Ensuring a healthy heart is far easier than can be imagined.
Experts looking at heart healthy foods have indicated that a diet that includes
coffee and tomatoes support a healthy heart.
In a new study, experts indicated that tomato is
rich in nutrients that are effective against heart disease. The study indicated
that consumption of tomato can help inhibit a key process that leads to the
thickening of the artery wall, which is typical of heart disease.
This also further asserts that whole food
extracts are more effective than single ingredients – such as lycopene.
The study commissioned by Lycored also noted beneficial changes in
glucose, insulin and triglyceride responses after a high-fat meal. While the
study doesn’t reveal anything unexpected, the approach is of notable interest
as the researchers use whole food extracts.
Previous research suggested lycopene alone was not as effective as
whole tomatoes or complex tomato extracts in improving cardiovascular risk
factors associated with oxidative stress.
Dr Karin Hermoni, category manager at, Lycored stated: “The use of
a whole food extract from the tomato as a method of addressing the oxidation of
LDL, the most dangerous form of cholesterol, and improving the metabolic
picture following a meal, is a new concept.”
Atherosclerosis is a condition of the arteries, where fatty
material is deposited onto the inner arterial wall.
In a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled test, 146
healthy normal weight individuals were daily given a dose of Lycored’s
Cardiomato product or a placebo for two weeks.
For the study, the treatment capsules were standardised for the
levels of several phytonutrients such as lycopene and phytosterols in a 1:1
ratio (15 mg), as well as tocopherols and other tomato carotenoids such as
phytoene, phytofluene (4 mg), and beta-carotene (0.5 mg).
Oxidised LDL (OxLDL) – particles that accumulate in the body
leading to artery cell wall thickening or atherosclerosis –glucose, insulin,
and triglyceride (TG) responses were measured for eight hours after ingestion
of a high-fat meal (850 kcal; 50 per cent of energy from fat; standardised in
lycopene) before and at the end of intervention.
According to Hermoni: “The outcomes of the study in general tell
us the benefits of this whole food supplement in management of post meal
stress.
“One of the strengths of this study is that it was done with
healthy subjects. That means everyone can benefit even young healthy
individuals that want to promote healthy ageing in the years to come. This
trend of a beneficial effect might be even stronger over time.”
Previous research has suggested a beneficial relationship between
tomato consumption and lycopene levels with risk of some chronic cardiovascular
diseases.
Lycopene is thought to be the prime bioactive carotenoid in
tomatoes that is responsible for these health benefits. However, other
precursor carotenoids such as phytoene and phytofluene are also present in
large quantities and more likely exhibit potent bioactivity too.
Meanwhile, experts also say that taking between two and five cups
of coffee per day benefits the heart and blood vessels.
The report, commissioned by the Institute for Scientific
Information on Coffee (ISIC), suggests that taking between two and five cups of
coffee per day may reduce risk of death from cardiovascular diseases by just
over a fifth.
Coffee naturally contains a variety of compounds including
caffeine, antioxidants and diterpenes. These compounds not only give coffee its
distinctive flavour but also the positive effects on health.
Populations worldwide and degree of protection also differed as
findings suggested that two cups of coffee per day may offer the greatest
protection in a Japanese population, whilst three cups may provide the greatest
protection in populations in the UK.
In particular, a handful of studies were included that review the
effects of coffee consumption in specific patient groups. This includes a
meta-analysis of studies in heart attack patients that noted a favourable
association between habitual coffee consumption and mortality risk.
A study of 75 patients with hypertension was also included, which
suggested that drinking coffee was associated with higher blood pressure
compared to those who did not drink coffee.
The effect was greatest in those who drank three or more cups of
coffee per day.
Research carried out by The Women’s Health Initiative concluded
that caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee were not risk factors for high blood
pressure in postmenopausal women.
Finally, a large patient study suggested that higher coffee
intakes reduced the rate of an irregular and abnormally fast heart rate.
“The precise mechanisms of action behind the suggested association
are unknown,” the report stated.
“The antioxidant profile of coffee has also been proposed as a
potential mechanism that might affect the association between coffee
consumption and reduced CVD morality risk.”
Maureen Talbot, senior cardiac nurse at
the British Heart Foundation, however cautioned, “While this study may suggest
that drinking three cups of coffee a day could offer some protection from heart
and circulatory disease, it shouldn’t be taken as a green light to drink lots
of caffeine”.
Source:
tribuneonlineng
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