Eating more vegetables may prevent elderly women from hardened arteries specifically around the neck area. According to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association, women who included more vegetables in their diet like broccoli cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts showed less carotid artery wall thickness.
The researchers said that cruciferous vegetables proved to be most beneficial.The study explored the potential impact of different types of vegetables on measures of subclinical atherosclerosis, the underlying cause of cardiovascular disease.
For the study, food frequency questionnaires were distributed to 954 Australian women aged 70 and older. These women then noted down their vegetable intake and enlisted them in the range, "never eating vegetables" to "three or more times per day."
The scientists included vegetable types like cruciferous, allium (for example, onions, garlic, leeks and shallots), yellow/orange/red, leafy green and legumes.
They used sonograms to measure carotid artery wall thickness and entire carotid trees. On basis of the results they examined the carotid plaque severity.
The findings revealed the difference of a 0.05 millimeter lower carotid artery wall thickness between high and low intakes of total vegetables. The findings point to a significant insight as a minute 0.1 millimeter decrease in carotid wall thickness is associated with a 10 percent to 18 percent decrease in risk of stroke and heart attack.
It was also revealed that increasing the intake of cruciferous vegetables by 10 grams per day was associated with 0.8 percent lower average carotid artery wall thickness. Other vegetable types did not show an association with carotid artery wall thickness in this study.
The limitation of the study was that it was observational in nature, hence no causal relationship between the two can be established.
However, one cannot ignore the fact that diet can play a detrimental role in heart health. Importance of increasing consumption of cruciferous vegetables, must be highlighted in dietary guidance of the elderly, noted the researchers.
"Still, dietary guidelines should highlight the importance of increasing consumption of cruciferous vegetables for protection from vascular disease," Blekkenhorst said.