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Heart Care

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

(Our Organization is not responsible for the content of Internet sites.)          

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)

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 

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.