How to Lower Your Risk of a Heart Attack by 30%
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A new study of dietary patterns in 52 countries reveals that a typical Western diet of fried foods, salty snacks, and meat increases the risk for heart attacks by 35%.
The good news?
You can lower that risk by changing your diet.
The INTERHEART study analyzed almost 6,000 heart attack cases and compared them to over 10,000 control cases (without known heart disease). It included 16,000 participants living in 52 countries around the world, confirming that “the same relationships that are observed in Western countries exist in different regions of the world.” (Salim Yusuf, D.Phil., the study’s senior author)
“A simple dietary score, which included both good and bad foods with the higher score indicating a worse diet, showed that 30 percent of the risk of heart disease in a population could be related to poor diet.” - Romania Iqbal, Ph.D., lead author
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The bad news:
- Globally, people consuming a typical Western diet high in eggs, fried foods, salty snacks, and meat had a 35% greater risk of having a heart attack compared to those consuming little or no fried foods, eggs, or meat. Vegetarians have been saying that for years…
The good news:
- The study identified a unique dietary pattern that researchers termed “Oriental” because of a higher content of food items such as tofu and soy sauces typical of an Oriental diet. The Oriental pattern showed no relationship with heart attack risk. So bring on the tofu!
Here’s the best part:
- People who eat a diet consisting of more fruits and vegetables had a 30 percent lower risk of heart attack (compared to those eating little or none.)
Break out the veggies, gorge on fruit, and lower your risk of heart disease by 30%.
Now that’s affordable healthcare for everyone!
Original study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association
Image: emdot on Flickr under Creative Commons License
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