For many years, cardiovascular disease has been a significant cause of disability and early death around the world. This disease is primarily caused by a condition known as atherosclerosis, where fatty plaques build up on the inner walls of arteries. These plaques can develop into forms that are susceptible to rupturing, leading to blood clots or blockages that result in heart attacks and strokes. These events often happen suddenly and can be fatal before medical care can be provided.
Inadequate nutrition, smoking, and lack of exercise are major risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease.
This article illustrates how inadequate nutrition resulting from the overconsumption of one food group, red meats, due to socio-economical and cultural factors can lead to serious health problems that lead to death and disability.
My Relationship with Heart Attack and Stroke
My first memory of a hospital that inspired me to become a medical doctor dates back to when I was 10. It was when my father was hospitalized for several days due to a heart attack. I distinctly remember thinking during that first visit, "One day, I want to work in a place like this.
Years later, after suffering several heart attacks, my father underwent three coronary bypass surgery. However, six months later, he suffered a cerebral thrombosis, an intestinal thrombosis, and a cerebral hemorrhage, which ultimately led to his passing.
My mother's life was forever altered after enduring several strokes. Despite being in her 90s, she continues to live with disabilities.
After fulfilling my dream of becoming a doctor, I witnessed my older brother undergo triple coronary bypass surgery following a heart attack.
The story doesn't end there. Sometime later, I also saw my older sister's surgery for similar cardiac issues. Unfortunately, for years, she experienced several subsequent heart attacks and passed away from a stroke in November 2021 at the age of 63.
One might think that we inherited all these severe cardiovascular diseases. Yes, they are inherited, but not genetically. They resulted from family, cultural, and environmental factors. Let me explain this. It is part of something called EXPOSOME, a concept used to describe an individual's environmental exposures throughout life and how they relate to health.
The Food Associated with Heart Attack and stroke May Kill you Too.
I come from a small town in the Colombian coffee mountains.
Our traditional diet includes beef, pork, or chicken for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, accompanied by classic side dishes such as rice, corn, plantains, potatoes, and cassava—often three in the same meal. Beans, dairy products, and fruits are also included in our diet. Still, salads are generally limited to small portions of cabbage, carrots, onions, and tomatoes.
Many people recognize this diet as usual, but it is unbalanced, high in meats, dairy, and carbohydrates, and low in vegetables.
The last time my husband visited the local market in my hometown, he made an interesting observation. Most of the fresh food supply was predominantly beef, chicken, and pork; less than 10% of stores sold fruits and vegetables with minimal variety.
For generations, the history of cardiovascular disease in the families in the region has been very similar to my family's history. The food supply challenges and solid cultural heritage condemn people to suffer from this deadly disease.
Why this unbalanced diet is dangerous
While current "protein-rich" diet trends may sound reasonable, meat rich in proteins is also fat-rich. Conversely, when eating a lot of carbohydrates, our body also uses them to make fat.
According to the CDC, high consumption of red meat increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Normal arteries are elastic and flexible. When fat accumulates in their walls, they become thick and stiff and develop a "cheese-like" development along the artery wall, called atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis develops over time, beginning in the early teenage years. Fat retention and oxidation provoke chronic inflammation at susceptible sites in the walls of all major conduit arteries. The buildup of this fat is called plaque.
Plaque causes arteries to narrow and progressively block blood flow. Suppose the arteries that supply the blood with oxygen and nutrients to the heart's walls become clogged. In that case, the heart won't be able to beat usually, which will cause cardiac arrest.
According to the National Institutes of Health, another factor that generates coronary disease is Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), a dietary byproduct formed by gut bacteria during the digestion of red meat.
In speaking to the thromboses, parts of this fat plaque can break and burst, leading to a blood clot that may travel and plug the artery elsewhere.
Conversely, when we don't consume enough dark green and colored vegetables, we miss out on a protective factor they contain: Nitric Oxide. This substance helps dilate arteries and reduce inflammation when fat accumulates.
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