| Men: Do Your Heart a Favor! | |
November 1, 2002
Looking for one more good reason to get serious about your weight loss efforts? Why not do your heart a favor? Guys, take note: If you get started on a healthier lifestyle now, you can be safer from the risk of heart disease in as few as three weeks! Research presented in the October 22, 2002, issue of Circulation: The Journal of the American Heart Association shows that a rigorous, short-term diet and exercise program lowers the likelihood of some serious health risks in obese men in just a matter of weeks.
Though the overall amount of weight loss was nominal, following a low-fat, high-fiber diet, and exercising daily for three weeks was shown to lower risk of heart disease significantly in the research subjects. The participants were comprised of obese men aged 38 to 72 with a BMI of 30 or greater. They consumed a diet high in grains, vegetables and fruit, and walked daily. These changes reduced the participants' blood pressure, which resulted in lowered risk for congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, and stroke, as well as kidney disease.
"This is the first study to show that this type of diet and exercise can reduce oxidative stress, lower blood pressure, and improve risk factors for other chronic diseases in a very short time," said R. James Barnard, Ph.D., senior author of the study and professor of physiological science at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The 11 subjects -- seven of whom were classified as hypertensive before the study -- voluntarily enrolled in the Pritikin Longevity Center 21-day residential diet and exercise program. Meals consisted of less than 10 percent of calories from fat, 15 to 20 percent from protein and 70 to 75 percent from unrefined carbohydrates (derived from five servings of high-fiber whole grains, four servings of vegetables and three servings of fruit daily, which were served all-you-can-eat, buffet style). They walked briskly on a treadmill for 45 to 60 minutes a day.
Continue to Page 2 >>
