A low-fat diet is the usual way to help protect against heart disease-but a whole food diet, including more fruits, vegetables, nuts and fruits, is a better way to reduce your risk, new research has found.
Although a low-fat diet can lower cholesterol, it doesn’t reduce the chances of a heart attack or death from heart disease, say researchers from the University of Arizona’s college of medicine.
Looking back on studies dating back to 1957 when diet and heart disease became mainstream, the researchers found that a ‘whole diet’, and especially a Mediterranean diet, reduced the risk far more effectively, even though it didn’t necessarily reduce cholesterol levels.
The researchers think that combining healthy foods has a synergistic effect, and is more protective than a blanket low-fat approach.
(Source: American Journal of Medicine, 2013; doi: 10.1016/amjmed.2013.12.014)
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