Cardiovascular Disease Prevents every second death through better nutrition

Half of deaths from cardiovascular disease is due to improper diet

Too much salt, too few whole grains and vegetables: According to a recent study, almost half of all deaths from cardiovascular disease in Europe are due to an unhealthy diet. Healthier food could save many lives.

More and more deaths from cardiovascular diseases

Last year, the German Heart Foundation reported that the number of deaths from heart disease has increased again. Cardiovascular disease is also one of the leading causes of death in other Western countries. It is known that factors such as smoking, obesity, physical inactivity and stress significantly increase the risk of such diseases. Nutrition also plays an important role here, as shown in a recent study.

Almost half of all cardiovascular deaths are due to an unhealthy diet. A diet rich in whole grains, vegetables and nuts and low in salt could prevent many diseases. (Image: sarsmis / fotolia.com)

Every second to third death avoided by better nutrition

Of the total of 4.3 million cardiovascular deaths in Europe in 2016, 2.1 million are attributable to an inadequate diet, according to the scientific study.

Of this figure, some 900,000 are attributable to the 28 EU Member States, 600,000 to Russia and 250,000 to Ukraine.

As reported by the international research team headed by the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, the competence cluster nutriCARD and the University of Washington in the USA, every second to third premature death could be replaced by a better one Nutrition be avoided.

The study results were recently published in the journal "European Journal of Epidemiology".

Little wholegrain products and a lot of salt

According to a statement, the team evaluated representative data from the Global Burden of Disease Study from 1990 to 2016 for the study.

The researchers analyzed how common cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks or strokes, occurred in the 51 countries grouped by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the "European Region".

In addition to the 28 EU member states and other European countries, this also includes several states of Central and Eastern Asia, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

On the basis of food consumption and other risk factors in the respective countries, the scientists calculated the proportion of deaths attributable to an unbalanced diet.

These include the study authors about too low a consumption of whole grains, nuts and seeds as well as vegetables and excessive salt consumption.

160,000 deaths in Germany

In comparison with other countries, there are clear differences:

According to the researchers, Germany had 160,000 deaths in 2016 (46 percent of all cardiovascular deaths), 97,000 in Italy (41 percent), 75,000 in the United Kingdom (41 percent) and 67,000 in France (40 percent) with an unbalanced diet.

In Israel and Spain, on the other hand, only one out of every three premature cardiovascular deaths was diet-related. The study produced specific country profiles:

"While low intake of nuts and seeds in Sweden and Norway contributes to most diet-related cardiovascular diseases, over-consumption of whole grains is the main risk factor in many Central and Eastern European and Central Asian countries," study leader Dr. Toni Meier from the MLU.

"In other words, an increased consumption of low-fiber white flour products has led to an increase in cardiovascular diseases in recent years," says the expert.

"In Albania, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, corresponding case numbers have more than doubled over the period considered."

Conversely, a high-wholegrain diet can protect against premature death from cardiovascular disease, as shown in other studies.

Make better use of the potential of a health-promoting diet

"Our results are of crucial health policy relevance and should be taken into account when developing future prevention strategies," said Prof. Dr. med. Stefan Lorkowski from the University of Jena, co-author of the study and speaker of the competence cluster nutriCARD.

"We need to make better use of the potential of a balanced and healthy diet, otherwise cardiometabolic disease will cause more preventable deaths in the future."

The team also found big differences in age and gender, with men tending to be affected at a younger age, and females from the age of 50.

In 2016, approximately 601,000 people under the age of 70 died as a result of diet-related cardiovascular disease; of which 420,000 men and 181,000 women.

It was reported that the highest proportion of food-related deaths among the under-70s was observed in Central Asia, here it was 42.5 percent.

In the EU Member States, the scientists were able to identify 178,000 premature food-related deaths - 132,000 in men and 46,000 in women - accounting for close to 20 percent of cardiovascular deaths.

Risk factor alcohol was not considered

In addition, with the aid of the mathematical model used, researchers were able to calculate the effects of other risk factors, such as obesity, high blood pressure, physical inactivity and smoking, and to determine only the specific part of a wrong diet for cardiovascular diseases.

"It should also be stressed that the well-known risk factor alcohol was not taken into account in our study," says nutritionist Prof. Dr. med. Gabriele Stangl from the MLU.

"In countries with high alcohol consumption, the extent of diet-related cardiovascular disease could be even greater," said the expert. (Ad)