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Vegetarians
and Heart Disease/Diabetes Risk
By Belinda Hope-Too, PGDipHSc
Vegetarianism
is becoming more trendy, particularly as it is associated
with lower risks of developing heart disease and diabetes.
There are also other lifestyle changes that can be made
to give similar risk-lowering effects - and these seem to
be effective, whether or not a vegetarian diet is followed.
Before giving up meat altogether, consider the following
information.
If
you have decided to become vegetarian, there are a few nutritional
points you may need to be made aware of. When you cut meat
and/or dairy out of your diet, you are also cutting out
some of the major nutrients that your body needs on a daily
basis to function effectively. Because of this, it is vitally
important for your health that you understand your body's
needs and plan your meals carefully, and consider supplementation
to boost the nutrients you are missing out on. Otherwise
your body cannot work properly and more serious problems
can occur as will be explained below - and these risks are
probably more relevant in the short term, as opposed to
a long term risk reduction for heart disease and diabetes.
Meat
is the most common source of protein for the body, and if
you decide to stop eating meat for whatever reason, you
need to think about where you are going to get your protein
intake (and iron for that matter) from. There are plenty
of other sources of protein which are suitable for a vegetarian
diet, for example nuts, seeds, legumes, grains and protein
supplement drinks, so a vegetarian diet followed properly
is quite a balanced healthy diet.
Protein
contains amino acids, which are referred to as the 'building
blocks' of protein in our body. Amino acids play a huge
part in our body biochemistry, for example being burnt for
energy production, joining together in particular sequences
to form neurotransmitters and hormones in the body, and
helping to synthesise cellular enzymes, immunoglobulins
(for immune support) and lipoproteins.
Most
amino acids can be made in the body, but some can not -
these are called Essential Amino Acids, and this is where
meat comes in handy, as it contains all the amino acids
that we can't make. So if you aren't eating meat, you aren't
getting these essential amino acids which you can see are
important for so many bodily functions. Nuts, seeds, legumes
and grains are the next best food to eat, as they each contain
some of the essential amino acids, but
not others. This means you have to be careful to eat them
all in the same meal to get all the amino
acids you need, otherwise they wont be able to function
properly in your body to make all the appropriate proteins.
It may be difficult to do this effectively, so still eat
these foods whenever you can, as they are full of nutrients
and energy, but consider adding a protein shake or bar to
your daily routine when it's inconvenient to eat your normal
food.
Meat
also contains the B vitamin B12, Iron and Zinc. B12 can
only be found in animal products, so it is advisable that
you supplement with a B Complex tablet or a multivitamin
if you are vegetarian. People deficient in B12 often have
anaemia, with symptoms such as exhaustion, shortness of
breath, pale skin, mucous membranes; and nervous system
damage, including numbness and tingling in the hands and
feet, clumsiness and difficulty walking. Mental functions
can also deteriorate.
Vitamin
B12 is also vitally important in reducing homocysteine levels.
Along with Folic Acid and Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12 is required
in the process of breaking down the amino acid homocysteine
into other amino acids. If these vitamins are not present
in high enough quantities, homocysteine can not be converted
and it accumulates. High homocysteine levels have been shown
to be an independant risk factor for heart disease, so keeping
B12 levels up is an important issue to keep in mind. This
can be done simply by eating small amounts of animal products
regularly.
Iron
is part of the haemoglobin protein that helps transport
oxygen around the body in red blood cells and muscles and
is something else that you will begin to become deficient
in if you don't eat meat. Iron deficiency problems can cause
all sorts of functional and cognitive problems, and you
may notice that physical work is more tiring, learning is
harder, concentration is difficult, appetite is reduced,
the body is less able to fight infection and feels the cold
more. More serious symptoms may occur the longer the deficiency
and resulting anaemia continue.
There
are all kinds of foods that are high in iron that you can
choose to eat such as wholegrain cereals, dried peas, beans
and lentils, some dried fruits, and dark green leafy vegetables.
However, these foods contain poorly absorbed iron called
non-haem iron, so you have to consume a larger quantity
to reach the same level of absorbed iron you would normally
get from haem-iron sources such as meat, fish and poultry.
Some
examples of iron content in vegetarian foods are: 1 slice
wholemeal bread = 0.3mg, 1/3 cup rolled oats = 2.1mg, ½
cup baked beans = 1.3mg, ½ cup cooked spinach = 0.6mg, ½
cup cooked peas = 1.1mg, ½ cup cooked silverbeet = 1mg,
boiled egg = 1.1mg, 2 tablespoons raisins = 0.3mg. Eating
foods high in vitamin C with these non-haem iron foods helps
with the iron absorption. Be careful when cooking not to
over-boil them, as this can reduce the iron content by up
to 20%. Tea should not be drunk with meals as the tannin
can interfere with the absorption of any iron in the food,
and this is counterproductive if you are vegetarian.
If
you feel you aren't eating sufficient vegetable sources
of iron (you do actually have to eat quite a lot), then
you can supplement with an iron tablet or liquid and most
of these contain B12 and Vitamin C to enhance absorption.
