Category: Heart Disease

Adding this ingredient to your diet could halve the risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke.

Eating chili peppers regularly could cut down the risk of dying from heart disease, stroke, and any cause of death, research finds.

Chili pepper is a popular ingredient commonly used in the traditional Mediterranean diet and many other cultures.

An Italian study found that consuming chili peppers four times a week or more can reduce the risk of dying from a stroke by 50 percent, heart attacks by 40 percent, and any cause of death by 23 percent.

The study examined 23,000 Italians and followed their health and eating habits for more than eight years.

Dr Marialaura Bonaccio, the study’s first author, said:

“An interesting fact is that protection from mortality risk was independent of the type of diet people followed.

In other words, someone can follow the healthy Mediterranean diet, someone else can eat less healthily, but for all of them, chili pepper has a protective effect.”

The protective action of chili peppers on health could be due to its high capsaicin and flavonoid content.

Several studies have shown a positive link between frequency of eating chili peppers and health benefits.

Capsicum species come in different varieties such as serrano, Italian chilli peppers, cayenne, and jalapeño.

They contain phytochemicals such as quercetin and luteolin, which are natural antioxidants with an anti-inflammatory function.

The chili pepper family also contains capsaicinoids and carotenoids like beta carotene.

Therefore, all these active compounds and possibly their collaboration together could have a positive effect on human health.

The study was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (Bonaccio et al., 2019).

A monthly dose of the vitamin was found to lower the incidence of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks.

Supplementation of vitamin D in older people might lower their risk of cardiovascular events, particularly myocardial infarction, a study has found.

A once-a-month supplement of vitamin D3 containing 60,000 international units (IU) could decrease the rate of major cardiovascular events, especially heart attacks.

This is the biggest clinical trial examining whether vitamin D supplements can change the incidence of major cardiovascular events in older adults.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) refers to heart and blood vessel disorders and is a leading cause of death worldwide.

The CVD incidence including coronary heart disease and stroke in aging populations continues to increase with higher prevalence in men than women.

Participants in this study were 60 years and older and received one tablet of 60,000 IU vitamin D3 at the start of each month for five years.

During this period the rate of hospital admissions and death related to major cardiovascular events including heart attacks, strokes, and coronary revascularisation (treatment to improve blood flow to the heart) among participants was recorded.

The total incidence in the vitamin D group was nine percent lower than those taking placebo tablets.

The heart attack rate was reduced by 19 percent and coronary revascularization by 11 percent while the intervention had no effect on stroke-related incidence.

Overall, these findings indicate that vitamin D supplements may lower the rate of major cardiovascular events.

The authors wrote:

“This protective effect could be more marked in those taking statins or other cardiovascular drugs at baseline.

In the meantime, these findings suggest that conclusions that vitamin D supplementation does not alter risk of cardiovascular disease are premature.”

Vitamin D is found in foods such as oily fish including salmon, trout, mackerel, and sardines, and fish liver oils but most people get their vitamin D from the action of sunlight on the skin.

Related

• Higher levels of vitamin D in the brain are linked to better cognitive function with age.
• Vitamin D deficiency may double heart disease risk.
• Depression, tiredness and weak muscles can all be signs of vitamin D deficiency.
• Higher levels of vitamin D are linked to reduced belly fat.
• Chronic headaches could be a sign of vitamin D deficiency.

The study was published in The BMJ (Thompson et al., 2023).

Indulge in this tasty food once a week to reduce your risk of heart disease.

Eating chocolate more than once a week has been found to lower the chance of heart disease, a review of 50 years of studies shows.

The research suggests that chocolate consumption benefits heart health, particularly improving blood pressure and the functions of the endothelium (the inner lining of the heart and blood vessels).

Dr Chayakrit Krittanawong, the study’s first author, said:

“Our study suggests that chocolate helps keep the heart’s blood vessels healthy.

