A diet rich in antioxidants will protect against myocardial infarction
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of death among women.
The results of the new study show that a diet rich in antioxidants, mainly consisting of fruits and vegetables, can significantly reduce the risk of developing myocardial infarction.
An article by Swedish scientists from the Institute of Environmental Medicine of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm was published in the October issue of the American Journal of Medicine.
A very large number of researches of scientists are aimed at finding out how and what foods affect our health, in particular, scientists are interested in the ability of products to reduce this or that threat of diseases.
Specialists conducted a large-scale study involving 32 561 women aged 49 to 83 years between September 1997 and December 2007.
The participants filled in the questionnaires, answered in detail the questions about their culinary preferences, the frequency and quantity of food consumption, and about the drinks they regularly drink.
After ten years of observation, they managed to find out that those subjects who consumed products with the highest antioxidant content were 20% less likely to suffer from cardiovascular diseases than their peers, whose daily antioxidant diet was less.
All volunteers were divided into five groups, each of which adhered to its own special diet.
The group, whose diet consisted of products with the lowest content of antioxidants, was most at risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Women from the group with the greatest number of antioxidants consumed 7 servings of fruits and vegetables more.
For the period of research from myocardial infarction, 1114 women were affected.
"Unlike specifically selected additives from the class of antioxidants, obtaining the entire complex of substances with food brings much more benefits to the body and reduces the level of threat of cardiovascular disease," said lead researcher Alicia Wolf.
"Despite the fact that the popularity of diets for weight reduction is gaining in popularity in the United States, as well as the level of consumption by the population of fruits and vegetables, today only 14% of adults and 9.5% of children and adolescents include in their daily diet more than five portions of vegetables or fruits, "the researchers emphasize.
[