Green veggies keep arteries clear

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1395000/1395576.stm

A pigment found in certain vegetables could help people resist the hardening of

the arteries, a condition which leads to

heart disease. Lutein, which also provides the yellow colour for egg yolks, may

stop blood vessels clogging up.

Researchers looked at hundreds of men and women and checked the thickness of a

key artery in the neck. Signs of

hardening here are thought to be reliable indicators of the level of artery

hardening throughout the body, including the

vessels supplying blood to the heart.

The volunteers - who all had no history of heart disease - had their blood

tested for signs of lutein twice, at an

interval of 18 months. Those with the highest levels of lutein in their blood

had the smallest increases in thickening

within the neck artery. Those with the lowest levels had more than five times

the increase over the 18-month period.

In a separate experiment, researchers looked at lengths of artery removed during

surgery, and found that artery walls

pre-treated with lutein were less likely to experience a chemical reaction which

is thought to contribute to hardening.

The higher the dose of lutein, the smaller the chemical reaction was.

The researchers suggested that lutein may form part of the reason why people

with a high consumption of fruit and

vegetables are less likely to develop heart disease. Good sources of the

pigment include broccoli, lettuce, cucumber,

peas, asparagus, avocado, beans, brussel sprouts, cabbage, celery, spinach, egg

yokes and watercress.

However, the study failed to find any beneficial effects of beta-carotene,

another nutrient which has been suggested as

preventing or slowing the progress of artery hardening.

Most evidence for health effects of plant compounds such as lutein has been

obtained from laboratory techniques or using

experimental animal models. There are a wide range of phytochemicals or plant

compounds in fruit and vegetables that

may have beneficial effects on health and is likely that the complex mixture of

these compounds, rather than any one

nutrient, contributes to their protection against heart disease and cancer.

This emphasises the need for a healthy

balanced diet and supports the recommendation of five or more portions of fruit

and vegetables every day.

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Good Health & Long Life,

Greg ,

http://www.ozemail.com.au/~gowatson

gowatson@...