EVERY morning, take at least one large latte mug and fill it with your choice of broccoli or other cruciferous vegetables, spinach, other leafy greens, or beetroot. Then, remember that during the day you will have to consume its contents, in the form of a tasty side dish or, if you like, a smoothie.
If you already have boiled vegetables (better if cooked with a little water so as not to disperse the substances they contain) fill the half cup instead. With this simple and tasty habit, you will offer the body nitrates (and consequently the nitric oxide that derives from it, with its positive action on the arteries) which can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, contributing among other things to counteract hypertension.
To recommend this original plant “prevention” is a research on over 53,000 people followed over time in the context of Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Study, with no signs of cardiovascular disease at the start of the study, published in theEuropean Journal of Epidemiology. The study is the fruit of a collaboration between Edith Cowan University, the Danish Cancer Society and the University of Western Australia.
A diet rich in fish and vegetables reduces the risk of heart failure by 40 percent
The analysis of the results at a distance on adults (the monitoring went on on average for 23 years) shows that a moderate intake of vegetable nitrate is sufficient, about 60 milligrams per day (more or less precisely the vegetables that can fit in a cup) , to have a positive effect on the risk of developing heart disease, stroke, hospitalization for arterial pathologies of the vessels of the whole organism.
In particular, the decrease in risk was 12 per cent for ischemic heart disease, 15 per cent for heart failure, 17 per cent for stroke and as much as 26 per cent for peripheral arterial diseases affecting the arteries of the legs.
The study was coordinated by Catherine Bondonno, of the Nutrition Research Institute of Edith Cowan University, and has also demonstrated an action of this habit on maximum blood pressure: the average systolic is less than 2.5 millimeters of mercury.
Thus legumes protect the heart
How can this effect be explained? The key to cardiovascular protection is to be found in nitric oxide, which is produced in the body starting from the presence of nitrates. Nitric oxide helps the arteries to remain elastic (arterial stiffness binds to hypertension and favors the lack of response to any stimuli from stress to physical exertion) therefore counteracts high blood pressure. Consequently, it promotes normal blood flow in all districts, including the brain, helping the cognitive response.
It should also be considered that green leafy vegetables also contain plant sterols with a positive action on cholesterol values. In this sense, vegetables from the cruciferous family should be favored, i.e. vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli. Obviously, it must be said, the data refer to a targeted extrapolation on the nitrate content of the diet and it is to be thought that those who regularly consume vegetables tend to have an overall healthier diet. But the indications for consuming green leafy vegetables or other nitrate-rich foods are still significant.
“Nitrates are in all plants because they are present in the soil, in water, in fertilizers, which are used by the plants themselves to grow – he explains Andrea Ghiselli, President Sisa (Italian Society of Food Science. Obviously some vegetables concentrate these compounds more, while others “incorporate” less of them from the earth. We can say that the study shows the value of regular consumption of this type of food: not we must forget that in Italy the share of vegetables should be higher than the recommended 80 grams, which reflect the consumption of Scandinavian countries. Even if we also recommend smoothies and centrifuges for cardiovascular protection, it should be remembered that the consumption of the vegetable not shredded is more suitable, because it gives a sense of satiety. There are only two factors to pay attention to: on the one hand you must prefer cooking methods that do not lead to the dispersion of nitrates in the water, on the other you must not overdo it, especially in children, so as not to create any problems with the blood “.
Healthy eating alone reduces deaths from heart attack and stroke by 20 percent
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