A new study has found that healthy plant-based foods are linked to better heart health, but unhealthy plant-based foods are not.
One of the most recommended diets for cardiac health is DASH, which is made up of more fruit and vegetables and less saturated fat, cholesterol, red meat, sweets, and sugary drinks.
While more plant foods and fewer animal-based products is the recommendation to support better health, experts say there needs to be more understanding around healthy and un-healthy plant-based foods.
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Past studies have looked at the link between diet and cardiac biomarkers but less is under-stood about the effect of different plant-based diets.
New research by a team from Johns Hopkins University has revealed that eating more healthy plant foods reduces the risk of having higher levels of cardiac biomarkers, while eating more unhealthy plant-based foods increases the risk.
The study involved 7,708 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2004, with no history of cardiovascular disease.
The team examined the impact of three plant-based diets on three cardiac biomarkers, in-cluding cardiac troponin I (cTnI). Cardiac troponins are significant biomarkers of cardiac muscle damage which are used to diagnose acute myocardial infarction.
The authors of the study said: “Differentiating between healthful and less healthful plant foods is relevant to understanding health implications of these dietary patterns.
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“In conclusion, we found that higher adherence to a healthy plant-based diet was inversely associated with elevated cTnI and that higher adherence to an unhealthy plant-based diet was positively associated with elevated cTnI in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults.
“Encouraging healthcare providers, policymakers, and other health authorities to recom-mend and support access to and adoption of healthy plant-based diets may be beneficial for promoting cardiovascular health in both individuals and communities.
Read more in the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
