Eat Fish and Veggies
and Prosper
New
research outlines best heart-healthy diet strategies
New research confirms
what we should already know: Diets low in saturated fats, high in
omega-3 fatty acids, and high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole
grains are the best for your heart.
"The information was scattered
in various papers," says Dr. Frank Hu, lead investigator of the
study and an associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at
Harvard School of Public Health. "We tried to put all the pieces
together to solve the puzzle."
The study, which appears
in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical
Association (JAMA), identifies three "dietary strategies"
that seem to be effective in preventing coronary heart disease (CHD).
"Such diets," the researchers
write, "together with regular physical activity, avoidance of smoking,
and maintaining a healthy weight, may prevent the majority of cardiovascular
disease in Western populations."
"That's a huge statement
by well-known researchers. That's the bottom line," says Samantha
Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at New York University Medical
Center in New York City.
"What they're saying is
stay away from saturated fat and cholesterol, stay away from meat,
whole milk, mayonnaise, ice cream. Moving towards a plant-based
diet is your best defense against not only heart disease, but obesity
and diabetes as well," she adds.
The authors of the study,
both professors at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston,
searched the MEDLINE database of medical literature for epidemiologic
and clinical studies of dietary factors through May 2002. The authors
ultimately examined 147 different studies and reviews for conclusions
on diet and coronary heart disease prevention.
Three
Strategies For Fighting Heart Disease
Three individual strategies
emerged as the best for fighting heart disease. And they worked
even better in combination.
The first is to substitute
unsaturated fats for saturated and trans-fats. (Trans-fats are fats
that have been altered, like those found in cookies, crackers, candy,
and margarine).
What does that mean to
the average person?
"That means not eating
red meat, whole milk, mayonnaise, ice cream, and other whole dairy
products," Heller says. "That has definitely been shown to decrease
the risk of heart disease."
Eating meat or cheese
interferes with the liver's ability to process fats and therefore
raises cholesterol in the arteries.
The second strategy is
to up your consumption of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil or plant
sources. You can get these fatty acids from eating fish regularly,
and from consuming canola oil, soy bean oil, and flaxseed oil.
The third strategy is
to consume a diet high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains
and low in refined grains.
The glycemic index (GI),
which attempts to rank foods on how they affect blood sugar levels,
is still controversial, Hu says. It may be useful to some degree
in classifying starchy foods such as bread and potatoes but it is
not useful for classifying other foods such as protein, fruits,
and vegetables.
The
Relationship Between Dietary Fat and Obesity Still Debated
Similarly, the study authors
found that the relationship between dietary fat and obesity is extremely
controversial.
"The conventional wisdom
is that high-fat diets lead to obesity and diabetes. This hasn't
been supported by the scientific evidence," Hu says.
Calories in general may
lead to obesity, but not just calories from fat. In fact, Hu adds,
"there's more evidence that calories from carbohydrates, especially
refined carbohydrates and sugars, could be more detrimental for
obesity and diabetes."
Your best bet is to combine
the three dietary strategies outlined in the report. "I can be a
vegetarian and still eat a lot of white flour, processed food, and
white chocolate and still be overweight," Heller says. "You want
the effect of all three strategies. Nuts, seeds, legumes, vegetables,
fruits, whole grains, and soy products contain chemical compounds
like phytochemicals, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that help
fight disease of all kind. You're reinforcing your body's ability
to stay healthy every time you eat a food like that. So why not?"
Always consult your physician
for more information.
Online
Resources
(Our Organization is not
responsible for the content of Internet sites.)
American
Association of Diabetes Educators
American
Diabetes Association
American
Heart Association
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Journal
of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
National
Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
|
January 2003
New
Research Outlines Best Heart-Healthy Diet Strategies
Three
Strategies For Fighting Heart Disease
The
Relationship Between Dietary Fat and Obesity Still Debated
Nuts,
Peanut Butter May Prevent Type 2 Diabetes
Online
Resources
In Other Diabetes Health
News:
Nuts,
Peanut Butter May Prevent Type 2 Diabetes
Study finds enthusiasts
at 27 percent reduced risk
If you are nuts about
nuts, take heart: The more you eat them, the less likely you are
to develop type 2 diabetes.
That is the conclusion
of a new study finding that women who eat at least five ounces of
nuts a week have a 27 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes
than those who rarely or never consume them. Those who eat peanut
butter regularly also gain protection from the blood sugar disorder,
according to the study, which appears in a recent issue of the Journal
of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Experts are not clear
why nuts guard against type 2 diabetes, in which the body's cells
become insensitive to the hormone insulin. However, nuts are high
in healthful unsaturated fats and low in their harmful saturated
cousins. They are also rich in antioxidants and other nutrients
that may keep diabetes at bay.
"In our study, this [effect]
was independent of known risk factors for type 2 diabetes," said
Dr. Rui Jiang, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Public
Health and lead author of the study. "It's unlikely that other factors
generated this inverse association."
An estimated 17 million
Americans have diabetes, and 16 million have the type 2 form of
the disease. Another 16 million people have "prediabetes," putting
them at high risk of developing the full-blown illness.
Heart disease is the leading
killer of persons with diabetes, who face two to four times the
normal risk of heart attacks as a result of their condition.
Even a 27 percent reduction
in the chances of getting diabetes is "pretty substantial," said
Dr. David Jenkins, a specialist in the condition at the University
of Toronto who studies the health benefits of nuts. "All of us living
in Western society are at risk."
Nuts are not just a diabetes
wonder, added Jenkins, who receives research funding from the US
almond industry. They have also been shown to lower cholesterol
and reduce heart disease.
The Harvard researchers
studied 83,818 women participating in the Nurses' Health Study,
a massive look at lifestyle and health begun in 1976.
In 1980, when the women
were between 34 and 59 years old, 71 percent said they almost never
or seldom at nuts. About a quarter ate them one to four times a
week, and 5 percent ate at least five 1-ounce servings a week. Women
who ate nuts frequently tended to weigh less than the others.
Over the next 16 years,
3,206 women developed type 2 diabetes. Being overweight is linked
to the disease. But even after taking into account pounds, smoking
status, exercise habits, family history of diabetes, and other risk
factors, the researchers found that higher nut intake cut the chances
of having diabetes years later.
Women who ate the most
nuts had a 27 percent lower risk of developing diabetes than those
who ate the fewest. The risk for women who ate nuts less than once
a week was 8 percent lower, and it fell 16 percent for those who
ate nuts between one and four times a week. Women who ate five servings
a week or more of peanut butter—a substitute measure for peanut
consumption—had a 21 percent lower risk of diabetes than those
who ate none or almost none of the spread.
Penny Kris-Etherton, a
nutrition expert at Pennsylvania State University, called the results
"very interesting" but said she could not explain them. "I'm not
sure what it would be in nuts, other than a favorable fat profile,"
she said.
Total fat and unsaturated
fat intake seem to help control insulin levels, Kris-Etherton said.
And perhaps there are nutrients in nuts that also afford protection
against blood sugar problems.
The effect may also be
due, at least in part, to the fact that when people increase their
nut intake and keep their calories steady, their consumption of
carbohydrates falls. Carbohydrates raise blood sugar. "Maybe that
is helping control a prediabetic state," Kris-Etherton said.
Always consult your physician
for more information.
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