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What Diet Can Help Prevent Cardiovascular Diseases

Homepage Articles What Diet Can Help Prevent Cardiovascular Diseases

What Diet Can Help Prevent Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular disease is one of the most common causes of illness and death not only in Poland but also worldwide. A healthy lifestyle, including a balanced diet and physical activity, significantly reduces the risk of their occurrence.

Table of Contents

1. Cardiovascular diseases

These include: anemia, heart disease, stroke or atherosclerosis. The risk factors for these are: hypertension, type 2 diabetes; obesity and obesity; dyslipidemia; ¢ alcohol consumption; ‡ smoking;  lack of physical activity; ✓ dietary errors.  Diets have not only a direct but also indirect effect on the risk of cardiovascular disease.

2. The Mediterranean diet

The main source of fat in the diet is olive oil. Fresh and unprocessed foods are consumed. Protein fractions are also included in fish fat 12 times a week.

3. The DASH diet

The main source of sodium, preferably up to 1500 mg per day, which is about 2⁄3 tablespoons of cooking salt (which applies to both baking soda added to meals and already present in consumed products). Fats oscillate within 27% of the energy value of the diet, and the base is salt from the fatty plant. The main source is sodium (preferably 1500 mg/day), which is rough and non-fatty dairy products. Sodium is limited to 1⁄2 of the salted products added to the meals as well as those already consumed in the products consumed.

4. It's a vegetarian diet

The vegetarian diet consists of a deliberate restriction or exclusion of products of animal origin. There are many variations, including: lacto-vegetarianism (abstaining from meat, fish, gelatin, allowing the consumption of milk and eggs), dairy vegetarianism, dietary intolerance (abstinence from meat and fish, jelly and egg, permitting consumption of animal products, reducing the risk of food intake of meat, meat, seafood, blood fractions, eating eggs, and fish) diets (excessive consumption of fish and seeds, etc.).

5. Fruit and vegetables

Consumption of all vegetables and fruits is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. It is estimated that phytochemicals, dietary fiber, and vitamins and minerals are responsible for this positive effect. Increasing vegetable and fruit intake by at least 200 g/day contributes to a 816% reduction in the risk of heart disease, 1318% of stroke, and 813% of coronary heart disease.

6. Whole grain products

Consumption of whole grain products contributes to a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease. The intestines and embryonic leaves contained therein are abundant in dietary fiber, mineral components such as iron, zinc or selenium, vitamins (especially group B), fatty acids and valuable phytonutrients.

7. Nuts, peas, seeds

They are healthy because of their high content of unsaturated fats, dietary fiber, phytochemicals, antioxidant vitamins, and minerals. In one meta-analysis, it was shown that increasing the intake of nuts to 4 servings per week reduces the risk of coronary heart disease by 22% and death by 24% (A. Afshin et al., 2014).

8. It's the cabbage plants

They are a very good source of protein, complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, microelements and biologically active compounds. The above meta-analysis also showed that eating 100 g of onions 4 times a week reduces the risk of coronary heart disease by 14% (A. Afshin et al., 2014).

9. Fatty sea fish

They are rich in polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids, which are thought to have cardioprotective properties. This is associated with a lower risk of developing coronary heart disease, lower incidence of coronaries, strokes and deaths caused by them. In a 2012 meta-analysis, it was shown that increasing fish intake by 15 g/day reduced the risk of heart disease death by 6%. It has also been shown that both low (weekly portion) and moderate (24 portions per week) consumption helps to prevent death from coronarian disease in a significant way (Jheng and Zheng, 2012).

10. Summary

The Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet and the vegetarian diet are well suited to these assumptions they are characterized by a high intake of vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, peanuts and seeds, i.e. foods rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants.
Source

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Aune D. et al., Whole grain consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all cause and cause specific mortality: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies, „BMJ” 2016, 353, i2716.
Craig W.J., Mangels A.R., American Dietetic Association. Position of the American Dietetic Association: vegetarian diets, „Journal of the American Dietetic Association” 2009, 109(7), 1266–1282.
Menotti A., Puddu P.E., How the Seven Countries Study contributed to the definition and development of the Mediterranean diet concept: a 50-year journey, „Nutrition, Metabolism, Cardiovascuar Diseases” 2015, 25(3), 245–252.
Salehi-Abargouei A. et al., Effects of Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)-style diet on fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular diseases-incidence: a systematic review and meta-analysis on observational prospective studies, „Nutrition” 2013, 4, 611–618.
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Yu E., Malik V.S., Hu F.B., Cardiovascular Disease Prevention by Diet Modification: JACC Health Promotion Series, „Journal of the American College of Cardiology” 2018, 72(8), 914–926.
Zheng J. et al., Fish consumption and CHD mortality: an updated meta-analysis of seventeen cohort studies, „Public Health Nutrition” 2012, 15(4), 725–737.