Vegetable-Rich Diet Slows Development of Arterial Plaques

Researchers working with a mouse model of atherosclerosis have shown that a diet rich in green and yellow vegetables slows the processes leading to the formation of arterial plaques.

Investigators at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine (Winston-Salem, NC, USA) worked with a line of mice that had been genetically engineered to lack the gene for the LDL (low density lipoprotein) receptor.

The mice were divided into two groups: 53 animals were fed a vegetable-free control diet, while 54 animals were fed the same diet with 30% of the calories replaced by an equal-parts mixture of freeze-dried peas, green beans, broccoli, corn, and carrots. After 16 weeks, aortic atherosclerosis was estimated by determining cholesteryl ester content. Plasma total cholesterol, VLDL (very low density lipoproteins) plus LDL cholesterol, serum amyloid A, and body weight were determined and compared.

Results published in the June 2006 issue of the Journal of Nutrition revealed that aortic atherosclerosis was reduced 38% in the mice fed the vegetable-rich diet. Plasma total cholesterol (–12%), VLDL + LDL cholesterol (–32%), serum amyloid A (–37%), and body weight (–7%) were also lower in these mice at the end of the treatment period.

"It is well known that atherosclerosis progression is intimately linked with inflammation in the arteries,” explained first author Dr. Michael R. Adams, professor of pathology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. "Our results, combined with other studies, support the idea that increased vegetable consumption inhibits atherosclerosis progression through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory pathways. Although the pathways involved remain uncertain, the results indicate that a diet rich in green and yellow vegetables inhibits the development of hardening of the arteries and may reduce the risk of heart disease.”



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