Heart Disease News: Lack of Fresh Food, Poor Households More Likely to Get Clogged Arteries
Fresh Food is Important to Heart Health
People who don't have regular access to fresh food, especially those from poor households, are more than likely to have early heart disease.
Fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, herbs and many more are important to a person's overall health. Having little of it or none at all can contribute to the clogging of arteries or a condition known as atherosclerosis, which contributes to early heart disease.
Atherosclerosis and Early Heart Disease Study
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The American Heart Association (AHA) stated that in their research, people who are susceptible to early heart disease like clogged arteries have no access to fresh foods. Neighborhoods with no healthy grocery stores have a high number of people with atherosclerosis and early heart disease as they are most at risk.
Atherosclerosis is a condition where the inner walls of the heart's arteries are lined with fatty material.
The AHA researchers looked into several factors that contribute to early atherosclerosis development including neighborhood grocery stores, social environments, availability or lack thereof of recreational centers, and more.
They studied nearly 6,000 adults who were in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) database. Each adult was followed up for 12 years and had CT scans taken to observe any atherosclerosis in their hearts.
They found out that the lack of access to fresh food is the most common factor among adults and the elderly with atherosclerosis. Their research has been published in the journal Circulation.
Fresh Foods and Atherosclerosis Heart Disease
Lead author Ella August from the University of Michigan stated that fresh foods are one of the many ways to prevent atherosclerosis and stunt the progression of any early heart disease, Science Daily reported.
Some neighborhoods, especially those with poorer households, are susceptible because of the lack of healthy grocery stores in their vicinity. The authors noted that this is most common among black neighborhoods compared to white neighborhoods in America.
Reuters noted that people who had fresh food access within a range of a mile to their homes are less likely to have atherosclerosis build-up compared to those who live farther away from fresh food stores. However, the researchers did acknowledge that it is difficult to know how much fresh food is needed to reverse atherosclerosis as they have not found an accurate and reliable way of measuring it.
The AHA wrote that one of the best ways to prevent atherosclerosis is by partaking a regular heart-healthy diet. These foods include beans, nuts, legumes, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish, low-fat dairy and a bit of red meat and sugar.
