Obesity and Diet Imbalance

Biography

Biography: Juliot Vinolia

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a well known leading cause of mortality in Western countries, representing almost 30 % of all deaths worldwide. With the rising incidence of heart disease among global statistics, the American Heart Association and many other governmental organizations has taken it as a public health priority in preventing CVD through diet and lifestyle interventions. Apart from the probability of developing CVD from an unhealthy diet and lifestyle; CVD also coincides with multiple co-morbidities such as obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes which represent four of the 10 greatest risk factors for all- cause mortality worldwide. Current scientific evidence and many observational studies have reported that nutrition might be the most preventive factor of CVD death and could even reverse heart disease. Several controversial diets and foods have received significant media exposure and are mired by hype. The benefits of several trending foods and dietary patterns like the ketogenic diet and fasting diets require more study period to completely understand and nutritional science continues to evolve. The 2015 to 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend 3 healthy eating patterns: 1) the healthy US style eating pattern; 2) the healthy Mediterranean and 3) the healthy vegetarian eating pattern. The latest guidelines emphasise on maintaining a healthy weight through a healthy dietary pattern, active lifestyle, adequate sleep and stress management. Individuals with pre-existing heart disease need individualized medical nutrition therapy taking into account diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia management. As medical professionals our goal is to match the intensity of preventive efforts with an individual's CVD risk and the individual's willingness and capacity to implement preventive strategies.