Simple and Best Heart Disease Prevention Diet

Simple Heart Disease Prevention Diet For 50% Fewer Cardiovascular Complications

Changing to a heart disease prevention diet may simpler than you think, because researchers are showing that:

• Making one or two simple additions to your diet can significantly change your risk of heart disease.

• When compared head to head, diet is as effective as taking statin drugs, according to researchers.

• Low fat diets are being shown to be much less effective than the olive-oil rich Mediterranean diet.

• Simply eating the recommended fruits and vegetables per day will cut your risk of heart disease by 30%.

Mediterranean Diet Trumps Low Fat Eats

Low fat diets are turning out to be not as good as having a daily dose of extra virgin olive oils along with some mixed nuts.

A Spanish study looking at the benefits of a Mediterranean diet discovered that regular consumption of walnuts or virgin olive oil can effectively protect against the development of coronary disease.

Two groups of patients followed a Mediterranean diet, rich in either a daily serving of mixed nuts (15 grams of walnuts, 7.5 grams of hazelnuts and 7.5 grams of almonds) or extra virgin olive oil, the main source of fat in a Mediterranean diet.

A third group stuck to a low fat diet.

“After the 3 month intervention period, the two groups following the Mediterranean diet were compared with the low fat diet group and these both showed:

1) lower blood pressure

2) decreased blood glucose levels

3) lower cholesterol

4) lower levels of triglycerides

5) lower levels of inflammation markers

6) higher HDL cholesterol, or “good cholesterol”

“It is easy to foresee that the participants who follow the Mediterranean diet, supplemented with olive oil or with nuts, will show in the long run a 50% reduction in the incidence of cardiovascular complications,” concluded Ramon Estruch of the Prevencion con Dieta Medterrannea, (Archives of Internal Medicine)

Diet Goes Head to Head With Statin Drugs e.g. Lipitor

Statin are drugs used to lower cholesterol, and these include: atorvastatin (Lipitor), pravastatin (Pravachol), simvastatin (Zocor), lovastatin (Mevacor), rosuvastatin (Crestor) and fluvastatin (Lescol).

These drugs are, however, not the only way to lower your cholesterol. Researchers have confirmed that a diet rich in fiber and vegetables works just as well at controlling and reducing cholesterol levels.

The research team tested what they called a "portfolio" diet on more than 30 overweight men and women, comparing it with a low-fat diet and with a normal diet plus a generic statin drug (lovastatin).

Volunteers followed each diet for one month, with a break in between each treatment cycle. It was discovered that the low-fat diet lowered LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, by 8.5 percent, while statins lowered LDL by 33 percent and the "portfolio" diet lowered LDL by nearly 30 percent.

A quarter of the volunteers experienced their lowest LDL levels from being on the "portfolio" diet.

This "portfolio" heart disease prevention diet particularly consists of:

• Almonds• Cereal fiber• Plant sterols (tree-based compounds used in cholesterol-lowering margarines and salad dressing)

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition February 2005;81(2):380-387

How Oats and Beans Can Beat Cholesterol

While it has been publicized that a daily intake of large quantities of oat bran significantly lowers blood cholesterol, what has not been promoted is the finding that a more practical amount of beans is of equal benefit.

• It has been found that the daily inclusion of only about ½ cup canned beans makes a significant difference in cholesterol and tri-glyceride levels.

Another aspect making beans heart-healthy is that legumes, especially lentils and black-eyed peas, are rich in folate.

The B vitamin folate has a protective function for heart disease by reducing blood homocysteine.

• When folate-rich foods are added to the diet, it has been found to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes by as much as 30 to 40% in American men.

• Adding beans and lentils is an easy but a key part of a heart disease prevention diet.

How Roy Avoided Going On Heart Meds

When Roy, who is in his early 60’s, was told by his doctor to go on medication for his high cholesterol, his wife instead, researched the internet and decided to make two changes to his diet: she added oats -- oat meal, oat bran cereal and olive oil.

His cholesterol came down, although slowly. It took a while, but they are both happy to have taken charge with a simple heart disease prevention diet instead of his having to take a medication for the rest of his life.

Roy discovered that even one cup of oat bran cereal a day can work for cholesterol that is over the 200 level, and that making just this one simple change can reduce cholesterol in the range of 13% to 19%.

Olive oil is a staple of the Mediterranean diet, and switching to it as your staple -- for salads and in cooking -- is a cornerstone to a good heart disease prevention diet.

You may have to make more changes than Roy did, but the following research and books will help you get started on your own heart disease prevention diet.

Getting YOU Started on A Mediterranean Diet:

Good American adaptations of the Mediterranean diet to get started?

One of the bibles used by heart patients and recommended by thousands of hospitals is Joe Piscatellas book, Road To a Healthy Heart Runs Through the Kitchen based on his own experience of coming back from emergency bypass surgery, with 300 family-friendly Mediterranean style recipes.

Also excellent, informative, funny and pulling no punches, are:

YOU: The Owners Manual Take a Load Off Your Heart Eat to Live The Best Life Diet

How An Italian Town Is Fighting Flab

Italians are also straying from the healthy “Mediterranean diet” by eating processed foods rich in fat, sugar and salt, so that 35% are overweight or obese.

To get people back to their heart disease prevention diet, Italians of the town of Varallo are being challenged to go on a “group diet” to get the weight off – and get paid to take weight off.

The Mayor of this northwestern Italian town, Gianluca Buonanno, is offering men 50 Euros ($80 US) to lose 8 pounds, and women to lose 6 pounds. If they can keep the weight off for five months, they will get another 200 Euros.

“Lots of people are saying that they need to lose weight, but that it is really tough,” said Buonanno, who needs to lose about 13 lbs., and he thought it would be easier to go on a group diet.

Buoanno is demonstrating one of the elements of successful weight loss -- people who lose weight permanently tell their friends, make it public and get their friends and family to support them.

Avoiding processed foods that are rich in fat, sugar and salt is a challenge for people everywhere, including the originators of the Mediterranean heart disease prevention diet!

Add Bananas but Don’t Forget the Chocolate!

This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect way to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration have just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

According to research in "The New England Journal of Medicine," eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%! Eat two bananas a day for an excellent heart disease prevention diet.

And don’t forget the chocolate, because it may be as good as your heart meds!

Links:

How Nutrition Helps Heart Health Compared to Meds What Nutrition Helps Heart Health Best? New Discoveries For Heart Surgery Nutrition Heart Disease Prevention Diet: Lowering Cholesterol Without Meds Better Predictor than Cholesterol Dark Chocolate = Heart Meds? Nutrition or Meds for High Blood Pressure? Brain Strokes Found As Warfarin Side Effects

Simple, Effective Heart Disease Prevention Diet Strategies

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