Diet is one of the pillars of heart care (along with exercise and not smoking). What, how much, and how often to eat each food is the objective that a team of researchers set out to establish based on the best available evidence. The results of their exhaustive review were published in Cardiovascular Research, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology.
“There is no indication that any food is poison in terms of cardiovascular risk. It’s a question of quantity and frequency of consumption,” said the paper’s first author, Professor Gabriele Riccardi of the University of Naples Federico II in Italy.
“A mistake we made in the past,” he admitted, “was to consider one component of the diet as the enemy and the only thing we had to change. Instead, we should consider diets as a whole and if we reduce the amount of food, it is important to find a healthy substitute.”
Less salt and more vegetables
Overall, there is strong evidence that for healthy adults, low intake of salt and animal foods and increased intake of plant-based foods (whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts) are associated with a lower risk of atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis involves the formation of plaques in the walls of the arteries (generated by an accumulation of fats, cholesterol, and other substances) that can restrict or block blood flow and thus increase the risk of stroke, heart attack, and cardiovascular disease.
Among heart-friendly practices, there is also consistent evidence of benefits in substituting butter and other animal fats for vegetable oils such as olive oil. And they clarify that they should not be tropical (such as coconut oil).