Health & Nutrition Bites

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February is American Heart Month

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States. Here's a roundup of just a few of the Health and Nutrition Bites we've done over the years on heart disease. You can find all of our Health and Nutrition Bites at DrGourmet.com/bites.

Whole Grains and Heart Disease Risk
We know from one study that those who eat the most whole grains tend to have a lower Body Mass Index, a lower weight, and a lower waist circumference compared to those who eat the least whole grains. Whole grains have also been associated with a lower fasting insulin score and an overall lower risk of death among type 2 diabetics. These are indirect indicators that more whole grains in your diet can help reduce your risk of diabetes and heart disease.

More of this, less of that to help your heart
We know that reducing the amount of saturated fat in your diet is a good way to help improve your cholesterol scores. We also know that poor cholesterol scores put you at higher risk for heart attacks and stroke. However, the available evidence from randomized controlled trials has not specifically shown that reducing saturated fat actually leads to fewer cardiac events such as heart attacks and stroke.

Reducing Your Risk of Heart Disease
Under most circumstances, research done on lifestyle changes to prevent heart disease focuses on whether risk factors like high blood pressure and diabetes numbers are improved - not whether a person's risk of heart disease itself is improved. In an effort to measure whether that risk is improved or not through lifestyle modification, researchers at Johns Hopkins made use of data collected through a large-scale research study called PREMIER.

Less of This, More of That: Diet and Heart Failure
There are several major risk factors for heart failure, and all of them are related to diet: coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, insulin resistance or diabetes, and obesity. Lots of studies look at what we call micronutrients, such as specific vitamins or fiber or types of fats, but fewer seem to focus on more practical food choices. Regular or low-fat dairy? Eggs or no eggs? Worse, many studies have been limited to whites or to men or both.