In the past, clinical studies have shown that chocolate is beneficial for both blood pressure and the lining of blood vessels.

I wanted to see if it affects the blood vessels supplying the heart (the coronary arteries) or not.

And if it does, is it beneficial or harmful?”

Researchers analysed six studies on 336,289 participants with a follow-up of nearly nine years.

People who ate chocolate more than once a week had a reduced coronary artery disease risk of 8 percent when compared to those who ate chocolate less than once a week.

During the nine year follow-up, 4,667 participants had a heart attack and there were 14,043 cases of coronary artery disease (CAD).

CAD is the most common type of heart disease, which occurs when the arteries become narrowed and hardened and so they can’t supply blood to the heart muscle properly.

If CAD advances, the blood flow to the heart will suddenly become clogged and cause a heart attack.

Dr Krittanawong said:

“Chocolate contains heart healthy nutrients such as flavonoids, methylxanthines, polyphenols and stearic acid which may reduce inflammation and increase good cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein or HDL cholesterol).”

Dr Krittanawong pointed out that the study didn’t investigated what amount of chocolate and what type of chocolate can boost heart health.

“Chocolate appears promising for prevention of coronary artery disease, but more research is needed to pinpoint how much and what kind of chocolate could be recommended.

Moderate amounts of chocolate seem to protect the coronary arteries but it’s likely that large quantities do not.

The calories, sugar, milk, and fat in commercially available products need to be considered, particularly in diabetics and obese people.”

The study was published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology (Krittanawong et al., 2020).

A vitamin found in this superfood can protect against heart disease by preventing cholesterol plaque build-up in the arteries.

Carrots are a humble vegetable, but in a way they are a superfood due to their richness in beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A.

Vitamin A is essential for the immune system, reproduction, skin and mucus membranes, eyes and healthy vision, and heart health.

Nevertheless our body needs an active enzyme to make vitamin A from carrots or any other food high in beta-carotene.

Beta-carotenes is converted to vitamin A with the help of an enzyme known as beta-carotene oxygenase 1 (BCO1).

The enzyme regulates the cholesterol circulation and is found in the intestine and the liver.

It has a high ability to choose beta-carotene for forming vitamin A and this conversion would lower “bad” cholesterol in the blood.

In this way, beta-carotene prevents atherosclerosis, which is narrowing of the arteries.

Atherosclerosis can lead to cardiovascular disease and heart attack, the biggest cause of death in the world.

Higher beta-carotene concentration has also been linked to a lower rate of metabolic syndrome, which is a combination of high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity.

However, due to genetic variations some people have more BCO1 activity and some less so these individuals need another source of vitamin A than beta-carotene.

Dr Jaume Amengual, the study’s first author, said:

“People who had a genetic variant associated with making the enzyme BCO1 more active had lower cholesterol in their blood.

That was our first observation. “

In their second study they looked into whether beta-carotene or vitamin A affects atherosclerosis.

Dr Amengual said:

“The main findings of the mice study reproduce what we found in humans.

We saw that when we give beta-carotene to mice, they have lower cholesterol levels.

These mice develop smaller atherosclerosis lesions, or plaques, in their arteries.

This means that mice fed beta-carotene are more protected against atherosclerosis than those fed a diet without this bioactive compound.

Moreover, the team tried to find out where in the body lipoproteins (particles that carry cholesterol in the blood) are produced.

Dr Amengual said:

“We narrow it down to the liver as the organ in charge of producing and secreting lipoproteins to the bloodstream, including those lipoproteins known as bad cholesterol.

We observed that in mice with high levels of vitamin A, the secretion of lipids into the bloodstream slows down.”

A high amount of beta-carotene in the blood normally would be beneficial to health.

However, there is a chance that BCO1 is not active enough therefore we can’t make vitamin A from eating high beta-carotene foods.

According to Dr Amengual, around 50 percent of the population have the enzyme with the less-active form.

