11/13/98 Food, not pills, best defense for heart
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
DALLAS (Reuters) - Fresh fruits and vegetables, rather than
vitamin supplements, are the best line of defense against a
new indicator of heart disease, doctors said Tuesday. High levels
of the marker homocysteine seem to be linked with the risk of
heart disease, and three vitamins -- folic acid, B-6 and B-12
-- may lower homocysteine levels. But the American Heart Association
says it is too soon to start telling people to take vitamin
supplements to reduce this particular risk.
Dr. Ronald Krauss of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
in Berkeley, California and colleagues on the AHA's
nutrition committee studied results from several trials that
looked at the links between homocysteine and heart disease.
He said only six out of 11 trials showed a clear association
between levels of homocysteine and heart disease.
Until there is proof, rather than emphasizing supplements,
we should recommend an increased intake of vegetables, fruits,
legumes and fortified grains,'' Krauss told a news conference.
Such foods are high in B-vitamins and especially in folic acid,
which can also reduce the risk of birth defects when pregnant
women get enough. The AHA already recommends eating at least
five servings a day of these foods because they also reduce
the risk of high blood pressure and of heart disease overall.
By following our guidelines it is certainly possible to meet
these recommendations,'' Krauss said.
Krauss and colleagues noted that a blood test for homocysteine
is expensive -- between $50 and $100 -- so at this point there would be no justification in telling doctors to
routinely test patients for the compound. But Krauss also noted
that some studies do indicate that homocysteine is an independent
risk factor. That means that even if a person has normal blood
pressure, cholesterol and is not overweight, high homocysteine
levels may still point to an increased risk of heart disease.
Homocysteine is a product of the metabolism of protein, but
levels do not seem to be linked to overall protein in the diet.
B vitamins affect it because they help break down homocysteine,
Krauss said. Scientists are still not sure if it is the homocysteine
that causes some negative effect on the body, or if it is just
a marker -- a signal that something else is wrong.
This is entering into a whole new domain of non-traditional
markers for heart disease,'' Dr. Robert Eckel of
the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and chairman
of the nutrition committee said.
^REUTERS@
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