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It's worth noting that a healthy weight accompanied by healthy exercise doesn't necessarily prevent heart disease. There's this perception that those at risk ar
by lojack 11y ago
It's worth noting that a healthy weight accompanied by healthy exercise doesn't necessarily prevent heart disease. There's this perception that those at risk are overweight, and that isn't necessarily true. If you look at a country like the Philippines (and probably other similar countries) you'll see plenty of people at a healthy weight who live an active lifestyle that are at extremely high risk of heart disease. They appear healthy from the outside, but there's high rates of smoking and probably not the greatest dietary habits.
And, I don't mean to detract away from what you're saying. Eating a healthy balanced diet is the most important way to prevent heart disease.
- wdewind 11y agoEh, I'm not sure I totally agree with what you are saying: a) As you mentioned, smoking is a huge confounder in your example b) A lot of congenital heart disease is not preventable via dietary intervention. For people who do require dietary intervention it's going to depend on the disease. For a small portion of people, for instance, eating low cholesterol is important, but the vast majority it makes no difference. For these people eating low cholesterol is the biggest difference, not a generally balanced diet. c) There is a ton of science showing massive improvements in heart disease outcomes from losing weight. I'm not saying eating a balanced diet doesn't matter, but for most people actually being a healthy weight is the most important thing, and for many others the dietary intervention is pretty specific, ie: not low cholesterol not "eat a balanced diet."