Fiber
Lowers Heart Disease Risk In Senior Adults
Slices
of Whole Grain Bread Works
A new
study shows that people age 65 and over who added as little as two slices
of whole grain bread a day to their diet had a lower risk of new cardiovascular
disease. The findings were reported in the Journal of the American
Medical Association.
The
effect held true with high-fiber cereals and other types of dark bread.
Fiber is the indigestible portion of food.
There
are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble.
Soluble fiber is found in such foods as oat bran and dried beans,
and can lower blood cholesterol in some people.
Insoluble fiber is found in foods such as wheat bran, and is known
to have many benefits.
As
the nation ages, rates of cardiovascular disease are expected to grow.
Right now, there are 35 million people aged 65 or older in the US, and
that number is expected to reach 70 million by 2030, say the researchers.
Cardiovascular
disease is the leading cause of death and disability in this age group.
Dietary
fiber has been shown to reduce incidence of ischemic heart disease and
stroke in middle-aged people. However, experts have expressed concern
that the same recommendations may not be as effective among older people,
in whom heart disease may have already begun.
Study
Shows Effectiveness in Older Adults
Researchers
from the University of Washington in Seattle analyzed data from 3,588
men and women 65 years or older who were part of the Cardiovascular
Health Study.
None
of the participants had cardiovascular disease (CVD) at the beginning
of the study. All of the participants answered a 99-item food frequency
questionnaire put out by the National Cancer Institute.
It asked them to rank how often they ate particular foods, from five
times per year to five times or more per week.
After
adjusting for various factors including age, gender, diabetes, smoking
status, exercise, alcohol intake, and fruit and vegetable consumption,
it became clear that intake of cereal fiber was inversely related to
new CVD. Those who consumed the highest amounts of this type of dietary
fiber had a 21 percent lower risk than those who consumed the least
amount.
Dark
Breads Were Found To Be Helpful
The
trend was especially so among people who ate dark breads such as wheat,
rye, or pumpernickel: They had a 24 percent lower risk of CVD.
Neither
fruit nor vegetable fiber intake were associated with new CVD, but it
didn't seem to be protective, either, the study found.
Dr.
Stephen Siegel, a clinical assistant professor of medicine at New York
University School of Medicine said, "It's always nice to have another
group specifically targeted. It helps to give more scientific support
for the general recommendation that's been in place for quite a while
in terms of increasing the amount of dietary fiber, and in particular
the more complex fibers.
"It
certainly gives some support for complex carbohydrates," Siegel says.
And
while the differences in risk were not huge, they took place with relatively
small changes in the diet, equal to about two slices of whole grain
bread each day.
Always
consult your physician for more information.
Healthy
Diet Plan Brings Benefits
The
US Department of Agriculture has a plan to help people
understand the components of an ideal, heart-healthy diet. It is constructed
as a pyramid to demonstrate a foundation of grains - bread, cereal,
rice, and pasta (which our bodies need the most of) - with fats, oils,
and sweets at the peak of the pyramid, demonstrating the body's need
for only limited quantities of these substances.
Fats,
oils, and sweets, found at the top of the pyramid, should be eaten sparingly.
The
ideal diet, according to the US Department of Agriculture,
also consists of two-to-three daily servings of dairy products, such
as milk, yogurt, and cheese. And, the diet should include two-to-three
serverings of protein, such as meat, poultry, fish, dried beans, eggs,
and nuts.
Three
to five daily servings of vegetables, and two to four servings of fruit
daily are recommended.
Six
to 11 servings of grains (i.e. bread, cereal, rice, and pasta) should
be eaten each day.
As
each individual has different nutritional requirements, it is best to
consult your physician or registered dietitian for more specific diet
recommendations.
Online
Resources
American
Dietetic Association (ADA)
American
Heart Association
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
National
Cancer Institute (NCI) 5 A Day For Better Health
National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
National
Institutes of Health (NIH)
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May 2003
Slices
of Whole Grain Bread Works
Study
Shows Effectiveness in Older Adults
Dark
Breads Were Found To Be Helpful
Study
Concludes Fish May Reduce Heart Disease Risk
Healthy
Diet Plan Brings Benefits
Online
Resources
Find
a St. John's Mercy Physician
In
Other News About Your Heart Health:
Study
Concludes Fish May Reduce Heart Disease Risk
Among
the many health problems linked to type 2 diabetes is an increased
risk of heart disease.
Now,
a group of Harvard University researchers suggests that eating fish
may help reduce that risk, particularly in women.
"It
has been shown in the past that fish can protect the hearts of healthy
women, but we now know it can also protect the hearts of women with
diabetes without disrupting control of blood sugar," says Dr. Frank
B. Hu, lead author of a study in the medical journal Circulation.
"And that's an important piece of information that we did not previously
have."
Diabetes
expert Dr. Loren Wissner-Greene, at New York University, says
more studies will help define what the benefits of fish are for
women with heart disease.
"We
don't know if the women who ate fish also took other steps to protect
their heart health, such as exercising or eating lots of fruits
and vegetables, all of which could make as much of a difference
as eating fish," Wissner-Greene explains.
While
Hu says it is possible that other dietary and lifestyle factors
may have influenced the study's outcome.
"We
adjusted our findings to take into consideration some other risk
factors for heart disease, and we still believe eating fish can
make a difference," says Hu, an associate professor of nutrition
and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.
The
new data was taken from the Harvard Nurses Health Study,
which began in 1976 with a database of nearly 122,000 women. At
the start of the study, the nurses completed a questionnaire detailing
their medical history and lifestyle factors. Every two years, they
completed follow-up questionnaires to update information on risk
factors and health problems.
Hu's
study was based on data from 5,103 of the nurses who reported being
diagnosed with type 2 diabetes between 1976 and 1994. Those with
a history of heart disease, stroke, or cancer that was reported
before 1981 were excluded from the new analysis.
The
remaining women were divided into five categories, based on fish
consumption: Less than once a month; one to three times a month;
once a week; two to four times weekly; and five or more times a
week.
Between
1980 and 1996, 362 women in the fish study developed heart disease.
Of these women, 221 had non-fatal heart attacks and 141 died as
a result of heart disease.
After
analyzing all the data, Hu concluded that not only could regular
fish consumption reduce the risk of heart disease in women with
type 2 diabetes, the more they ate, the greater the protection.
None
of the fish eaters in the study experienced any significant loss
of control over blood sugar levels, and they all experienced a lower
death rate from cardiovascular disease.
Wissner-Greene
says eating more fish probably cannot hurt, but that women with
type 2 diabetes must also "continue to eat lots of fresh fruits
and vegetables, both of which are also extremely important to heart
health and blood sugar control."
Always
consult your physician for more information.
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