This Morning: Expert on eggs reducing risk of heart disease
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New research from Queen Mary University in London suggests a glass of beetroot juice every day can reduce dangerous inflammation and reduce the risk of heart disease.
The team analysed 114 healthy volunteers.
Of the 114, 78 were given a typhoid vaccine to temporarily increase inflammation while the other 36 were given a cream to create small blisters on their skin resulting in localised inflammation.
Afterwards, the volunteers consumed 140ml of beetroot juice every morning for a week; half drank juice with nitrate while others drank juice with the nitrate removed; nitrate plays a key role in cardiovascular health.
It was observed by the study those who had consumed the high nitrate drink found their function of the endothelium was restored.
The endothelium is a group of cells lining the inside of all blood vessels; it plays a crucial part in keeping blood vessels healthy, but is normally lost to inflammation.
Researchers discovered too that the blisters healed quicker in the group who had consumed the high nitrate drink.
As a result of the study, clinical trials are now being planned to ascertain whether a high nitrate diet will produce similar effects to those seen in these volunteers.
Speaking about the research, Dr Asad Shabbir of Queen Mary said: “Inflammation is vital to protect the body from injury and infection.
“However, in people with coronary heart disease persistent inflammation can exacerbate the furring of the arteries, making their condition worse and increasing the risk of a heart attack.”
Furring of the arteries occurs when these crucial channels become blocked up with fatty deposits.
Dr Shabbir added: “Our research suggests a daily glass of beetroot juice can be one way to get inorganic nitrate into our diet to help to interrupt harmful inflammation.”
Meanwhile, Professor James Leiper of the British Heart Foundation said: “This research suggests that increasing the level of inorganic nitrate in your diet could help to reduce inflammation in your body.
“We know that inflammation plays an important role in the development and progression of cardiovascular diseases and therefore interventions that can dampen inflammation have potential as future treatments to tackle this.”
Meanwhile, a recent study has found a more common dietary habit may also provide positives for cardiovascular health.
Coffee recently became the country’s most popular drink; new research suggests it could cut the risk of a premature death by over 30 percent.
The research was conducted by the Southern Medical University in China.
It was found a moderate coffee habit, between one and a half to three and a half cups a day, was associated with a reduced risk of heart disease.
Although the results are positive, the authors cautioned this didn’t prove coffee reduces the risk of dying.
The results have been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal.
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