Food Processors Take on Heart Disease

Wellness Foods, FoodProcessing.com

Rather than simply avoiding ingredients proven to be harmful, today’s food formulators have access to an ever-broadening range of health-boosting alternatives.

By Kantha Shelke, Contributing Editor

Close to a million Americans are dying each year from heart-related complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta. This leading cause of death results from lifestyle choices and diet, is largely preventable, and most importantly, is reversible to a great extent.

And while medical and pharmaceutical treatments have proliferated, adverse side effects of cholesterol- and blood pressure-lowering prescription drugs are prompting consumers to actively seek more natural solutions from food. Indeed, prospects are particularly bright for food and ingredient businesses in the heart-health category. Companies are responding with an incredible range of new foods and ingredients to help improve heart health, extend longevity and enhance the quality of life.

Few health issues can match the importance of cardiovascular care. Cost-effective means to live longer and live well are motivating individual efforts like never before. Cardiovascular health is no longer a fashionable fad, but the way to be.

A Clear and Present Danger

In January 2004, the American Heart Association projected cardiovascular disease as the fastest-growing health condition over the next ten years. Their survey confirmed that approximately one-fifth of the population is dealing with some type of cardiovascular disease including high blood pressure and elevated levels of cholesterol.

According to Elizabeth Sloan of Sloan Trends, Escondido, Calif., Americans are seeking ways to reduce weight, cholesterol and fat for a variety of cardiac conditions. Thirty percent of respondents to a recent survey are striving to reduce salt intake; 28% are managing hypertension; and 17% are battling heart disease for themselves or for a member of the household. Several new cardiovascular segments have emerged in the marketplace. “Pre-hypertension” was flagged as a new at-risk category early this year by the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. This category includes individuals with blood pressures of 120-139mm Hg systolic and 80-89mm Hg diastolic and is a precursor to chronic high blood pressure.

Women and especially “peri-menopausal women,” a critical at-risk demographic according to the AHA, is a growing segment and expected to require more preventive measures in the future. Twice as many women succumbed to cardiovascular disease as from all forms of cancer, and this number is disproportionately higher and growing compared to corresponding male deaths, which declined during the recent decade.

Children have surfaced as a new concern. More than 10% of all U.S. children have cholesterol levels greater than 170mg/dL—the traditional risk level for this age group.

The aging population and the magnified incidence of obesity--both of which are associated with increased cardiovascular disease--are significant and growing segments of the cardiovascular health category. In fact, growth in the cardiovascular health category is being driven primarily by these two segments, according to AHA.

Inflammation Emerges as Risk Indicator

Cardiovascular disease is not the result of an isolated risk factor. Rather, it culminates from a complex process that generally starts early in life and involves one of more factors including behavioral, environmental, genetic and socioeconomic status, according to Patricia Crawford, Ph.D., R.D,, co-director of the Center for Weight and Health at the University of California, Berkeley. “Prevention of cardiovascular disease entails concurrent control of the various risk factors and their determinants. Elevated blood cholesterol, obesity, hypertension and diabetes are all major risk factors.”

Cardiovascular health is being viewed differently in recent years because it has been discovered that factors other than cholesterol levels and hypertension are key indicators of cardiovascular health. Medical evidence points to inflammation related markers such as C-reactive protein to be highly associated with cardiovascular disease. Inflammation, previously associated with pains in joints, can also occur in the bloodstream when blood platelets adhere to clog up arteries and consequently, inflame them.

Food choice has a critical role in maintaining the integrity and smooth functioning of the vascular system. “Research outcomes emphasize that comprehensive management of cardiovascular disease entails controlling the associated risk factors such as obesity, elevated blood sugar, hypertension, elevated cholesterol and smoking,” according to Naomi Trostler, Ph.D., R.D., of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. “Prescribed medications tend to focus on controlling serum insulin. For healthy cardiovascular function, one must also control blood sugar and the best way is really through watching what one eats.”

The role of diet in cardiovascular disease creates numerous opportunities for the food industry to impact heart health positively. There is a growing realization that the wisdom of the age-old adage continues to hold true--prevention is indeed better than cure. Of the virtually never ending list of foods and ingredients that have been demonstrated to benefit heart health, lutein, calcium and antioxidants ranked in the top 10 list of ingredients that U.S. food industry research executives think are most likely to grow their businesses in the next few years.