By comparing the impact of 5 different diets on cardiovascular health, researchers found that consuming fruits, vegetables and fish on a regular basis could reduce the risk of heart failure by up to 41%.
Eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and healthy proteins such as those found in fish is not only good for your figure. It is also important for your cardiovascular health.
Here is the conclusion of a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Its authors looked at the association between five diets and the risk of heart failure. They found that those high in fruits, vegetables like the Mediterranean diet was associated with a lower risk of heart failure in adults without known heart disease. On the other hand, so-called “Western” diets consisting of fruit foods, sugary drinks, processed meat and saturated fat are associated with an increased risk.
Eat fruits and vegetables to preserve your heart
Heart failure is characterized by a chronic inability of the heart to pump enough blood or to pump it hard enough to provide the body with the oxygen it needs. The leading cause of hospitalization in people over 65, risk factors for this disorder include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, and family history. In France, more than a million people suffer from this pathology, while it affects between 5 and 6 million Americans.
To establish the relationship between heart failure and eating habits, the researchers followed 16,608 people who initially had no heart disease or insufficiency. They also screened 5 typical diets consumed by these volunteers: a first called “convenience”, high in meat, pasta, Mexican dishes and fast food. A second “vegetable”, rich in fruits, vegetables, cereals and fish. A third “sweet”, rich in bread, sweet foods, fat and chocolate. A fourth “from the south” characterized by a high consumption of fried foods, processed meats, eggs, saturated fat and sugary drinks. And finally a last rich in alcohol and salads with vinaigrette.
After 8.7 years of follow-up on average, the researchers identified 363 hospitalizations for heart failure. They also found a 41% decrease in the risk of re-hospitalization for heart failure in participants who followed the fruit and vegetable diet, compared to those who took it less.
A risk of heart failure linked to that of obesity
And it was those who followed the “southern” diet who had the highest risk of heart failure. By regularly consuming fried, fatty foods and sugary drinks, they have a 72% higher risk of hospitalization.
However, the researchers say, when they adjusted this diet for body mass index (BMI), “waist circumference, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, atrial fibrillation, and blood pressure. ‘chronic renal failure’, this association was no longer statistically significant. Which could mean that this diet would affect the risk of heart failure due to factors like obesity and excess belly fat.
For the authors of the study, it is essential to consider diet as a risk factor for heart failure, and therefore to focus prevention on the need to adopt healthier eating habits.
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