想降低患心血管疾病的風險嗎?那就嘗試素食

想降低患心血管疾病的風險嗎?那就嘗試素食

About 600,00 people die every year from heart disease in the United States; that’s one in every four deaths. It is the leading cause of death for both men and women. To what do we owe this epidemic?

在美國，每年大約有60萬人死于心臟病;這是四分之一的死亡。它是男性和女性的主要死因。我們該把這種流行病歸功于什么?

Plant‐based diets are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. (Photo: Elena Eryomenko/Shutterstock)

Research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition provides some clues. A study of 44,500 people in England and Scotland revealed that vegetarians were 32 percent less likely to die or to need hospital treatment as a result of heart disease.

發(fā)表在《美國臨床營養(yǎng)學雜志》上的研究提供了一些線索。一項對英格蘭和蘇格蘭44500人進行的研究表明，素食者死于心臟病或需要住院治療的可能性要低32%。

The scientists looked at data from 15,100 vegetarians and 29,400 people who ate meat and fish. During the course of the 11-year study, 169 participants died from heart disease and 1,066 required hospital treatment — and those individuals were more likely to have been meat and fish eaters than vegetarians.

科學家們研究了15100名素食者和29400名吃肉和魚的人的數據。在這項為期11年的研究中，169名參與者死于心臟病，1066人需要住院治療，而這些人更有可能是食肉和魚類的食用者，而不是素食者。

Differences in cholesterol levels, blood pressure and body weight are thought to be behind the numbers.

膽固醇水平、血壓和體重的差異被認為是這些數字背后的原因。

“Most of the difference in risk is probably caused by effects on cholesterol and blood pressure,” said Dr. Francesca Crowe, lead author of the study at the Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford. “Vegetarians probably have a lower intake of saturated fat, so it makes senses there is a lower risk of heart disease."

牛津大學癌癥流行病學部門的弗朗西絲卡·克羅博士是這項研究的主要作者，她說:“患病風險的大部分差異可能是由對膽固醇和血壓的影響造成的。”“素食者可能攝入較少的飽和脂肪，所以有理由認為他們患心臟病的風險較低。”

The Oxford team calculated the risk reduction at 32 percent after accounting for other factors such as age, smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, educational level and socioeconomic background. Crowe said, "The main message is that diet is an important determinant of heart health.”

牛津大學的研究小組在考慮了年齡、吸煙、飲酒、體育鍛煉、教育水平和社會經濟背景等因素后，將風險降低了32%?？肆_說:“主要的信息是，飲食是心臟健康的一個重要決定因素。”

And although the number is sobering, if you’re an omnivore not ready to give up the whole hog, adopting some moderation still might help.

雖然這個數字令人警醒，但如果你是一個雜食動物，還沒有準備好放棄整頭豬，采取一些適度的飲食仍然可能有所幫助。

New research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association offers hope for those who want to take the transition one step at a time.

發(fā)表在《美國心臟協(xié)會雜志》上的一項新研究為那些想一步一步過渡的人帶來了希望。

"While you don't have to give up foods derived from animals completely, our study does suggest that eating a larger proportion of plant-based foods and a smaller proportion of animal-based foods may help reduce your risk of having a heart attack, stroke or other type of cardiovascular disease," said lead researcher.

“雖然你不必放棄完全源自動物的食物,我們的研究的確表明,吃更大比例的植物性食物和動物性食物的比例可能有助于減少你患心臟病的風險,中風或其他類型的心血管疾病,”首席研究員說。

Unfortunately, this doesn't mean you can load up on the French fries, but rather "unprocessed foods, like fresh fruit, vegetables and grains are good choices," said Mariell Jessup, M.D., the chief science and medical officer of the American Heart Association.

不幸的是，這并不意味著你可以大量吃薯條，而是“未經加工的食物，如新鮮水果、蔬菜和谷物都是不錯的選擇，”醫(yī)學博士瑪麗埃爾·杰索普說，他是美國心臟協(xié)會的首席科學和醫(yī)學官員。

Look for nutrient-dense, unprocessed foods like whole grains and dried legumes, and try to limit refined carbohydrates and added sugar (which is hidden in just about everything).

尋找營養(yǎng)豐富、未經加工的食物，如全谷物和干豆類，盡量限制精制碳水化合物和添加糖(幾乎所有東西中都含有這些)。