The Journal of the American Heart Association released a report this month detailing how eating more plant-based foods may lower heart disease risk in young adults and older women. The conclusion came after two long-term studies were published on the topic.

“In two separate studies analyzing different measures of healthy plant food consumption, researchers found that both young adults and postmenopausal women had fewer heart attacks and were less likely to develop cardiovascular disease when they ate more healthy plant foods,” the press release stated.

One study, called “A Plant-Centered Diet and Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Disease during Young to Middle Adulthood,” investigated if shifting toward a plant-centered diet in young adulthood and remaining on it for a long period of time would lower the risk of cardiovascular disease in middle age.

Yuni Choi, PhD, lead author of the young adult study and a postdoctoral researcher in the division of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis, and his colleagues examined diet and the occurrence of heart disease in 4,946 adults enrolled in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study.

“Participants were 18- to 30-years-old at the time of enrollment (1985-1986) in this study and were free of cardiovascular disease at that time. Participants included 2,509 Black adults and 2,437 white adults (54.9% women overall) who were also analyzed by education level (equivalent to more than high school vs high school or less),” the release noted.

From 1987 to 2016, there were eight follow-up exams given to participants that consisted of lab tests, physical measurements, medical histories, and assessment of lifestyle factors. Their diet history was assessed based on A Priori Diet Quality Score (APDQS), where it categorized foods as beneficial, adverse, or neutral based on their known association with cardiovascular disease.

The results showed, “During 32 years of follow-up, 289 of the participants developed cardiovascular disease (including heart attack, stroke, heart failure, heart-related chest pain, or clogged arteries anywhere in the body).

“People who scored in the top 20% on the long-term diet quality score (meaning they ate the most nutritionally rich plant foods and fewer adversely rated animal products) were 52% less likely to develop cardiovascular disease, after considering several factors (including age, sex, race, average caloric consumption, education, parental history of heart disease, smoking, and average physical activity).

“In addition, between year 7 and 20 of the study when participants ages ranged from 25 to 50, those who improved their diet quality the most (eating more beneficial plant foods and fewer adversely rated animal products) were 61% less likely to develop subsequent cardiovascular disease, in comparison to the participants whose diet quality declined the most during that time,” it concluded.

The second report, titled “Relationship Between a Plant-Based Dietary Portfolio and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: Findings from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Prospective Cohort Study,” had about 15 years of evaluations and found the “Portfolio Diet” is associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women.

According to the press release, “The ‘Portfolio Diet’ includes nuts; plant protein from soy, beans or tofu; viscous soluble fiber from oats, barley, okra, eggplant, oranges, apples and berries; plant sterols from enriched foods and monounsaturated fats found in olive and canola oil and avocados; along with limited consumption of saturated fats and dietary cholesterol.”

The study had 123,330 women in the United States participate. They enrolled in the study between 1993 and 1998, when they where between 50 and 79 years old, with no cardiovascular diseases.

They were evaluated until 2017, with researchers using self-reported food-frequency questionnaires’ data to score each woman on their adherence to the Portfolio Diet.

“Compared to women who followed the Portfolio Diet less frequently, those with the closest alignment were 11% less likely to develop any type of cardiovascular disease, 14% less likely to develop coronary heart disease, and 17% less likely to develop heart failure. There was no association between following the Portfolio Diet more closely and the occurrence of stroke or atrial fibrillation,” the researchers reported.

Local Analysis

Dr James Mullane, of Natural Family Medicine in Danbury, reviewed the American Heart Association’s findings and spoke with The Newtown Bee about his take on the subject.

As a general care practitioner who has worked in Danbury for nearly two decades, he has helped people of all ages and genders lead healthy lifestyles. One of his specialties is aiding people with their diet.

“I do a lot of nutrition work because I have a master’s degree in clinical nutrition. I offer a food sensitivity blood test, which my patients really like, so I end up doing a lot of dietary changes,” Dr Mullane said.

He describes heart disease as any type of inflammation or damage to the cardiovascular system; it can affect people at any age.

Eating plant-based foods, he says, has the health benefits of reducing bodily inflammation and reducing blood sugar.

However, Dr Mullane does not recommend a specific list of nutritious plant-based foods for everyone, and instead has a more individualized approach for finding what works best for people.

“I personally over the years have decided with my patients that there is no one or two or three vegetables that work for everybody,” he explained. “That’s why I do the food sensitivity bloodwork, because if you are eating a vegetable that you are sensitive to and it is causing inflammation in your body, it is not good for you, even if it is on a top ten list of good vegetables.”

In his experience, he has had patients come in who are eating what they believe to be healthy diets but who still have high cholesterol, high inflammation, and are at a higher risk for heart attacks. It is only after doing the food sensitivity test that they can determine what foods they should and should not eat that their health begins to improve.

While some people choose to become a vegetarian or vegan to adhere to a more plant-based diet, it is not mandatory to gain the benefits that come with it.

Dr Mullane says that he recommends people eat some animal products to get enough fats in their diet.

“You need good fats to be heart protective and to restore memory and keep from getting dementia. I recommend eating either more vegetables with a high fat content, like avocado, or get them eating some meat or fish,” he said.

Dr Mullane also advises people lead an active lifestyle and exercise regularly to help improve cardiovascular health.

While it is ideal to start healthy eating habits at a young age, he reassures that it is never too late to make positive changes for one’s health.

Dr Mullane said, “It’s never too late to change your diet… It just takes a bit of work.”

For more information about the American Heart Association report, visit newsroom.heart.org/news/eating-more-plant-foods-may-lower-heart-disease-risk-in-young-adults-older-women. To contact Dr Mullane, call 203-240-9039.

Reporter Alissa Silber can be reached at alissa@thebee.com.