When you take iron, make sure it comes with Vitamin C, or
take vitamin c with it - this helps your body absorb the
iron properly. When people eat meat, they generally have
it with vegetables which contain vitamin c, so it is absorbed,
however when you are eating nuts, grains and legumes etc,
these can actually inhibit iron absorption, so you will
definitely need additional vitamin c in your diet.
Iron
deficiency can cause anaemia, which includes symptoms such
as listlessness, fatigue, cracks at the corners of the mouth,
difficulty swallowing and concave nails. It can also reduce
growth, learning ability and resistance to infection in
children. Iron deficiency is probably one of the most common
nutritional deficiencies, particularly in menstruating women
and vegetarians, and as it is difficult to get sufficient
iron from a vegetarian diet, all vegetarians and women (regardless
of vegetarianism or not) should take an iron supplement.
Zinc
is another important mineral for all kinds of functions,
particularly for skin cell formation and reproductive cell
formation. Zinc is found in meat, so be careful not to become
deficient in it. Nuts and seeds are also high in zinc. Zinc
deficiency signs include slow growth, low sperm count, slow
sexual maturation, hair loss, skin conditions, impaired
taste or smell (particularly with people suffering from
anorexia), impaired wound healing and white spots on the
fingernails.
All
of these nutritional problems can occur from cutting meat
from your diet. If you are simply choosing vegetarianism
as a health choice to prevent developing heart disease or
diabetes later in life, you may want to consider whether
these problems that can occur at any time in the present
or near future (if there are deficiencies in the diet for
extended periods) are worth suffering.
If
you decide these problems are worth risking as you are certain
your diet is nutritionally complete and you are carefully
planning meals, then you will find that your body should
cope well, and indeed your risk of heart disease and diabetes
will be significantly reduced.
Meat
contains saturated fats and cholesterol, and these are linked
to the development of heart disease and diabetes. Over long
periods of time of eating high fat/high cholesterol foods
such as meat causes a long and complicated process where
plaques of soft fatty streaks develop along the inside of
the arteries which can harden and restrict the flow of blood.
Sometimes blood clots can form which stick to the plaques
and restrict blood flow even more, or alternatively break
away and become stuck in smaller arteries - shutting down
blood flow altogether. This can result in a heart attack
or a stroke if the blood flow is restricted seriously.
Obesity
is another problem excess meat consumption is related to,
and the more overweight you are, the more likely you are
to develop heart disease or diabetes, or both. A vegetarian
diet contains little 'bad' fats (saturated fats), and it
is rare to find an overweight vegetarian! Switching to a
vegetarian diet is likely to be followed by a healthy weight
loss. Obese people also have higher blood pressure and cholesterol,
which are two other risk factors implicated for heart disease
and diabetes.
Diet
is one of the major reversible risk factors for heart disease
- if you are serious about your health, you can easily reduce
your risks by improving your diet and eating less meats
and saturated fats, increasing fruits and vegetables, and
be careful about keeping your HDL to LDL cholesterol ratio
high. HDL cholesterol is the protective cholesterol, while
LDL is the bad cholesterol (when oxidized) involved with
the development of arterial plaques. The higher the relative
level of HDL cholesterol in your blood, the lower your risk
of developing heart disease. If becoming vegetarian is what
you choose to do in order to achieve this, then as long
as your meals are nutritionally complete, this is a great
health choice.
Smoking
is another major risk factor - all studies in this area
have shown a linear relationship where smokers have a higher
risk of developing heart disease. In fact, one large prospective
study found that men smoking more than 20 cigarettes each
day have a 3-4 time risk of heart disease than non-smokers.
If you smoke, you should definitely consider stopping. This
is possibly the best health advice for any condition.
Blood
pressure also is important to consider, especially when
talking about atherosclerosis, as the blood is trying much
harder to force its way through a smaller gap in the artery.
The Framingham study showed that people with high blood
pressure have a 2-3 fold increased risk of heart disease.
The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension)
was part of a major study to see whether different levels
of sodium in the diet affect blood pressure, and combined
this with a healthy diet approach of fresh fruits, vegetables,
low-fat dairy products, whole grains and nuts, poultry and
fish instead of red meat. This diet reduced blood pressure
significantly, so this is something to consider for your
own lifestyle changes.
However,
diet is only one risk factor for heart disease and diabetes
- you also have to consider your age (the older you are,
the higher your risk), gender (men have a higher risk),
whether you smoke, if you have high blood pressure and/or
cholesterol already, if you are obese (there is a much higher
risk of obese people developing heart disease and diabetes),
genetic and personality factors, and exercise levels. Diet
is one piece of the puzzle, so if you can change other factors
where possible, then your risk has decreased even more.
It
is my opinion that you don't have to give up meat if you
don't want to, just for the sake of future health. You will
instead need to make some healthy diet choices and some
practical lifestyle changes such as simply reducing the
meat intake you currently have, and increasing fresh fruits
and vegetables in combination with a weight loss and exercise
program, and stop smoking - in combination, these may be
enough to reduce your risks significantly without solely
going completely vegetarian.
Read my supplementation guide for vegetarians.
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