Scientists from the University of Eastern Finland found that proper nutrition helps maintain cardiovascular health in people regularly exposed to air pollution. results published In the journal Environmental Research.
Exposure to air pollutants, even at very low concentrations, is associated with adverse changes in cardiometabolic risk factors. This means that living in an environmentally disadvantaged city is associated with an increased risk of developing heart disease and diabetes. The main pollutants affecting this risk are particulate matter (dust, dirt, soot) that may arise as a result of traffic and construction works.
The researchers focused on observing 82 people from Finland who participated in a weight loss program. The scientists collected information about the subjects’ health conditions, assessed the level of air pollution in the places where the volunteers resided, and took blood samples from them for initial analysis.
After 33 weeks, participants donated blood again. Exposure to air pollutants, even at very low concentrations, has been found to be associated with worse indicators of cardiometabolic health. Negative relationships were observed between markers of insulin resistance, appetite-related hormones, and blood lipid (fat) concentrations.
However, throughout the study, people who followed healthy eating recommendations were found to have better cardiometabolic health. It has been noted that adherence to a healthy diet is associated with normalization of blood cholesterol levels, even with regular exposure to higher levels of pollutants. Healthy total cholesterol levels indicate a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis.
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Source: Gazeta
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