Fruit and veg counteracts heart disease genes
Wednesday October 12th, 2011
A person's genetic risk of heart disease can be altered depending on what they eat, researchers said last night.
Researchers
found a healthy diet, including much fruit and vegetables, can virtually
eliminate the extra risk linked to some heart disease genes.
The researchers looked at the 9p21 gene which, in some forms, is the strongest known marker for heart disease. Dr Jamie Engert of McGill University, Montreal, Canada, explains: "We know that 9p21 genetic variants increase the risk of heart disease for those that carry it. But it was a surprise to find that a healthy diet could significantly weaken its effect."
They carried out one of the largest gene-diet interaction studies to date by analysing figures on more than 27,000 European, South Asian, Chinese, Latin American and Arab people.
Results showed that those who ate a "prudent" diet, including plenty of raw vegetables, fruits and berries, could lower a raised genetic risk down to the risk of the general population. Details appear in the journal PLoS Medicine.
Dr Sonia Anand commented: "We observed that the effect of a high-risk genotype can be mitigated by consuming a diet high in fruits and vegetables. Our results support the public health recommendation to consume more than five servings of fruits or vegetables as a way to promote good health."
Co-author Dr Ron Do said: "Our research suggests there may be an important interplay between genes and diet in cardiovascular disease. Future research is necessary to understand the mechanism of this interaction, which will shed light on the underlying metabolic processes that the 9p21 gene is involved in."
He added that the results need to be confirmed in further large studies with more uniform dietary measurements.
Judy O’Sullivan, of the British Heart Foundation, said: "This piece of research is certainly an interesting and useful insight into how our risk of developing heart disease is influenced by a number of factors. It should serve as a reminder that while our lifestyle and genes can increase our risk, the way they interact with each other is also very important.
"The relationship between the two is often very complicated and we don’t yet have all the answers but the message appears to be very simple; eating lots of fruit and vegetables is great news for our heart health.”
Tags: Diet & Food | Genetics | Heart Health | North America | UK News
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