Keywords
heart failure, diet, nuts, legumes, fatty acids, risk factor modification
Disciplines
Cardiovascular Diseases | Community Health and Preventive Medicine | Medical Biochemistry | Medical Nutrition | Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases
Abstract
Heart failure is a growing epidemic that will add significant monetary and human costs to an already overtaxed health-care system. Though promising new medications have recently been approved, this complex condition is largely preventable through aggressive risk factor modification, with diet being shown to have a greater effect than exercise. An underrated component of a healthy diet is the simple addition of nuts – the anti-inflammatory fatty acids, healthy proteins, and general availability have been shown to improve survival and reduce the primary risk factors contributing to heart failure, making the addition of nuts and legumes to the diet an attractive, cost-effective tool to promote cardiovascular well-being.
Included in
Cardiovascular Diseases Commons, Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Medical Biochemistry Commons, Medical Nutrition Commons, Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases Commons
