New international study recommends rethinking heart-healthy nutrition: Meat and dairy products

30-Aug-2018 - Germany

A study with more than 218,000 participants from over 50 countries shows: Not only fruits, vegetables and nuts are healthy to the heart and prolong life, but also unprocessed meat and dairy products. The amount of refined carbohydrates consumed should be limited. However, these study results should not be seen as a carte blanche for excessive consumption of meat and fatty cheese, but as a plea for a balanced diet, say German cardiologists.

What a healthy heart diet really is often differs from what many people think it is, says Prof. Dr. Salim Yusuf (McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada) at the European Congress of Cardiology at the presentation of the PURE study, which is published simultaneously in The Lancet: "For example, our results show that dairy products and meat are healthy and contribute to longevity. "This differs from conventional nutritional recommendations."

However, according to Prof. Yusuf, only unprocessed meat is part of a healthy diet. In addition, the amount of refined carbohydrates consumed should be limited. Refined carbohydrates were processed industrially, mostly removing the fibre content. In this way, wholemeal flour becomes white flour and sugar cane or sugar beet becomes household sugar.

These are the results of an overall analysis of five studies with more than 218,000 participants from over 50 countries on five continents. According to Prof. Yusuf, these results apply to people from different regions of the world and are globally valid. The aim of the PURE study is to identify components of a modern and international diet that promote heart health and longevity. Conclusion: People with a diet that emphasizes fruit, vegetables, nuts, fish, dairy products and meat had the lowest risk of or die from cardiovascular disease.

Prof. Landmesser: No licence for excessive meat consumption - much fat cheese not ideal

"From a cardiological point of view, these results should not be interpreted as a carte blanche for excessive meat consumption - excessive meat and sausage products are expressly discouraged anyway - but as a plea for a balanced diet," comments Prof. Dr. Ulf Landmesser (Charité, Berlin) on these results. "In any case, regional differences in nutrition and food availability must also be taken into account in this international study. In the wealthy countries as a whole, meat consumption tends to be much too high from a cardiac medical point of view; a higher proportion of the components of a healthy diet mentioned in Prof. Yusuf's study should be aimed for here: This means fruit, vegetables, nuts, fish and dairy products, whereby the fat content of the latter should not be too high. "Too much fat cheese, for example, is not ideal."

In any case, the results should not be overinterpreted, says Prof. Landmesser: "This is an observational study. These are less meaningful than intervention studies in which the effectiveness of a particular intervention - such as a nutritional intervention - is examined and compared, for example, with a control group without this intervention".

High quality of diet - low rate of cardiovascular events and death

Prof. Yusuf and his team developed a special nutritional quality score for the study and the participants in a total of five international studies were divided into five groups, depending on the quality of their diet. Finally, the risk of developing or dying of cardiovascular disease was compared between the individual groups. The correlation between food quality, cardiovascular disease and death was initially investigated in the PURE study in 138,527 people between 35 and 70 years of age without cardiovascular disease. Subsequently, the results were reviewed in 31,546 patients with cardiovascular disease from the ONTARGET and TRANSCEND studies, 27,098 patients with a first heart attack from the INTERHEART study, and 20,834 patients with a first stroke from the INTERSTROKE study.

After an average observation period of 9.1 years, there were 6,821 deaths and 5,466 cardiovascular events such as death from cardiovascular disease, non-lethal heart attacks, strokes and heart failure. Conclusion: The diet with the highest quality was associated with the lowest rate of cardiovascular events, death from cardiovascular disease and non-cardiovascular death. The other studies showed comparable results.

"Recommendations for a quality diet to prevent cardiovascular disease are often based on studies conducted decades ago in high-income countries, says Prof. Yusuf.

https://www.yumda.com/en/news/1157136/new-international-study-recommends-rethinking-heart-healthy-nutrition-meat-and-dairy-products.html