As it turns out, adding more cruciferous vegetables to your diet like cabbage, broccoli, bok choy and yes, Brussels sprouts, can lower your chance of heart disease.
Whether you find them palatable or not, a new study published in the British Journal of Nutrition analysed up to 700 older Australian women and found that those who included more greens in their daily diet were 46 percent less likely to be at risk of blood vessel disease.
Blood vessel disease is a condition that reduces the flow of blood circulating around the body, creating a build-up of fatty, calcium deposits on the inner walls of our blood vessels, which increases the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
“We have now found that older women consuming higher amounts of cruciferous vegetables every day have lower odds of having extensive calcification on their aorta,” says lead research Dr Lauren Blekkenhorst.
Not to ruin your day, or anything, but heart disease is a bigger problem in Australia than you think, according to the Heart Founder Manager, Food and Nutrition, Beth Meertens.
“Heart disease is the single leading cause of death in Australia and poor diet is responsible for the largest proportion of the burden of heart disease, accounting for 65.5 percent of the total burden of heart disease,” she says.
If you’re saying to yourself right now “I eat plenty of veg, this doesn’t apply to me,” well think again. It turns out over 90 per cent of Australian adults don’t eat the recommended daily intake of vegetables. Which means there are a lot of us out there who are lying to ourselves.
Luckily, there’s a very easy answer to this dilemma and you’ve probably already guessed it. Simply add more cruciferous veggies to your everyday eating habits! We promise there are some tasty ways to cook Brussels sprouts.
Dr. Blekkenhorst recommends eating 45g of green vegies a day, amongst other vegetables too. Don’t trade in carrots and capsicum for only greens - you want a colourful array of veggies on your dinner plate.
The Heart Foundation suggests including at least five servings of vegetables into your daily diet, along with fruit, seafood, lean meats, dairy and healthy oils. Healthy life, here we come!
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