Healthy Diet Reduces Risk of Chronic Diseases

According to a new Swedish study, consuming healthy foods that possess anti-inflammatory qualities could reduce the risk of getting affected with lethal diseases such as heart disease, Alzheimer’s and diabetes.

The study was conducted by researchers at Anti diabetic Food Centre at Lund University in Sweden. They found that healthy diet incorporating foods with anti-oxidants, wholegrains and essential fatty acids help in bringing the cholesterol level down by a third and lessens blood pressure by one-tenth. But, the researchers claim that only multiple foods with anti-inflammatory qualities bring this result and not a single food.

"Our purpose was to find out which preventive effect can be obtained on established risk markers by combining food concepts with an expected positive impact on inflammation", said Inger Bjorck, head of the Antidiabetic Food Centre and the lead researcher.

The study involved 44 healthy but overweight people aged 50 to 75, who were put on diet enriched with antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids, low in GI carbohydrates, wholegrain products and fibrous foods.

It was found that the bad cholesterol of participants reduced to by one-third, blood pressure by 8%, blood lipids by 14% and blood clots by 26%. Also, the diet improved cognitive functioning and memory of participants, along with reducing inflammation in their body.