The Vegetarian Diet and Heart Disease Prevention

One would assume that with great wealth comes great health. This, apparently, does not pan out in practice, though, as the Western world continues to become more and more unhealthy as the decades pass. Heart disease kills more people in the US than any other disease. As of now, 34.3% of all deaths in the US are a result of one of the various forms of heart disease. We now have more food available to us than at any other point in history, and it’s starting to show around our waistline. Meat, seems to be a big reason for this. The average person in 2007 consumed 222 pounds of meat – up 20 pounds from 1995, and 80 pounds from 1950. That is a whole lot of meat, which has profound implications on our health – especially when it comes to heart disease. Causes of Heart Disease Heart disease is more than just diet, though. Developing heart disease is largely the result of lifestyle – apart from factors such as age and genetics. Exercise would be one factor. Getting daily exercise, vigorous or otherwise, can go a long way in helping minimize your risk of heart disease. A brisk walk for 20 minutes a day alone can lower your risk by as much as 50%. Not smoking also helps – 40% of all fatalities resulting from heart disease is directly attributed to smoking. rnDiet is another factor – and it’s a big one. High intake of saturated fats clog the heart, causing it to work under stressed conditions, straining and weakening its overall capacity, which can lead to disease. Trans fats and hydrogenated oils, as well, don’t help. They are eventually turned into saturated fats by the body, adding to the problem. How The Vegetarian Diet Can Help Meat has a huge amount of saturated fats and LDL cholesterol in it – especially in pork and beef. By making a simple decision and deciding to cut meats out of your diet, you will ensure a higher level of health for yourself. Becoming vegetarian will eliminate the need to make decisions about eating meat, allowing you to concentrate more of your energy on finding healthy alternatives. It’s true, some vegetarians just eat lots of cheese and drink whole milk, which doesn’t exactly help increase overall health, nor clean the heart. Studies show, though, that vegetarians have decreased early mortality rate, and lower risk to all sorts of diseases commonly associated with high fat, high cholesterol diets. The American Dietetic Association officially states that, “Vegetarians… appear to have lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes than nonvegetarians.” Another report called “Nutrition Concerns and Health Effects of Vegetarian Diets” in the journal Nutritional Clinical Practice writes, “vegetarians typically have lower body mass index, serum total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, and blood pressure; reduced rates of death from ischemic heart disease; and decreased incidence of hypertension, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers than do nonvegetarians.” Increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables also benefits heart health. Most have very high levels of antioxidants, which have been proven to reduce the rate of heart disease, not to mention all sorts of cancer. They also have high levels of dietary fiber, which have been shown to decrease overall levels of cholesterol, especially LDL’s. High levels of vitamins and minerals increase cardiovascular health, helping everything to run stable and smoothly. Making the switch to the vegetarian diet has very positive health benefits on the heart. As a preventative measure, the studies and facts are there to back it up. If you already have heart disease and are interested in the vegetarian diet, be sure to check in with your doctor before making drastic changes to your diet. They can help develop a menu for you that will ensure a smooth and healthy transition to the vegetarian diet.