Slash Your Risk of Heart Attack

Even in the short run, the Pritikin Program can actually start to heal arteries

Dietary changes are very successful in reducing heart attack risk and death, according to new research presented at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in New Orleans in March.(1)

Scientists at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, and the University of Washington randomly divided 101 people who had recently survived a heart attack into two different heart-healthy diet groups. Both groups received intensive dietary education – seven individual counseling sessions and at least six small group workshops led by registered dietitians over the course of two years.

Another 101 patients, also recent heart attack victims, were given usual care – one short visit from a dietitian on the benefits of a low-fat, fiber-rich diet before being discharged from the hospital.

The first intensive education group (50 people) followed the American Heart Association Step II diet, which emphasized whole grains and fruits and vegetables with moderate lean animal protein, reported lead investigator Katherine Tuttle, MD.

The second group (51 people) was instructed in the Mediterranean-style diet, which also focused on whole grains, fruits, and vegetables but emphasized fish and other sources of omega-3 fatty acids in lieu of animal-based fat.

Both diets recommended limiting cholesterol consumption to less than 200mg a day and saturated fats to less than 7% of total calories.

Avoiding Heart Attacks' Deaths

Six years after the study began, Dr. Tuttle and colleagues found that the two groups that received intensive education in heart-healthy diets were significantly more likely than people in the usual-care group to avoid deaths, heart attacks, unstable angina, and other cardiovascular-related events. (See graph.)

A total of eight events occurred in each of the dietary intervention groups, none of them deaths. In sharp contrast, 40 events occurred in the usual-care group, seven of which were deaths.

Overall, the intensive education groups slashed the risk of cardiovascular events by two-thirds compared to the usual-care group.

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