Eating dark poultry meat protects women from heart disease
Last reviewed: 20.11.2021
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The nutrient contained in the dark poultry meat can provide women with protection against coronary heart disease (CHD). To this conclusion came the staff of the Langone Medical Center at the University of New York (USA).
Ischemic heart disease is the main killer of American men and women, responsible for every fifth death. This pathological condition is characterized by an absolute or relative disruption of the blood supply to the myocardium due to coronary artery disease of the heart caused by deposition of plaques.
In the course of the present study, it was estimated how taurine, a natural nutrient that is found in dark meat of turkey and chicken, and also in some types of fish and shellfish, affects the heart disease. To this end, data (a variety of medical, personal information and lifestyle data) were analyzed for 14,000 women aged 34 to 65 who were in 1985-1991 at the Breast Cancer Screening Center in New York and participated in the NYU study Women's Health Study (NYUWHS).
Serum samples from 223 women with CHD who died between 1986 and 2006 were tested for taurine; blood, we note, was taken in 1985 - before the onset of the disease. The results were compared with the level of taurine in serum samples, which at the same time were used in 223 women who had not subsequently contracted a cardiovascular disease.
As a result, it was found that the consumption of taurine in large quantities is associated with a 60 percent reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease in women with high cholesterol levels in the blood. The ladies, whose cholesterol was in perfect order, such a connection is not revealed.
According to scientists, little is known about taurine. Some experiments on animals have shown that it can be useful in cardiovascular disease, but for people such a study was conducted for the first time. Now, experts analyze the NYUWHS data to assess the effect of taurine on the incidence of stroke.