Consequently, their body can’t produce enough vitamin A from plant-based foods so they need to get this vitamin from animal sources like cheese and milk.

The fist study was published in The Journal of Nutrition (Amengual et al., 2020) & the second study was published in the Journal of Lipid Research (Zhou et al., 2020).

Eating these 6 foods will protect you from heart disease, stroke, and death.

People who miss six key foods from their diet are more likely to face heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes.

Nuts, whole-fat dairy, fruits, vegetables, fish, and legumes are the key foods to reduce cardiovascular disease and death risk, global research has found.

Diets containing higher amounts of these key foods together are associated with reduced risk of major cardiovascular events including heart attack (myocardial infarction) and stroke, and death.

The study also suggests a moderate daily amount of whole grains (e.g. one slice of bread) or unprocessed meat (e.g. 85 grams of red meat or poultry) can be part of a healthy diet.

Past studies on Western diets reveal the negative impact of calorie-dense foods and ultra-processed foods on people’s health.

This study focused on the positive impact of healthy foods on heart disease and premature deaths from cardiovascular events.

It is estimated that cardiovascular disease kills 18 million people each year, 32 percent of all global deaths.

Reports show that 85 percent of these death were related to heart attacks and strokes.

The research team tailored a diet score to measure health outcomes using available data from 245,000 people in 80 countries.

Professor Salim Yusuf, the study’s senior author, said:

“Previous diet scores—including the EAT-Lancet Planetary Diet and the Mediterranean Diet tested the relationship of diet to CVD and death mainly in Western countries.

The PURE Healthy Diet Score included a good representation of high, middle, and low-income countries.”

The PURE Healthy Diet Score concentrated on natural foods that are nutritious and have health benefits and are also consumed worldwide.

Dr Andrew Mente, the study’s first author, said:

“We were unique in that focus.

The other diet scores combined foods considered to be harmful—such as processed and ultra-processed foods—with foods and nutrients believed to be protective of one’s health.

There is a recent increased focus on higher consumption of protective foods for disease prevention.

Outside of larger amounts of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, the researchers showed that moderation is key in the consumption of natural foods.

Moderate amounts of fish and whole-fat dairy are associated with a lower risk of CVD and mortality.

The same health outcomes can be achieved with moderate consumption of grains and meats—as long as they are unrefined whole grains and unprocessed meats.

Dietary recommendations

• Fruits: 2 to 3 servings daily; a serving example includes 1 apple, banana, or pear.
• Vegetables: 2 to 3 servings daily; a serving example includes 1 cup leafy vegs, or 1/2 cup other vegs.
• Dairy: 2 servings daily; a serving example includes 1 cup milk or yogurt, or 1.5 oz (43 g) cheese.
• Nuts: 1 serving daily; a serving example includes 1 oz (29 g) tree nuts or peanuts.
• Legumes: 3 to 4 servings weekly; a serving example includes 1/2 cup beans or lentils.
• Fish: 2 to 3 servings weekly; a serving example includes 3 oz (85 g) cooked fish.
• Whole grains: 1 serving daily; a serving example includes 1 slice (40 g) bread, or ½ cup (75–120g) cooked rice.
• Unprocessed meats: 1 serving daily; a serving example includes 3 oz (85 g) cooked red meat or poultry.

The study was published in the journal European Heart Journal (Mente et al., 2023).

These popular drinks can cause heart problems, mood disorder, psychosis, stroke, and death.

Energy drinks are popular fizzy drinks advertised as products to reduce mental fatigue, increase concentration, and improve endurance during exercise.

However, energy drinks are more likely to cause cardiovascular adverse effects, neurological issues, gastritis, psychiatric disorders, stroke, and death.

A report presented by Professor Milou-Daniel Drici at ESC Congress, points out that energy drinks can cause life threatening conditions such as irregular heartbeat, angina (chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heart muscles).

