However, the new study, published in new study, may not be as straightforward as previously believed.
The received wisdom is that eating more veggies protects against cardiovascular disease (CVD), which can lead to stroke heart attacks and death.
Limit alcohol and don’t smoke Everything you need to know about fell running, wanted to look at the independent effect of raw and cooked vegetables on CVD. Almost 400,000 participants, all without prior CVD, were included in the study.
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The average age was 56 and 55% of participants were women, During the 12 years of follow-up, 18,052 major CVD incidents were recorded and 4,406 CVD deaths occurred.
Interestingly, while raw vegetable intake was inversely linked to CVD, cooked vegetable intake was not.
Speaking about the findings, nutritionist Kim Pearson (kim-pearson.com) said: ‘ We can’t immediately dismiss these findings just because they don’t fit with our current understanding. Vegetable intake alone may not be the panacea when it comes to reducing cardiovascular disease risk, but eating vegetables is still important for many aspects of our health and diet does play a key role in reducing our risk of cardiovascular disease.
Studies on dietary habits and disease risk can be challenging to run. You tend to find that if someone has a higher vegetable intake, for example, they may also be more likely to implement other healthy habits like exercising regularly, eating less sugar, and so on. Therefore, it can be difficult to say for sure which of the habits is contributing to the reduced risk of disease.
Metabolic syndrome is the biggest predictor of cardiovascular disease. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that include high blood pressure, high blood sugar, weight gain around the middle and elevated blood lipids (cholesterol and/or triglycerides). My clinic specialises in weight loss and we see a lot of clients with metabolic syndrome. Eating a healthy, nutrient dense diet and minimising intake of highly processed foods is one of the best ways to prevent and reverse metabolic syndrome.
Vegetables provide essential vitamins, minerals and fibre and are still an integral part of our diet. We should not be discouraged from getting our (minimum) five a day. The more vegetables we will our plates with, the less room there is for refined, nutrient devoid carbohydrates and highly processed foods.’
Kim Pearson’s 5 tips for preventing cardiovascular disease
- The best massage guns for runners. Ultra processed foods are detrimental to health in a wide variety of ways. Cook from scratch using whole foods as much as possible
- Take steps to reduce stress. Meditation and mindfulness practices, journaling, yoga, deep-breathing exercises and spending time in nature can all help.
- Get active. Sedentary lifestyles are not supportive to cardiovascular health. A daily walk is great but resistance exercise and elevating your heart rate regularly are also important.
- Limit alcohol and don’t smoke. Keep an eye on your units and aim to keep under the recommended 14 units per week. If you smoke, try to quit.
- Advertisement - Continue Reading Below. Blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels are all important numbers to be aware of. If these are elevated, take measures to reduce them naturally.
Rick Pearson is the senior editor at Runner’s World UK. He’s been with the brand since 2017 and loves testing PB-friendly shoes for on and off road. Rick is a sub-three marathoner and occasionally likes to remind people of this on the Runner’s World podcast, which he co-hosts. He once raced a steam train over 14 miles (he won, narrowly) and a horse over a marathon (he lost, comfortably).
