Israeli researchers, in collaboration with those in the U.
S.
, Canada and Germany, have identified three well-known, healthy eating plans as equally effective in providing foods for a healthy heart by working to significantly reverse carotid atherosclerosis, a direct risk for heart attacks and strokes.
The study examined the idea that diet might be able to reverse this very natural part of aging, thickening arteries.
Atherosclerosis is a slow, progressive condition where the arteries in the body thicken because of fatty deposits such as cholesterol, cellular waste, calcium and other substances.
It typically affects large and medium sized arteries; increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
The current study adds to the growing body of evidence that suggests this condition can be modified.
Ten to 15 years ago doctors thought that the fatty build up in the arteries was irreversible, now research has shown that changes can happen.
The work was conducted in Israel and involved 140 subjects, overweight and mostly male between 40 and 65 years old.
One third of the participants were taking blood pressure medications, and another one quarter were using cholesterol lowering (mostly statins) medications when the study began.
The study volunteers followed one of the three diets for the two-year study period: - a low fat plan, - a low carbohydrate diet - or a Mediterranean-style eating plan.
They wrote down all they ate in food diaries.
All three diets have some things in common.
To begin, they all involve eating more fruits and veggies, choosing whole grains, high fiber foods, lean meat, poultry or fish.
They all call for decreased intake of bad-for-you trans fats and saturated fats, especially the kind found in processed foods.
They all encourage healthy habits and weight control, and this gets things moving in the right direction, health wise.
The researchers used high tech three-dimensional imaging, both at the start and at the end of the two-year study, to measure the volume of the walls of the carotid artery.
This is the large artery located in the neck that carries blood to the brain.
At the end of the study, there was a 5% decrease in average carotid vessel-wall volume and a 1% decrease in carotid artery thickness.
These subjects also lost more weight (11.
7 vs.
7 pounds), had lower systolic blood pressure (6.
8 mm/Hg vs.
1.
1 mm/Hg) and an increase in apolipoprotein A1 a marker of good cholesterol (HDL).
Homocysteine levels, an amino acid in the blood related to higher stroke or heart attack risk, were also reduced in these subjects.
The effect was more obvious in mildly obese people who lost more than 12.
1 pounds and had a drop in systolic blood pressure of more than 7mm/Hg.
Other experts agree the research is "interesting", but that diet wasn't a "magic bullet".
The work didn't follow through to see how many of the volunteers went on to have heart attacks or strokes.
Still, it does demonstrate the powerful benefit to eating foods for a healthy heart over the long term.
S.
, Canada and Germany, have identified three well-known, healthy eating plans as equally effective in providing foods for a healthy heart by working to significantly reverse carotid atherosclerosis, a direct risk for heart attacks and strokes.
The study examined the idea that diet might be able to reverse this very natural part of aging, thickening arteries.
Atherosclerosis is a slow, progressive condition where the arteries in the body thicken because of fatty deposits such as cholesterol, cellular waste, calcium and other substances.
It typically affects large and medium sized arteries; increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
The current study adds to the growing body of evidence that suggests this condition can be modified.
Ten to 15 years ago doctors thought that the fatty build up in the arteries was irreversible, now research has shown that changes can happen.
The work was conducted in Israel and involved 140 subjects, overweight and mostly male between 40 and 65 years old.
One third of the participants were taking blood pressure medications, and another one quarter were using cholesterol lowering (mostly statins) medications when the study began.
The study volunteers followed one of the three diets for the two-year study period: - a low fat plan, - a low carbohydrate diet - or a Mediterranean-style eating plan.
They wrote down all they ate in food diaries.
All three diets have some things in common.
To begin, they all involve eating more fruits and veggies, choosing whole grains, high fiber foods, lean meat, poultry or fish.
They all call for decreased intake of bad-for-you trans fats and saturated fats, especially the kind found in processed foods.
They all encourage healthy habits and weight control, and this gets things moving in the right direction, health wise.
The researchers used high tech three-dimensional imaging, both at the start and at the end of the two-year study, to measure the volume of the walls of the carotid artery.
This is the large artery located in the neck that carries blood to the brain.
At the end of the study, there was a 5% decrease in average carotid vessel-wall volume and a 1% decrease in carotid artery thickness.
These subjects also lost more weight (11.
7 vs.
7 pounds), had lower systolic blood pressure (6.
8 mm/Hg vs.
1.
1 mm/Hg) and an increase in apolipoprotein A1 a marker of good cholesterol (HDL).
Homocysteine levels, an amino acid in the blood related to higher stroke or heart attack risk, were also reduced in these subjects.
The effect was more obvious in mildly obese people who lost more than 12.
1 pounds and had a drop in systolic blood pressure of more than 7mm/Hg.
Other experts agree the research is "interesting", but that diet wasn't a "magic bullet".
The work didn't follow through to see how many of the volunteers went on to have heart attacks or strokes.
Still, it does demonstrate the powerful benefit to eating foods for a healthy heart over the long term.
SHARE
