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Your blood group may increase risk of heart disease

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People who belong to blood type group AB face a 23% increased risk of heart disease compared with those who are type O.

There are many reasons why some people get heart disease and others don’t; some factors are hereditary, others are within the individual’s control. And according to new research from the Harvard School of Public Health, another factor with a role to play is blood type, meaning that people in the higher-risk groups need to make extra efforts to stick to a heart-healthy lifestyle.

Researchers looked at data from nearly 90,000 study participants, who were aged between 30 and 75 and were followed for 20 years or more. Their age, diet, BMI, gender, race and medical history were taken into account when the researchers assessed heart disease risk in relation to blood group. They found that people with blood type A, B or AB had a higher risk of heart disease compared with people with blood type O, and those with AB had the highest increased risk – up by 23%. Those with type B had an 11% increased risk, and those with type A a 5% increase.

There is nothing you can do to change your blood group but this information is useful, say the researchers, because those at higher risk can then be followed more carefully by their doctors and, potentially, the people affected could adapt their lifestyles to reduce their risk.

Which blood group are you?

Most people in the UK have blood type O, although in the south of England there is a slightly higher of prevalence of people with blood type A. You can find out what your blood group is by giving blood. If you’ve been pregnant, had a blood transfusion or had an operation you will have had your blood group checked already.

The human heart

The human heart

Are blood types hereditary?

There are only three different blood genes (A, B, O) and you can have a combination of these, which is then called your ‘blood group’. So you could have A or AB, for example. You inherit your blood group from your parents. If, however, one of your parents has AB and the other O, you will inherit either blood type A or B, not O. O is a recessive blood group and so the only way to pass it on is if both parents have it. And if your parents both have AB blood types, you may have A, AB, or B.

What can I do if I’m AB?

Aside from doing regular exercise, eating plenty of fruit and vegetables and lowering your saturated fat intake, there are other things you can do to lower your risk.


Take vitamins. Vitamin E, B6 and folate have been shown in studies to be linked to reduced risk of heart disease. The studies haven’t been able to show cause and effect but researchers do know that B vitamins help lower homocysteine levels; high levels carry a similar risk of heart disease to high cholesterol levels. Read our A-Z of vitamins and minerals for more information about different vitamins.

Get more sleep. Going to bed earlier each night might help too. In a study of 70,000 women, those who had less than seven hours’ sleep a night had a raised risk of heart disease compared to those who had eight hours or more.

Eat fish. People who eat fish at least once a week are less likely to have heart disease. Researchers can’t say whether this is because people are replacing red meat with fish and therefore decreasing their saturated fat intake or because some types of fish have heart-healthy omega-3 oils in it. Either way, eating fish is a good idea! Browse our fish recipes archive for meal ideas.

Top ten foods that should be in your diet – 2

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Following on from the original post here :

http://lancastria.net/blog/top-ten-foods-that-should-be-in-your-diet-1.html

6) Leafy green vegetables

Studies have shown that a high intake of dark-leafy vegetables, such as spinach or cabbage may significantly lower a person’s risk of developing diabetes type 2. Researchers from Leicester University, England, said that the impact of dark green vegetables on human health should be investigated further, after they gathered data from six studies.

Spinach, for example, is very rich in antioxidants, especially when uncooked, steamed or very lightly boiled. It is a good source of vitamins A, B6, C, E and K, as well as selenium, niacin, zinc, phosphorus, copper, folic acid, potassium, calcium, manganese, betaine, and iron.

7) Sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes are rich in dietary fiber, beta carotene, complex carbohydrates, vitamin C, vitamin B6, as well as carotene (the pink, yellow ones).

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, USA, compared the nutritional value of sweet potatoes to other vegetables. The sweet potato ranked number one, when vitamins A and C, iron, calcium, protein and complex carbohydrates were considered.

Green vegetables

Green vegetables

8) Wheat germ

Wheat germ is the part of wheat that germinates to grow into a plant – the embryo of the seed. Germ, along with bran, is commonly a by-product of the milling; when cereals are refined, the germ and bran are often milled out.

Wheat germ is high in several vital nutrients, such as vitamin E, folic acid (folate), thiamin, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, as well as fatty alcohols and essential fatty acids.

Wheat germ is also a good source of fiber.


9) Avocados

Many people avoid avocados because of its high fat content; they believe that avoiding all fats leads to better health and easier-to-control body weight – this is a myth. Approximately 75% of the calories in an avocado come from fat; mostly monosaturated fat.

Avocados are also very rich in B vitamins, as well as vitamin K and vitamin E.

Avocados also have a very high fiber content of 25% soluble and 75% insoluble fiber.

Studies have shown that regular avocado consumption lowers blood cholesterol levels.

Avocado extracts are currently being studied in the laboratory to see whether they might be useful for treating diabetes or hypertension.

Avocados

Avocados

Researchers from Ohio State University found that nutrients taken from avocados were able to stop oral cancer cells, and even destroy some of the pre-cancerous cells.

10) Oatmeal

Oatmeal is meal made from rolled or ground oats, or porridge made from ground or rolled oats. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, the term “porridge” or “porridge oats” are common terms for the breakfast cereal that is usually cooked.

Interest in oatmeal has increased considerably over the last twenty years because of its health benefits.

Studies have shown that if you eat a bowl of oatmeal everyday your blood cholesterol levels, especially if they are too high, will drop, because of the cereal’s soluble fiber content. When findings were published in the 1980s, an “oat bran craze” spread across the USA and Western Europe. The oats craze dropped off in the 1990s.

In 1997, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) agreed that foods with high levels of rolled oats or oat bran could include data on their labels about their cardiovascular heart benefits if accompanied with a low-fat diet. This was followed by another surge in oatmeal popularity.

Oats is rich in complex carbohydrates, as well as water-soluble fiber, which slow digestion down and stabilize levels of blood-glucose.

Oatmeal porridge is very rich in B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, folate, and potassium.