A new study has revealed the benefits of two highly nutritious but least favorite veggies for advanced blood vessel disease. These veggies are broccoli and Brussels which are often recommended by nutritionists for effective weight management and weight loss. The complete study findings are published in the journal British Journal of Nutrition.
These findings explain that taking a high amount of these cruciferous veggies including cabbage, Brussels and broccoli are helpful to prevent blood vessel problems, especially in older women.
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The research team analyses the data obtained from 684 older women from Australia which were recruited back in 1998. The ECU’s School of Medical and Health Sciences and The University of Western Australia studied these women’s diet patterns and found that a large portion of their diet contains cruciferous veggies i.e. brussels, cabbage and broccoli.
Having this much veggies in their diet lowers the calcium buildup in the blood vessels especially in the aorta which often causes advanced blood vessel disease.
The advanced blood vessel disease is a chronic medical condition that affects arteries and veins. It reduces the blood flow which results in slow blood supply to all parts of the body.
This reduced blood flow is mainly because of the thick calcium build-ups inside the blood vessels’ walls. If not treated or ignored, this condition eventually leads to a stroke or sometimes a heart attack. It can also be fatal in some people especially those who have an underlying medical condition i.e. hypertension, hypotension, diabetes, etc.
Dr. Lauren Blekkenhorst is the author and researcher of this project. According to dr. Blekkenhorst, this study has added more weight to the value of cruciferous vegetables. These vegetables are known for their high nutritional value but not many people like to eat them because of their bland taste.
The previous studies on these vegetables revealed that taking an adequate amount of vegetables is generally associated with low cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack. However, there was no exact reason for how does it happen.
This new study truly depicts the potential of vegetables that people dislike and often take out from their plates. Although this study has studied these effects in older women it doesn’t put a limitation on the benefits of cruciferous vegetables.
The effects are more or less the same in people of all age groups. But those who are in their middle to old ages are more likely to receive its benefits, mainly because of age-related functional decline and years of poor nutritional habits.
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Dr. Blekkenhorst suggests all women use at least 45g of these cruciferous vegetables every day. It makes nearly 1/4th cup of steamed veggies or ½ cup of raw veggies. Taking this simple dietary measure will reduce the calcium build-up inside their aorta thus reducing the risk of advanced blood vessel disease.
Dr. Blekkenhorst also acknowledged the efforts of study participants without which these results would not be obtained. This study is more of observational nature suggesting how simple dietary changes can impact long-term health.