Professor Drici said:

“So-called ‘energy drinks’ are popular in dance clubs and during physical exercise, with people sometimes consuming a number of drinks one after the other.

This situation can lead to a number of between energy drinks and poor health including angina, cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) and even sudden death.”

He added:

“Around 96% of these drinks contain caffeine, with a typical 0.25 litre can holding 2 espressos worth of caffeine.

Caffeine is one of the most potent agonists of the ryanodine receptors and leads to a massive release of calcium within cardiac cells.

This can cause arrhythmias, but also has effects on the heart’s abilities to contract and to use oxygen.

In addition, 52% of drinks contain taurine, 33% have glucuronolactone and two-thirds contain vitamins.”

According to a number of studies, energy drinks can cause all kinds of abnormal heart rhythms, including atrial fibrillation.

QT prolongation, myocardial infarction known as a heart attack, acute coronary vasospasm, sudden cardiac arrest and death have been seen among healthy people due to consuming high quantities of energy drinks.

Long-term consumption of energy drinks can cause changes in the heart muscle, a similar effect caused by alcoholic drinks.

Professor Drici and team looked at adverse events related to energy drinks reported by the French agency for food safety between 2009 and 2012.

Within this time 95 cases were related to cardiovascular symptoms, 74 psychiatric, 57 neurological, and 46 heart rhythm disorders.

Professor Drici said:

“We found that ‘caffeine syndrome’ was the most common problem.

It is characterised by a fast heart rate (called tachycardia), tremor, anxiety and headache.

Rare but severe adverse events were also associated with these drinks, such as sudden or unexplained death, arrhythmia and heart attack (myocardial infarction).

Our literature search confirmed that these conditions can be related to consumption of energy drinks.”

Another study has found that energy drinks can cause an abnormal heartbeat and increased blood pressure in young and healthy people within a few hours of drinking.

However, a dosage of caffeine under 400 milligrams should not cause any electrocardiographic changes.

Instead, they think the heart rhythm disturbances are caused by an ingredient or combination of ingredients in the energy drinks.

B-vitamins, amino acid taurine (an amino acid), and glucuronolactone (found in plant gums and connective tissues) are other ingredients commonly used in energy drinks.

The study was published in the journal Nutrients (Erdmann et al., 2021).

Foods rich in this type of omega-3 fatty acid found to reduce risk of death, especially from coronary heart disease.

Nuts and seeds — due to being rich in an essential omega-3 fatty acid — have been found to improve life expectancy.

Alpha linolenic acid (ALA) is an omega-3 fatty acid naturally found in foods such as walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, flaxseeds, hemp seeds, soybeans, chia seeds, and canola oils.

Consuming a high amount of ALA is linked to a reduced risk of deaths from all causes including heart and blood vessel diseases, a study has found.

In contrast, foods and drinks high in sugar can cause serious health problems quite apart from obesity or diabetes.

The findings are based on an analysis of 41 studies that were carried out from 1991 to 2021 to see if there is any link between ALA intake and various causes, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The research team found that higher consumption of ALA was linked to:

• 11 percent reduced risk of dying from coronary heart disease,
• 10 percent reduced risk of death from any cause,
• and 8 percent reduced risk of dying from CVD.

The higher the intake of ALA, the lower the rates of CVD mortality.

For example, increasing daily intake of ALA by one gram was linked to a 5 percent reduced risk of death from CVD.

One tablespoon of canola oil or a 15 gram serving of walnut oil contains one gram of ALA and a 28 gram serving of walnuts contain 2.5 grams of ALA.

The study adds more evidence to the possible beneficial health effects of dietary omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

The authors added:

“Further studies should examine the association between ALA and a wider range of causes of death to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the potential health effects of ALA as well as to examine whether specific foods rich in ALA are differentially associated with mortality from cancer and other causes.”

The study was published in the British Medical Journal (Naghshi et al., 2021).

People who take too much of this vitamin are more likely to have a heart attack or a stroke.

