A cohort study has been undertaken to see if adopting a healthy diet after you’ve had a heart attack, a stroke, or if you have a heart disease like heart failure, helps to reduce your chance of a second attack. Researchers followed 31,546 people who’d suffered a heart attack, a stroke, or diabetes, for nearly five years and evaluated whether or not their diet impacted upon their health. The participants had an average age of 66 years, and researchers were also looking to see how likely each individual was to have heart problems.
The results were that people who ate an unhealthy diet were more likely to die from heart disease than those who ate a diet rich in fruit, grains, vegetables, and fish. People who ate a healthy diet were also at a reduced risk to another heart attack, a stroke, or heart failure, and this was all regardless of the specific drugs they were taking for heart disease.
The study is well-regarded for its validity, as it followed a large group of people, from 40 countries, for nearly five years. Many other studies that are high-quality have previously shown the link between diet and heart health, which increases the possibility that diet plays a role in heart health even after a heart attack or stroke, even though these particular researchers cannot prove that one thing leads to another in this situation. However, this type of study is useful for finding out how closely two things are linked, and so if you are on medication following a heart attack, stroke, or have diabetes, you can boost the benefits of that medication with a diet that is high in fruit, grains, vegetables, and fish. Consult your doctor or a dietician for more information, or look online.