Heart Health in Asia

ABNORMAL blood lipids - high total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and low levels of HDL cholesterol - increase risk of coronary heart disease and ischaemic stroke. Incidences of cardiovascular disease in Asian nations are on the rise, which is attributed to changes in diet, incorporating less fruits and vegetables and more foods high in saturated fat, and to less physical activity. These in turn have lead to rising levels of high blood pressure, obesity and Type 2 diabetes that are also major risk factors for coronary heart disease and stroke.

"Greater economic activity and rising disposable income levels of working professionals in Asian nations such as China and India are resulting in a consumer shift away from traditionally produced food toward a convenience-based Western diet that is further exacerbated by more sedentary lifestyles," according to the analyst group Frost & Sullivan.

Effects of Western Diets

The link between Western diets and heart diseases was strengthened by a groundbreaking study published in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association (AHA). The study, published in October 2008, provides scientific evidence for widely held beliefs that Western-style diets increase the risk of heart attacks whilst a plant-based diet is the basis of a heart healthy diet.

The INTERHEART study, conducted by team of researchers at McMaster University in Canada, tracked heart attack patients between 1999 and 2003 in 52 countries worldwide. The international, case-control study compared over 16,000 patients with first MI (myocardial infarction) with a similar number of patients without MI, matched on gender and age, marked a shift from previous studies which focused only on the developed world.

Researchers categorised the risk levels of three groups of patients based on their dietary patterns: the "Western Diet", a "Prudent Diet" and the "Oriental Diet". They then compared the heart attack risk of people who fell into each dietary category with those who did not, adjusting for other cardiovascular risk factors such as age, body mass index, exercise, geographical location, sex and smoking status, and concluded:

 People who eat a diet high in fried foods, salty snacks, eggs and meat - the Western Diet - had a 35% greater risk of having heart attacks than people who consumed little or no fried foods or meat, regardless of where they live.

 People who eat a "Prudent Diet" - high in leafy green vegetables, other raw and cooked vegetables and fruits - had a 30% lower risk of heart attack than those who eat little or no fruit or vegetables.

 People who maintained an "Oriental Diet", so-called because it contained foods such as tofu and soy sauce that are typically consumed in Asian societies, was found to have little impact on the risk of heart attack.

Heart disease is now increasingly striking people in developing countries, the report further concluded, with 80% of incidences today in low- to middle-income countries partly because more people around the world are adopting a Western diet.

Whilst healthy eating, lifestyle changes and weight management are the key solutions to reducing risks for cardiovascular diseases, they remain challenging for many consumers. Frost & Sullivan observed that there is a market for products fortified with heart-healthy nutrients and ingredients, such as phytosterols, omega-3 and dietary fibre.

Phytosterols

Blood cholesterol levels are influenced by body weight, as well as the amount and type of fat (especially saturated fat), dietary fibre, and cholesterol consumed. Whilst human body is able to make all the cholesterol which it needs, current lifestyles - including higher consumption of fast food and overly processed foods - means that there are additional sources cholesterol in our diet.

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