There's Good Fat And Bad
January 25, 2005
You are what you eat: Getting more fish and good fats
can keep heart disease and stroke at bay, new research
shows.
Two studies with those conclusions appear in this week's
issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Fat Matters In Heart Disease
In the first report, middle-aged men who substituted
more good fat such as omega fatty acids (linoleic acids)
and polyunsaturated fats were 60 percent less likely
to die early of heart disease than men who ate the least
amounts of these good fats in their diets, reports lead
researcher David E. Laaksonen, MD, PhD, with the University
of Kuopio in Finland.
That study involved 1,551 middle-aged men living in
eastern Finland. Researchers obtained information on
the men's daily intake of linoleic acid and the total
polyunsaturated fats in their diet. Researchers then
looked at medical records on the men 15 years later
to find out about heart disease and deaths.
Men who got the most linoleic acid and polyunsaturated
fat got "substantial" heart protection compared
with those who ate less fat of any kind, reports Laaksonen.
They were 62 percent less likely to die of heart disease
than other men in the study, he says.
Dietary fat quality seems to be more important than
fat quantity in the reduction of cardiovascular disease
mortality in men, he concludes.
Linoleic acid is found in oils like olive, corn, safflower,
soybean, canola, and sunflower.
To Prevent Stroke, Don't Fry Fish
Lots of fish prevents stroke in elderly people, but
don't fry it!
Studies looking at health benefits between fish consumption
and stroke risk come up with definite conclusions, writes
Daariush Mozaffarian, MD, MPH, an epidemiologist with
Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
In his study, Mozaffarian analyzed medical records
for 4,775 adults over age 65, all without heart disease
at the study's beginning. He also got diet information
on each, including whether they ate fish and how it
was fixed. Then he looked at their medical records 12
years later.
There were 626 strokes among these elderly people.
He found that those who ate more tuna and other fish
had a lower risk of strokes.
Compared to people eating fish less than once a month,
he shows that:
Those who ate tuna and other non-fried fish one to four
times a week had a 27 percent lower risk of stroke.
Those eating fish five or more times per week had 30
percent less stroke risk.
Those eating fried fish and fish sandwiches had higher
stroke risk — 44 percent higher risk if they ate
it more than once a week.
They say their study shows that fish consumption may
influence stroke risk later in life. The explanation
for how this occurs remain unclear and warrants further
study, they write.
Source:www.cbsnews.com
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