Login or Register

The Atherogenic Diet

Dec 9, 2010 | By Bonnie Vanaman
The Atherogenic Diet
Photo Credit Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images

You may not remember what you had for dinner yesterday, but chances are good that if you ate a typical Western-style meal, it may have set you on the road to coronary artery disease. An atherogenic diet is one that's filled with the types of unhealthy foods that contribute to this disease. Fortunately, with dietary lifestyle modifications, you can improve your health in the short term and improve your odds over the long haul of avoiding a heart attack or stroke.

Identification

Atherogenic means something that causes the formation of abnormal fatty deposits in an artery. These important blood vessels in your body carry oxygen and nutrients from your heart to your other tissues, and when healthy, they're flexible yet strong. But when excess fat known as plaques build up on the walls of arteries, this can soften and weaken the vessels, restricting blood flow. Although heredity can play a part, diet is one of the leading causes of this condition.

Features

Scientists often use atherogenic diets fed to laboratory animals to study coronary artery disease. Typically, they'll include cocoa butter, dairy butter, corn oil, cholesterol and sucrose. In humans, an atherogenic diet contains cholesterol in foods such as meat, eggs and other animal products. It's also high in fat and sugar, and low in fiber.

Significance

Coronary heart disease, caused by atherosclerosis, is the leading cause of death in the United States, with 425,425 deaths in 2006 alone and an estimated 17,600,000 other people suffering from the disease. High levels of triglycerides, the chemical form of fat in the blood, have been linked to atherosclerosis. Triglycerides in your blood come from saturated fats eaten in foods or made in your body from other food sources like carbohydrates.

Expert Insight

In a July 2003 issue of the "Journal of the American Medical Association," James W. Anderson published a study comparing the effects of a healthy diet on patients with coronary artery disease to the effects of statin drugs often prescribed for the condition. The healthy diet, which Anderson called the whole foods diet, included a diet high in vegetables, fruits, soy foods and nuts. Among the study participants, those on the whole foods diet had almost identical results in lowering cholesterol and inflammation levels compared to those who were taking the statin drugs but not on the diet.

A study from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey on the dietary patterns of 13,130 American adults looked at how diet affects your risk for cardiovascular disease. The results, published in the December 2003 issue of the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition," found that people following what was called the American Healthy Pattern, eating large amounts of green, leafy vegetables; tomatoes; vegetables including peppers, green beans, corn, peas and broccoli; and drinking tea, had a significant reduction in their risk of coronary artery disease compared to those eating processed meats, eggs, red meats and high-fat dairy products.

Prevention/Solution

To decrease your risk of developing coronary artery disease, avoid an atherogenic diet. The Mayo Clinic recommends that you instead choose fruits, vegetables and whole grains, avoiding saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. There are herbal supplements and spices that may be helpful, including blond psyllium fiber, calcium, cocoa, cod liver oil, coenzyme Q10, garlic, oat bran and omega-3 fatty acids. If you already have coronary disease or a family history of the disease, check with your healthcare provider before starting any supplements or sudden dietary changes.

References

Article reviewed by Dan Mausner Last updated on: Dec 9, 2010

Must see: Photo Galleries