The latest heart health research

Prevention using a healthy diet is the key.

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Latest studies and findings

Ways and means: Getting full nutritional value

Heart disease affects 60 million Americans and is the leading cause of death of adults in the United States. An estimated 1,100,000 new or recurrent heart attacks occur annually which means someone has a heart attack every 20 seconds. One-third of these episodes will lead to death.

Although genetic inheritance and family history plays a role in the development of heart disease, lifestyle and healthy food choices are being found to have equal, if not greater, impact on arterial health.

In fact, a recent heart disease study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) compared a whole foods diet head-to-head with treatment by statin drugs. Some of the most popular statin drugs are Zocor®, Lipitor®, Mevacor® and Pravachol®. This heart study found the whole foods approach to be so effective that the comment accompanying the JAMA article is entitled:

"Diet first, then medication for hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol)."

The latest heart disease research studies have involved many participants and have been conducted over a number of years. Here is a synopsis of their methods and findings.

September 2004: A heart attack prevention study including 30,000 subjects from 52 countries found 9 risk factors (all of which can be controlled via diet and lifestyle) account for 90% of all heart disease in men and 94% in women – regardless of race or the country in which they live.

The 9 factors are:
• Eating vegetables and fruits daily decreases heart attack risk 30%.
• Regular exercise decreases stroke risk 14%.
• Moderate alcohol consumption (less than 3 days per week) reduces risk by 9%.
• High blood pressure almost doubles the risk of heart attack or stroke.
• Abnormal LDL and HDL levels increases risk by up to 3 times.
• Current smokers have 3 times greater risk of heart attack.
• Diabetes more than doubles heart attack risk.
• Abdominal obesity – increases risk by 37%.
• Consistent levels of stress at work or home – increases risk by 2.5 times.

July, 2004: A Harvard study of 71,000 women over 14 years identified the risk factors in a “Western” diet consisting of red and processed meats, refined grains, sweets and deserts versus a “prudent” diet that emphasized higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish and whole grains. Conclusion: Those with the highest “Western” score had a 58% higher risk of stroke.

July, 2004: Stroke prevention research conducted on 22,000 men over 13 years indicates a diet rich in fruits and vegetables reduced risk of stroke by up to 41%.

February, 2004: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute – 4,466 men and women aged 37-66 joined in a cholesterol lowering study. Conclusion: The higher participants’ intake of fruits and vegetables, the lower there LDL Cholesterol levels.

November, 2003: Heart disease researchers found a diet low in saturated fat but high in fiber, almonds, soy proteins, vegetables and fruits can reduce cholesterol equal to results using expensive prescription statin drugs.

October, 2003: Another stroke prevention study of 40,000 individuals over 18 years found that those who consume fruits and green-yellow vegetables daily were 20-40% less likely to suffer a fatal stroke than those who ate these whole foods less than once per week.

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