This diet greatly improves your heart health

What should be in a healthy diet is quite clear. It’s not about avoiding fats or calories, it’s about choosing them from best fonts. It is important to have sufficient intake of proteins, carbohydrates and healthy fats. All in adequate quantities, of course. In short, one should, as far as possible, follow the recommendations of the Harvard table. But what about other much more specific nutrients? vitamins and minerals these are micronutrients that should be in a healthy diet, but in much smaller amounts than the nutrients mentioned above. However, a new study presented this week in European Congress on Obesityshows that some trace elements such as zinc or vitamin B3, are located behind more flexible blood vessels. And therefore better cardiovascular health.

The study in question was carried out In Israel, with researchers from the Sagol Metabolic Syndrome Center, Institute of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Hypertension, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, and Sackler School of Medicine. They took part 72 people with metabolic syndrome and obesitywhich some specific procedures diet and exercise. The goal was to see how the various components of a healthy diet affect their health. cardiovascular health. And to do this, they focused on parameters related to vascular flexibility.

This is a setting closely related to heart health. Thus, one could easily see which of the nutrients changed in their healthy diet They had more influence on her. They confirmed that this in case of zinc and vitamin B3. But it was also possible to analyze certain macronutrients and calculate, for example, the corresponding levels of fat or protein.

Fight obesity with a healthy diet

A healthy diet is essential, whether we want to lose weight or just want to live and age healthy.

But in the case of obese patients, this is especially important, since they are more likely to develop diseases such as cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes. In turn, all this refers to what is known as metabolic syndrome, since it is the combination of physiological, clinical, metabolic and biochemical factors that increases the likelihood of contracting these two diseases. These factors include insulin resistance, chronic stress and hypertension.

Therefore, the patients selected for this study had both obesity and metabolic syndrome. Immediately prior to the start of the study, everyone was required to complete Questionnaire on eating habits. In addition, they measured the body mass index, which in any case was over 34.28 kg/m2. As well as other parameters related to the flexibility of blood vessels. These pulse wave velocity (PWV), carotid intima thickness (IMT), and flow-mediated dilatation (FMD).

The first parameter is most commonly used to measure flexibility of blood vessels. Therefore, it correlates with risk factors for pathologies such as atherosclerosis. BMI is also structural biomarker for atherosclerosis, which is used to predict the risk of cardiovascular disease. And finally, foot-and-mouth disease tells us whether blood vessels can dilate when suitable incentives. Of course, it also measures flexibility, since stiff arteries will have a much harder time expanding.

Patients improved their habits within a year, after which all parameters were measured again. They found that BMI decreased by an average of 9.4%. In addition, FMD improved by 47%, PWV by 13% and IMT by 1%. They then observed based on dietary variations of these obese patients, what nutrients were associated with measuring each parameter, and, in a sense, they found a perfect match.

Macronutrients and micronutrients to take care of our heart

First, improvements in PWV have been found to be associated with reduced calorie and saturated fat intake, as well as increased zinc intake. This makes sense because this element, present in products such as beans, nuts, or whole grainshelps in synthesis Nitrogen oxide. This, in turn, helps to relax the muscles of the blood vessels, reducing their stiffness.

As for the improvement in BMI, this was associated with reduced intake of calories and saturated fats. And also to increased protein intake. It is important to note that this does not mean that we should count calories in everything we eat. We must not forget that the participants were obese patients who may have been based on a very high-calorie diet. In this case, it may be advisable to reduce them, but this is not what we should pursue if they come from healthy sources.

Finally, improvements in FMD have been associated with increased intake of nicotinic acid, also known as vitamin B3. Found in chicken, fish, nuts, or grains, this vitamin helps dilate blood vessels, especially in the upper body, so it plays a key role in cardiovascular health.

Importantly, all of these obese patients had supervision of a nutritionist. And the fact is that even though this type of study gives us interesting information about nutrients, follow-up by a professional is necessary. Especially to help form habits. Because nutrition education is even more important to fight obesity and improve overall health. Now, in addition, we know some additional nutrients that we should not neglect, but it is important to learn how to eat. Although we think we know, the truth is that we are very neglectful of it.