Ten diets to promote heart health

Ten diets to promote heart health

Diets and nutritional systems are one of the most controversial areas of health. In an effort to simplify the advice, the American Heart Association (AHA) provided a rating of XNUMX common dietary patterns specifically to show how much they can improve cardiovascular health, according to New Atlas, citing the journal Circulation.

wrong information

Christopher Gardner, a member of the American Heart Association and a professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine, said: “The number of different and popular dietary patterns has exploded in recent years, and the amount of misinformation about them on social media has reached critical levels.

He added, “We often find that many do not fully understand common eating patterns and do not follow them as intended. When this is the case, it is difficult to quantify the effect of a 'proper diet' and distinguish it from an 'accepted diet', noting that by extension only two contradictory research findings can reflect that there was a high adherence to the diet in one study. and low adherence in the other study.

Experts evaluated the diets recommended by the American Heart Association for heart health. The guidelines generally include well-recognized aspects of healthy eating, such as eating a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains rather than refined grains, healthy sources of protein such as plants, and reducing sugar and salt, among others.

10 diets

The diets were rated on a scale of one to 100 and divided into four levels, and the results were as follows:

level one

• Dash system scored 100
• A vegetarian and fish diet 92
• Mediterranean diet 89

Second Level

• A vegan diet that includes dairy and milk 86
• A vegetarian diet without meat or dairy 78

The third level

Low-fat diet 78
Very low-fat diet 72
• Low carb diet 64

fourth level

• Paleo System (Stone Age) 53
• Low-carb keto diet 31

The DASH diet, which is known to help stop high blood pressure, came out on top, being low in salt, added sugar and processed foods, while high in non-starchy vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes. Proteins are mostly obtained from plant sources, such as legumes, beans, or nuts and seafood.

salt

The Mediterranean diet ranked lower than DASH due to the lack of guidelines on salt intake, and that it places vegetarian eating patterns first.

Some styles, such as a meatless, vegetarian diet, lost points for some health risks, such as a lack of vitamin B12 sources, while very low-fat, low-carb diets were rated a third grade due to their restrictions on nutrients such as nuts, healthy vegetable oils, fruits, grains, and legumes.

bad rank

The paleo diet (which is based on foods thought to have been eaten by people in the Stone Age) and the keto diet were last, scoring badly for their nutrient restriction and sustainability.

Professor Gardner explained that the keto diet eliminates too many elements and is “difficult for most people to stick to in the long term. While there are likely to be short-term benefits and significant weight loss, it is not sustainable,” noting that any diet that is effective in helping should, from a practical perspective, maintain weight loss goals and be sustainable.

Ignore intermittent fasting

The researchers did not evaluate commercial diet programs, eating patterns such as intermittent fasting, or any plans that address non-cardiovascular health issues.

Cardiovascular health refers to the processes that influence metabolism and the risk of cardiovascular disease. They include blood glucose, cholesterol and other fats, blood pressure, and weight. If several of these signs are worrisome, the risk of heart disease increases.

Conflicting advice

The latest study, the first of its kind to measure the benefits of diets against heart health factors, aims to weed out conflicting advice.

The American Heart Association recognizes the need for these guidelines to take into account cultural differences, food security and food deserts, which restrict access to healthy food, and to be inclusive of historically marginalized groups.

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