In a new study, researchers found that diets high in red and processed meat, refined grains, and sugary beverages, which have been linked to increased inflammation in the body, can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke compared to diets filled with anti-inflammatory foods.
The research was conducted by a team at Harvard University.
A separate study at the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute in Barcelona assessed the positive effects of eating walnuts, an anti-inflammatory food, had on decreasing inflammation and heart disease risk.
Chronic inflammation has been shown to play an important role in the development of heart disease and stroke.
Certain inflammatory biomarkers, such as interleukins, chemokines, and adhesion molecules, have been linked to the early and late stages of atherosclerosis.
Previous studies have found that diet can influence inflammation levels, but few healthy dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet (rich in olive oil, nuts, whole grain, fruits and vegetables, and seafood consumption, and light on dairy and red/processed meat), have shown lower concentrations of some inflammatory biomarkers and lower heart disease risk.
There has been less research focused on whether long-term adherence to proinflammatory diets is associated with increased rates of heart disease or stroke.
In the study, researchers used the men and women from the Nurses’ Health Studies I and II starting from 1986 and included up to 32 years of follow up.
After excluding participants with missing diet information or previously diagnosed heart disease, stroke or cancer, over 210,000 participants were included in the analysis.
The participants completed a survey every four years to ascertain dietary intake.
The team found that dietary patterns with higher inflammatory potential were linked to an increased rate of cardiovascular disease.
The food-based proinflammatory dietary index based on 18 pre-defined food groups that together show the strongest associations with an increase in inflammatory biomarkers.
The team found the participants consuming pro-inflammatory diets had a 46% higher risk of heart disease and 28% higher risk of stroke, compared to those consuming anti-inflammatory diets.
The researchers suggested consuming foods with higher levels of antioxidants and fiber to help combat inflammation: Green leafy vegetables (kale, spinach, cabbage, arugula), yellow vegetables (pumpkin, yellow peppers, beans, carrots), whole grains, coffee, tea and wine.
They also suggested limiting the intake of refined sugars and grains, fried foods, sodas, and restricting processed, red, and organ meat.
These foods are among the major contributors to the proinflammatory dietary index.
The team says when choosing foods in a daily diet, people should beware of their pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory potential.
In another study in Spain, researchers assessed how incorporating walnuts into an individual’s usual diet would improve inflammatory biomarkers.
Previous studies have found that regular nut consumption is associated with lower heart disease risk and lower overall cholesterol; however, there has been limited research linking nut consumption with less inflammation in the body.
A total of 634 participants were assigned either a diet without walnuts or a diet with regularly incorporated walnuts (about 30-60 grams per day).
After a follow-up period of two years, those who ate a diet with walnuts showed significantly reduced levels of inflammation in the body in 6 out of 10 of the inflammatory biomarkers tested.
The researchers say that the anti-inflammatory effect of long-term consumption of walnuts provides novel mechanistic insight for the benefit of walnut consumption on heart disease risk beyond that of cholesterol-lowering,” said Montserrant Cofán, Ph.D., lead author of the study and a researcher, Spain.
One author of the study is Jun Li, MD, Ph.D.
The study findings are published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
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