FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ ISSUE 01 | AUG/SEP 2019 | WDDTY 21
UPFRONTThe foods that cause
heart disease
(and it’s not saturated fats)
Heart disease—or cardiovascular disease (CVD)—is a disease primarily of diet, not
of saturated fats, as the cholesterol theory has maintained. Instead, the real culprits
are processed foods and drinks.
Eating a healthier diet—including more vegetables and fruits, nuts and
seeds—could prevent nearly half of all heart disease deaths. This would
translate to 2.1 million fewer heart deaths across Europe, and more than
300,000 in the US, every year.
A bad diet dwarfs all the other causes of CVD, such as smoking, stress and
lack of exercise, say researchers from Martin Luther University in Germany.
They analyzed 26 years of data on diet and CVD rates from 51 countries
across Europe, but couldn’t find a connection to a diet that was high in
saturated fats from dairy and meat. Instead, they discovered the disease
was caused by a combination of eating too few healthy foods and too much
processed food and drink.
Specifically, CVD deaths were linked to diets that were low in fiber such as
from fruits and vegetables, legumes such as chickpeas and lentils, nuts and
seeds, and omega-3 fatty acids from fish and whole grains, but were high in
processed meats, sugar-sweetened drinks and trans fats.
The make-up of an average diet varied across the 51 countries; a lack of nuts and
seeds had the strongest association to heart disease in Sweden and Norway, while the
populations in central European countries suffered more from eating too few whole grains.
A poor diet affected men and women differently. Younger men were more likely to
suffer from CVD as a result of a poor diet, whereas women were more susceptible after
they reached the age of 50.
Eur J Epidemiol, 2019; 34: 37–55WHY YOU SHOULDN’T TAKE AN ASPIRIN A
DAY IF YOU’RE HEALTHY
Taking an aspirin a day to prevent heart disease or stroke is not worth it. Any benefits
are far outweighed by the risk that it may trigger life-threatening bleeding.
The painkiller increases the risk of major, life-threatening gastrointestinal (GI)
bleeding by nearly 50 percent, and yet it has only a marginal protective effect
against heart disease.
For healthy people who don’t have heart disease, the risks just aren’t worth
it, say researchers from King’s College London. They pooled data from over
164,000 people who participated in 13 clinical trials, and discovered that the drug
reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke, by
just 11 percent, yet raised the risk of major bleeding by 43 percent. This means
that one out of every 200 people regularly taking an aspirin would suffer a major,
potentially life-threatening, bleed.
The researchers couldn’t find any evidence to support claims that aspirin also helped
reduce the risk of cancer. People who were regularly taking the painkiller were just as
likely to develop cancer and to die from the disease, they found.
JAMA, 2019; 321: 277–87Aspirin reduced the risk
of cardiovascular
disease, including heart
attack and stroke, by 11 %
yet raised the risk of
major bleeding by 43%