HAMILTON, Ontario, Apr 14, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Vegetables, nuts and a
Mediterranean diet are linked to lower heart risk, but trans-fats and high
glycemic foods may be harmful, Canadian researchers said.
Andrew Mente of the Population Health Research Institute at McMaster University
in Hamilton and colleagues conducted a systematic search for articles published
from 1950 to June 2007investigating dietary factors in relation to heart
disease.
A total of 146 studies that looked back on the habits and 43 randomized
controlled trials -- participants randomly assigned to a dietary intervention or
a control group -- were identified and included in the review.
The review, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, identified strong
evidence of a causal relationship for protective factors for those who ate
vegetables, nuts, monounsaturated fatty acids and a Mediterranean diet. Harmful
factors include: intake of trans-fatty acids and foods with a high glycemic
index -- carbohydrates that break down rapidly during digestion releasing
glucose rapidly into the bloodstream -- or a western dietary pattern.
"Taken together, these findings support a causal relationship between only a few
dietary exposures and coronary heart disease, whereas the evidence for most
individual nutrients or foods is too modest to be conclusive," the study authors
said in a statement.
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