Heart Attack Seldom Leads to Healthier Diet

Most patients were still eating poorly one year later, study found

By Carolyn Colwell
HealthDay Reporter

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FRIDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) - Having a heart attack is apparently not sufficient reason for most people to change to a heart-healthy diet, a new study finds.

"We found that diet quality is poor after a coronary heart disease event," said study author Dr. Yunsheng Ma, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, in Worcester.

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But he warned that patients' failure to eat healthier puts them at risk for another cardiac event.

"Coronary heart disease [CHD] is the number one cause of mortality in Americans," the study noted. An estimated 13 million Americans have survived a heart attack or have coronary heart disease symptoms, the researchers added.

The findings are published in the February issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

In the study, Ma's team surveyed 555 patients averaging 61 years of age, 60 percent of whom were men. All of the participants were diagnosed with coronary heart disease and had already experienced a heart attack, angina or arrhythmia. The researchers queried the patients on their diets one year after they had undergone coronary angiography linked to some kind of coronary event.

According to the researchers, only 12.4 percent of the patients met the recommended consumption of vegetables. Similarly, only about 8 percent met daily fruit intake recommendations and just 8 percent were getting a heart-healthy amount of cereal fiber. Little more than 5 percent were limiting their intake of dangerous trans fats to recommended levels, the team said.

Compounding this, the researchers found that worst diets were associated with smoking and obesity. Poor diets were also closely correlated with lower levels of education.

Research has confirmed that fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with a lowered risk of heart disease, the researchers noted. The American Heart Association currently recommends "an overall healthy diet" that is rich in fruits and vegetables, high-fiber foods and limited amounts of saturated fat and trans fats, with an eye to maintaining a healthy weight.

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