Vegetarians are less likely to die of heart disease

It is not difficult to find studies reviewed claiming the benefits of a vegetarian diet. Long-term vegetarianism has been associated with greater longevity, a lower risk of cancer and diabetes, weight loss and improve digestion. However, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vegetarianism can also protect us from heart disease by reducing cholesterol and blood pressure.

Researchers at the University of Oxford controlling blood pressure and cholesterol of 45,000 volunteers English and Scottish levels - of which 34 percent identified as a vegetarian - between the Decade of 1990 and 2009. During this period, 1.235 volunteers developed heart disease. 169 of them died, while the remaining 1066, had recovered from the illness or continued to suffer with him.

After adjusting for external factors such as social class, age, education, smoking status and alcohol consumption, the researchers found that vegetarians had a 32 percent lower risk of heart disease than carnivores. Vegetarians also tended to have a lower body mass index and a lower risk of developing diabetes.

"The results clearly show that the risk of heart disease in vegetarians is about one-third lower than in comparable non-vegetarians,' said study author and Deputy Head of the unit of epidemiology of cancer of the University, Dr. Tim Key."

"Most of the difference in risk is likely caused by effects on cholesterol and blood pressure and shows the important role of diet in the prevention of heart disease," said study author Dr. Francesca Crowe.

Our bodies are not well adapted to eating meat

The results of this new study should not surprise anyone who understands the anatomy of the human body. In fact, the majority of humanity has survived in vegetarian or cerca-vegetariana throughout history, and this diet adapted well to our Physiology: our teeth (including incisors teeth) are blunt, our intestinal tract extends shorter, hydrochloric acid in our stomach is often too weak to properly digest the flesh and their parasites, our saliva is more alkaline than acidic and our hands are designed to collect fruit and Earthnot to capture prey.

While there is a time and place when eating animals is justified and even desirable (for example, during situations of survival or times when are inadequate sources of food of plant origin), most of us live in relative comfort and with access to a wide variety of foods you have little need for meat semi indigestible, acid and formation of pus. Ultimately, this study conducted by the University of Oxford is the latest in a long series of studies that remind us the why it is advisable to listen to the needs of our body more than the contemporary food industry Council.

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PROTECTING THE HEART AGAINST HEART ATTACK

Heart disease and diabetes are a deadly duo. In fact, if you have diabetes, your risk of having a first heart attack is about as high as the risk of someone without diabetes who's already had a heart attack. In other words, the moment you officially become a diabetes patient, you are automatically at risk for heart disease, even if you've never had any heart problems. During the decades in which you gradually developed diabetes, your blood vessels were suffering the kind of damage that often leads to a heart attack.
Because you can control what goes in your mouth, you have a unique opportunity right now to choose the alternative path to better health. Heart disease and diabetes aren't inevitable, there is plenty you can do to minimize your risk. In addition to getting your blood sugar and blood pressure under control, you also need to look at your blood lipids, the cholesterol and fats in your blood. And instead of relying on the standard pharmaceutical approach of cholesterol lowering drugs to manage high blood lipids

The classic

symptoms of a heart attack

include a crushing sensation in the chest, chest pain (angina), pain radiating into the left arm or up into the chest jaw, and shortness of breath. However, it's important to realize that women and people with diabetes may not experience these symptoms. For them, symptoms are more likely to include nausea and vomiting, tiredness, sweating, and collapse. Doctors call these silent heart attacks. They are actually more dangerous than the more obvious sort, because life-saving, heart-preserving intervention may be delayed or never even administered.
The message: Don't wait until you're facing a crisis. If you have the metabolic syndrome, prediabetes, or diabetes, discuss with your physician a course of action should you experience any of these symptoms.
Heart attacks are not the only problem. Obesity alone can overwork your heart to the point where its ability to pump blood efficiently is severely compromised. This problem, heart failure, can also be caused by hypertension and the leftover scarring caused by a heart attack. Among people with heart failure, 20 to 40 have percent diabetes.

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TREATMENT OF HEART DISEASES

Much can be done for the heart patient, thanks to careful study and research of recent years and resultant medications developed.
DIET: As important as anything else is the food the patient eats. Food should be very light and not taken in large amounts. In severe heart cases five small feedings per day are often advised. The point is to avoid a full stomach, for this places a heavy burden on the heart.

Animal fats should be definately restricted. Eggs, butter, cheese, and meat should not be included in the diet. Fats should all be vegetable origin. Safflower oil(kardi) is the best as well as corn oil. Groundnut oil is good. Coconut oil, unfortunately is not good.
A low salt diet is also indicated. Salt should be used only moderately, by all in fact, and those who are accustomed to using it liberally should change the habit. The use of enough salt to cover a flat taste is sufficient. But the heart patient must be especially strict. It would be well for him to limit the intake to 250 milligrammes per day. A low salt diet must never exceed 500 milligrammes per day. If you desire you may get a salt substitute at any recommended chemist shop.
MEDICATION: Digitalis is one of the oldest drugs for treatment of heart failure and it still ranks as one of the five most useful medicines.
It is indicated in cases of heart failure; that is, for one who is unable to breathe well lying down, who has a large amount of swelling of the feet, an enlarged liver and an irregular heart. The doctor will give digitalis for this condition. He will need to watch the patient carefully to determine what the daily dose should be. It is gratifying to see how well a patient can respond to digitalization.
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