Both low and high levels of vitamin D can put people’s lives in jeopardy by increasing cardiovascular disease, stroke, and heart attack risk.

Danish researchers found a connection between high vitamin D levels and heart disease, stroke, and myocardial infarction death rate.

Mounting evidence also suggests that low vitamin D status can increase the risk of osteoporosis, inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, depression, and certain cancers.

Professor Peter Schwarz, the study’s senior author, said:

“We have studied the level of vitamin D in 247,574 Danes, and so far, it constitutes the world’s largest basis for this type of study.

We have also analysed their mortality rate over a seven-year period after taking the initial blood sample, and in that time 16,645 patients had died.

Furthermore, we have looked at the connection between their deaths and their levels of vitamin D.”

They found an association between death rates and too low or too high levels of vitamin D in the blood.

Professor Schwarz said:

“If your vitamin D level is below 50 or over 100 nanomol per litre, there is an greater connection to deaths.

We have looked at what caused the death of patients, and when numbers are above 100, it appears that there is an increased risk of dying from a stroke or a coronary.

In other words, levels of vitamin D should not be too low, but neither should they be too high.

Levels should be somewhere in between 50 and 100 nanomol per litre, and our study indicates that 70 is the most preferable level.”

This would mean that excessive intake of vitamin D is harmful to our health and so make us think twice before taking any vitamin or mineral supplements.

Professor Schwarz said:

“These are very important results, because there is such great focus on eating vitamin D.

We should use this information to ask ourselves whether or not we should continue to eat vitamins and nutritional supplements as if they were sweets.

You shouldn’t simply up the dose to feel better.

We should only consume such vitamins in close coordination with our GP.”

The study was published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (Durup et al., 2015).

The number of coffees that is bad for your health and increases heart disease risk by a quarter.

Drinking six cups of coffee a day is the limit as more than that will increase the risk of heart disease by 22 percent.

Many of us start our morning with a cup of black coffee, cappuccino, or latte.

In recent years, though, drinking coffee has attracted lots of attention in relation to its positive or negative health effects, including the present study from the University of South Australia.

Dr Ang Zhou and Professor Elina Hyppönen in their study looked into the level of coffee and its negative impact on health.

They found that high amounts of caffeine is bad for the heart, suggesting a 22 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease when having six cups of coffee or more each day.

This is a first study that suggests an upper limit on drinking coffee in relation to human heart health.

Professor Hyppönen, the study’s co-author, said:

“Coffee is the most commonly consumed stimulant in the world – it wakes us up, boosts our energy and helps us focus – but people are always asking ‘How much caffeine is too much?’

Most people would agree that if you drink a lot of coffee, you might feel jittery, irritable or perhaps even nauseas – that’s because caffeine helps your body work faster and harder, but it is also likely to suggest that you may have reached your limit for the time being.

We also know that risk of cardiovascular disease increases with high blood pressure, a known consequence of excess caffeine consumption.

In order to maintain a healthy heart and a healthy blood pressure, people must limit their coffees to fewer than six cups a day – based on our data six was the tipping point where caffeine started to negatively affect cardiovascular risk.”

This study looked at data from nearly 350,000 participants, to examine the ability of the CYP1A2 gene to help metabolise caffeine.

This helped them to identify what levels of coffee will cause high blood pressure and so increase the odds of cardiovascular disease.

They also checked if genetic variations could help some people to breakdown caffeine faster than others and if this can help these individuals to consume more coffee.

Professor Hyppönen explained:

“Despite carriers of the fast-processing gene variation being four times quicker at metabolising caffeine, the research does not support the belief that these people could safely consume more caffeine, more frequently, without detrimental health effects.

An estimated three billion cups of coffee are enjoyed every day around the world.

Knowing the limits of what’s good for you and what’s not is imperative.

As with many things, it’s all about moderation; overindulge and your health will pay for it.”

The study was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Zhou et al., 2019).