想降低患心血管疾病的风险吗?那就尝试素食

想降低患心血管疾病的风险吗?那就尝试素食

About 600,00 people die every year from heart disease in the United States; that’s one in every four deaths. It is the leading cause of death for both men and women. To what do we owe this epidemic?

在美国，每年大约有60万人死于心脏病;这是四分之一的死亡。它是男性和女性的主要死因。我们该把这种流行病归功于什么?

Plant‐based diets are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. (Photo: Elena Eryomenko/Shutterstock)

Research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition provides some clues. A study of 44,500 people in England and Scotland revealed that vegetarians were 32 percent less likely to die or to need hospital treatment as a result of heart disease.

发表在《美国临床营养学杂志》上的研究提供了一些线索。一项对英格兰和苏格兰44500人进行的研究表明，素食者死于心脏病或需要住院治疗的可能性要低32%。

The scientists looked at data from 15,100 vegetarians and 29,400 people who ate meat and fish. During the course of the 11-year study, 169 participants died from heart disease and 1,066 required hospital treatment — and those individuals were more likely to have been meat and fish eaters than vegetarians.

科学家们研究了15100名素食者和29400名吃肉和鱼的人的数据。在这项为期11年的研究中，169名参与者死于心脏病，1066人需要住院治疗，而这些人更有可能是食肉和鱼类的食用者，而不是素食者。

Differences in cholesterol levels, blood pressure and body weight are thought to be behind the numbers.

胆固醇水平、血压和体重的差异被认为是这些数字背后的原因。

“Most of the difference in risk is probably caused by effects on cholesterol and blood pressure,” said Dr. Francesca Crowe, lead author of the study at the Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford. “Vegetarians probably have a lower intake of saturated fat, so it makes senses there is a lower risk of heart disease."

牛津大学癌症流行病学部门的弗朗西丝卡·克罗博士是这项研究的主要作者，她说:“患病风险的大部分差异可能是由对胆固醇和血压的影响造成的。”“素食者可能摄入较少的饱和脂肪，所以有理由认为他们患心脏病的风险较低。”

The Oxford team calculated the risk reduction at 32 percent after accounting for other factors such as age, smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, educational level and socioeconomic background. Crowe said, "The main message is that diet is an important determinant of heart health.”

牛津大学的研究小组在考虑了年龄、吸烟、饮酒、体育锻炼、教育水平和社会经济背景等因素后，将风险降低了32%。克罗说:“主要的信息是，饮食是心脏健康的一个重要决定因素。”

And although the number is sobering, if you’re an omnivore not ready to give up the whole hog, adopting some moderation still might help.

虽然这个数字令人警醒，但如果你是一个杂食动物，还没有准备好放弃整头猪，采取一些适度的饮食仍然可能有所帮助。

New research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association offers hope for those who want to take the transition one step at a time.

发表在《美国心脏协会杂志》上的一项新研究为那些想一步一步过渡的人带来了希望。

"While you don't have to give up foods derived from animals completely, our study does suggest that eating a larger proportion of plant-based foods and a smaller proportion of animal-based foods may help reduce your risk of having a heart attack, stroke or other type of cardiovascular disease," said lead researcher.

“虽然你不必放弃完全源自动物的食物,我们的研究的确表明,吃更大比例的植物性食物和动物性食物的比例可能有助于减少你患心脏病的风险,中风或其他类型的心血管疾病,”首席研究员说。

Unfortunately, this doesn't mean you can load up on the French fries, but rather "unprocessed foods, like fresh fruit, vegetables and grains are good choices," said Mariell Jessup, M.D., the chief science and medical officer of the American Heart Association.

不幸的是，这并不意味着你可以大量吃薯条，而是“未经加工的食物，如新鲜水果、蔬菜和谷物都是不错的选择，”医学博士玛丽埃尔·杰索普说，他是美国心脏协会的首席科学和医学官员。

Look for nutrient-dense, unprocessed foods like whole grains and dried legumes, and try to limit refined carbohydrates and added sugar (which is hidden in just about everything).

寻找营养丰富、未经加工的食物，如全谷物和干豆类，尽量限制精制碳水化合物和添加糖(几乎所有东西中都含有这些)。