Understanding the role of nutrition and immunity in heart health
An estimated 17 million people die of cardiovascular disease every year. The World Health Organization (WHO) confirms that it is the leading cause of death worldwide. Cardiovascular disease affects the entire circulatory system responsible for the distribution of blood, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nutrients in the body through the heart, arteries, veins, and capillaries.
It’s common knowledge to include exercise, healthy diet, and stress management in ensuring a healthy heart. Not too many pay attention, however, to their immune system and its relation to cardiovascular health. Ever wonder why individuals with heart diseases like hypertension or high blood pressure are at a higher risk of getting infected with and suffering from severe symptoms of COVID-19?
When the immune system is faulty, it may become weakened or it could also go into overdrive. Thus, a malfunctioning immune system results in many diseases, one of which is atherosclerosis. A disease that is characterized by plaque buildup in the arteries causing blockage, decreased oxygen supply leading to heart attack, stroke, or worse death. The plaque is composed of cholesterol, fat, calcium, and other substances in the blood.
We naturally blame the cholesterol and fat from our food intake for causing our lipid (cholesterol and triglycerides) levels to rise. The body, however, also produces cholesterol. In fact, it isn’t necessarily the bad guy. Cholesterol is essential in forming cell membranes or lining. It is also needed to form hormones, vitamin D, and other substances in the body. It keeps the brain healthy too.
The high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or commonly referred to as good cholesterol, works by picking up excess cholesterol in the blood and taking it back to the liver to be broken down. The low-density lipoprotein (LDL) also known as the bad cholesterol, delivers cholesterol in places where it is needed all over the body. It isn’t so bad after all! Excessive consumption, however, from food sources like fatty meats, seafood, egg, and dairy or if the intake of good cholesterol from fatty fishes, nuts, seeds, and other plant sources are inadequate, the LDL in the blood increases and begins to damage the walls of the arteries by forming plaques.
What does the immunity have to do with these plaques? A study conducted by researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden showed that the immune system reacts to excess LDL in the blood. Immune T cells attack the bad cholesterol. This causes inflammation that damages the arterial walls, leading to atherosclerosis.
It is safe to say that the first step to preventing atherosclerosis is to quell inflammation through nutrition, more specifically, through plant-based diet. While this eating pattern may not necessarily mean totally forgoing animal-based products, it pertains to consuming mostly food that come from plant sources like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. This diet also refers to vegan and vegetarians.
'A plant-based diet has the power to not only prevent heart disease, but it also manages and sometimes even reverses it—something no drug has ever done.'
Several clinical trials and observational studies on plant-based dietary patterns in relation to prevention and reversal of atherosclerosis were reviewed by researchers from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. They found that a plant-based diet reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 40 percent, fully or partially unclogs blocked arteries in up to 91 percent of patients, reduces the risk of elevated blood pressure by 34 percent, lowers total cholesterol and LDL levels, and is associated with weight loss.
“A plant-based diet has the power to not only prevent heart disease, but it also manages and sometimes even reverses it—something no drug has ever done,” says study author Hana Kahleova, M.D., Ph.D., Physicians Committee director of clinical research.
Plant food sources contain an abundance of phytonutrients and antioxidants that reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, a state of imbalance between the amount of toxic free radicals present in the body against the amount of antioxidants that help detoxify and prevent cell damage.
Soluble fiber from plants helps clear bad cholesterol in the blood. Cholesterol-lowering phytosterols found in soy and psyllium husk are plant sterols that have similar structure and function to cholesterol. They compete with cholesterol, thus reducing its absorption in the body.
If you want to have a healthy heart, begin by intentionally incorporating fruits, vegetables including legumes, nuts, and seeds, as well as whole grains like oats in your diet. Have a fruit for snack or dessert. Have at least one-half cup of vegetable dish per meal if you are not yet used to eating vegetables. Small steps go a long way. Look at progress and not perfection.