An international team, including a UWA researcher, report that high intakes of chocolate, confectionery, butter and other popular foods are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death in middle-age.
Your risk of cardiovascular disease and death may increase if you regularly eat certain foods, like chocolate, white bread, butter, and sugar-sweetened drinks, a new study found. The study, published in the journal BMC Medicine, involved a team from the UK as well as one researcher from the University of Western Australia.
Led by Dr Carmen Piernas, from Oxford University, the study identified two diets that were associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease:
- The first diet identified consisted of high intake of chocolate, confectionery, butter and white bread with low consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables.
- The second problematic diet identified was one high in sugar-sweetened beverages, fruit juice, chocolate, confectionery, table sugar and preserves, with low intake of butter and higher-fat cheese.
The findings provide fresh insights about what foods and food combinations should be considered unhealthy and are likely to contribute to heart problems.
“Cardiovascular disease is one of the main causes of death and disability in the UK and poor diet is a major contributor to this. The most common dietary guidelines are based on the nutrients found in foods rather than foods themselves and this can be confusing for the public,” Dr Piernas said in a press release.
“Our findings help identify specific foods and beverages that are commonly eaten in Britain and that may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality,” she said.
About the study
To reach their conclusions, authors analysed data from 116,806 adults from England, Scotland and Wales, who were part of a cohort recruited for the UK Biobank between 2006 and 2010. The participants, who were between 37 and 73 years old, completed a comprehensive online questionary at least once and up to times over a period of one year. For the same group of participants, researchers used hospital admission and death registry records to calculate the incidence of cardiovascular disease and mortality.
Based on the participants answers and the analyses of mortality and morbidity, researchers were able to identify the key foods and nutrients eaten by participants that were associated to unfavourable hearth health outcomes.
The study also found various lifestyle factors associated with diet. For example, participant who followed an unhealthy diet were more likely to be male, of younger age, experiencing economic deprivation, a current smoker, less physically active, living with obesity or have hypertension, compared to participants who followed a healthier diet.
Australia’s heart problem
The findings, while based on UK population data, is highly relevant for Australia, where 1.2 million adults aged 18 years and over had 1 or more conditions related to heart health during 2017-18, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
In addition, it is estimated 67% Australians aged 18 and over were overweight or obese during 2018, according to data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). These troubling rates are consistent with findings about the eating habits of Australians, which show that less than 7% of all adults consume the recommended servings of vegetables. In contrast, the AIHW also reports that Australian adults consume five to seven servings of so-called discretionary foods, which include morsels high in saturated fat, added sugars, added salt and alcohol.
These new findings raise an alarm about what foods should be more carefully monitored, to avoid an increased risk of heart disease, highlighting that it is not just food high in fat and sugar.
“Our research suggests that eating less chocolate, confectionery, butter, low-fibre bread, sugar-sweetened beverages, fruit juice, table sugar and preserves could be associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease or death during middle-age. The findings of this study could be used to create food-based dietary advice that could help people eat more healthily and reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease,” Dr Piernas concluded.