – on a biomarker that directly
reflects heart injury. Using highly specific tests, the team
found that all three diets reduced heart cell damage and
inflammation, consistent with improved heart health.
‘It’s possible that macronutrients matter less than simply
eating healthy foods,’ said corresponding author Dr Stephen
Juraschek, assistant professor of medicine at BIDMC and
Harvard Medical School. ‘Our findings support flexibility
in food selection for people attempting to eat a healthier
diet and should make it easier. With the average American
eating fewer than two servings of fruit and vegetables a day,
the typical American diet is quite different from any of these
diets, which all included at least four to six servings of fruits
and vegetables a day.’
Juraschek and colleagues analysed stored blood samples
from 150 participants of the Optimal Macro-Nutrient
Intake Trial to Prevent Heart Disease (OmniHeart) trial, a
two-centre, in-patient feeding study conducted in Boston
and Baltimore between April 2003 and June 2005. The
average age among the study participants was 53.6 years,
and 55% were African American and 45% were women.
The participants, all of whom had elevated blood pressure,
but were not yet taking medications to control hypertension
or cholesterol, were fed each of three diets – emphasising
carbohydrates, protein, or unsaturated fat – for six weeks
with feeding periods separated by a wash-out period.
The diets were: a carbohydrate-rich diet similar to the
well-known DASH diet, with sugars, grains and starches
accounting for more than half of its calories; a protein-rich
diet with 10% of calories from carbohydrates replaced by
protein; and an unsaturated fat-rich diet with 10% of calories
from carbohydrates replaced by the healthy fats found in
avocados, fish and nuts. All three diets were low in unhealthy
saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium, while providing other
nutrients at recommended dietary levels.
The research team looked at the effects of each diet on
biomarkers measured at the end of each dietary period
compared to baseline and compared between diets.
All three healthy diets reduced heart injury and
inflammation and acted quickly within a six-week period.
However, changing the macronutrients of the diet did not
provide extra benefits. This is important for two reasons.
First, the effects of diet on heart injury are rapid and cardiac
injury can be reduced soon after adopting a healthy diet.
Second, it is not the type of diet that matters for cardiac
injury (high or low fat, high or low carb), but rather the
overall healthfulness of the diet.
‘There are multiple debates about dietary carbs and fat,
but the message from our data is clear: eating a balanced diet
rich in fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and high in fibre that
is restricted in red meats, sugary beverages, and sweets, will
not only improve cardiovascular risk factors, but also reduce
direct injury to the heart,’ said Juraschek. ‘Hopefully, these
findings will resonate with adults as they shop in grocery
stores and with health practitioners providing counsel in
clinics throughout the country.’
Source:
Medical Brief 2019