The food that we eat has a huge effect on our overall health — that much is abundantly clear. Eating more vegetables and less meat contributes to a healthy heart. Not only is eating fewer animal products good for health, eating them as close to nature as possible, studies suggest, is the best.
Now, a new study that appeared in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that eating more plant-based foods may reduce the risk of dying of a heart attack, stroke or heart failure by 16 per cent compared to those that consumed the smallest amount of plant-based foods.
They examined data from 12,168 middle-aged people who had enrolled in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. The ARIC project clinically followed the participants between 1987 and 2016.
The researchers categorised the participants’ diet using four diet indexes. Overall, plant-based diet index and pro-vegetarian diet index and higher intakes of all or selected plant foods received higher scores.
High plant-based food consumers were also 25 per cent less likely to die from any cause and had a 32 per cent lower risk of dying from a cardiovascular condition.
Moreover, researchers also suggested that consuming local foods with fewer additives might also reduce abdominal fat, blood pressure, and diabetes risk.
The pilot study, which featured in the Journal Diabetes & Metabolism, set out to understand the effect of eating locally produced food. Rather than concentrating on fat and sugar content, they were solely interested in the additives.
In all, 159 healthy participants completed the six-month study. The scientists assessed a range of parameters, including height, weight, and blood pressure.
The scientists took blood samples to measure resting blood glucose and levels of potassium, sodium, insulin, creatine, and C-peptide (a measure of how much insulin someone is producing).
The researchers randomly split the participants into two groups. They asked the members of the first group to purchase cheese, sausage, fresh pasta, pastries, biscuits, and chocolate from local producers. The participants in the second group bought these products in supermarkets instead.
The researchers asked the participants in both groups to follow the Mediterranean diet and keep a detailed food diary. Overall, both groups consumed a similar number of calories.
At the start of the study, there were no significant differences between the two groups. After six months, the researchers repeated the barrage of tests that they had conducted at the beginning of the study.
Across both groups, body mass index (BMI) and levels of salt in the blood were lower than baseline readings. However, there were differences between the groups too.
The researchers found that at the six-month mark, participants in the first group had significantly better homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) scores and lower fasting glucose levels than those in the second group.
The medical community considers HOMA scores to be an indicator of insulin resistance and beta-cell (the cells in the pancreas that secrete insulin) function.
Also, compared with their baseline measurements, those in the local food group had lower levels of visceral fat, reduced systolic blood pressure and improved depression scores.
Those in the second group, however, experienced increases in fasting glucose levels, diastolic blood pressure and C-peptide compared with their baseline scores.
Nonetheless, Dr Ogah, a consultant cardiologist, University College Hospital (UCH, Ibadan, Oyo State, stated that eating local food reduces blood pressure and diabetes risk is dependent on its constituent and the amount of it that is consumed.
According to him, consumption of local foods that are rich in fruits and vegetables, including fibre, is what evidence suggests is protective against cardiovascular diseases.
Dr Ogah added: “People will say we did not have some of the diseases we are having today because our forefathers were eating fresh foods that are rich in vegetables and fruits and they did a lot of manual work.
“You may eat all of those things and you are sitting in one place and you will still get cardiovascular diseases because they were not burning it out.”
UCH’s chief dietician, Mrs Rotimi Titilope said eating locally available food is very good and convenient since there are varieties throughout the year.
Mrs Rotimi said taking local food is better than junk or convenience food because their nutrients are readily available to the body, and sometimes diets are individualised in the presence of medical conditions like diabetes.
But Mrs Rotimi warned against blanching or overcooking of vegetables. “And you know that vegetables, if you cook them, you are supposed to cook and eat daily; it is not that you will cook what you will eat in a week and then freeze and recook,” she concluded.