Hardening of the Arteries

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Alzheimers

Vegetables may Stop Artery Hardening

A recent study from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., reveals a diet high in vegetables may decrease the hardening of the arteries.

Researchers looked at the effects of a 30-percent vegetable diet compared to a non-vegetable diet in a group of mice bred to quickly develop atherosclerosis, the formation of plague on blood vessel walls that causes decreased blow flow.

The mice were fed the two diets for 16 weeks, and researchers approximated the degree of atherosclerosis by measuring cholesterol levels.

Researchers found the mice that ate the vegetable diet had 38-percent smaller plaques within their vessels than the control group.

"Although the pathways involved remain uncertain, the results indicate that a diet rich in green and yellow vegetables inhibits the development of hardening of the arteries and may reduce the risk of heart disease," said head researcher Michael Adams, D.V.M.

Data also revealed the mice on the vegetable diet had a 37-percent decrease in an indicator of inflammation, which is connected to atherosclerosis development.

Adams noted, "While everyone knows that eating more vegetables is supposed to be good for you, no one had shown before that it can actually inhibit the development of therosclerosis."

He added, "This suggests how a diet high in vegetables may help prevent heart attacks and strokes."

Also Reported June 16, 2006

Eating Less, Avoiding Fat May Ward Off Alzheimer's

People who want to reduce their chances of getting Alzheimer's disease might want to forego both the fatty french fries and the basket of bread.

According to researchers who studied a mouse model of the disease, a calorie restricted diet based on limiting the intake of carbohydrates reduces beta-amyloid peptides in the brain.

Higher beta-amyloid peptide levels are known to play a role in the plaque buildup that leads to Alzheimer's disease.

Conversely, mice fed high-calorie diets also high in saturated fat developed more beta-amyloid peptides.

Their results, continue the researchers, support other studies showing a link between diet and Alzheimer's disease.

"We hope these findings further unlock the mystery of Alzheimer's and bring hope to the millions of Americans suffering from this disease," says study author Giulio Maria Pasinetti, M.D., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and neuroscience, and director of the Neuroinflammation Research Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.