Importance of Diet in Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

Importance of Diet in Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

Importance of a healthy diet cannot be overstressed. Whole grains, fruits, vegetables, low fat food minimizing trans-fat and restriction of salt can bring down the blood pressure by about 10 mm of Hg in those with elevated blood pressure. Stress in general changes our life style and we may eat more of carbohydrate and fat. High calorie food is often chosen when we are stressed as a sort of relief. This has long term consequences like obesity, hypertension and impaired glucose tolerance.

STRIP (Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project) study was a longitudinal, randomized atherosclerosis prevention trial in which repeated dietary counseling aimed at reducing intake of saturated fat from infancy to early adulthood was provided. Participants who had full data on components of metabolic syndrome including waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, glucose and HDL cholesterol were included in a substudy. In the intervention group, prevalence of metabolic syndrome varied from 6% to 7.5% between 15-20 years. Corresponding figures for the control group was 10% to 14%. Among the components of metabolic syndrome, the intervention decreased the risk of high blood pressure in both males and females. Occurrence of high triglycerides was reduced in male subjects. There was also a statistically nonsignificant reduction in the risk of high waist circumference in the intervention group.