Scientists Link TV and Breakfast to Heart Health

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Greek scientists have discovered that eating energy-rich breakfast as well as reducing the amount of time spent watching television could go a long way in reducing cardiovascular diseases.

The researchers made the new findings from the study conducted at the First Cardiology Clinic at the National and Kapodistrian University in Athens, Greece, the study consisted of two parts.

To arrive at their findings, the team led by Dr Sotirios Tsalamandris, a cardiologist, assessed the various markers of cardiovascular health and lifestyle of about 2,000 citizens of Greece, and aged 40–99.

The findings, as reported on MedicalNewsToday, revealed the cardiovascular markers the researchers examined to include carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (which detects atherosclerosis) and the thickness of the arterial walls (which indicates plaque buildup and stroke risk).

Based on the participants’ TV-watching habits, the scientists divided them into three groups:

the low group, wherein people watched TV for 7 hours or under per week
the moderate group, wherein people watched TV for 7–21 hours per week
the high group, wherein people watched TV for more than 21 hours per week

Group by group evaluation by the team revealed that people in the high group had almost double the chances of plaque buildup in their arteries compared with those in the low group.

The researchers, also found that watching more TV is linked with a higher risk of hypertension and diabetes and participant in the high TV-watching group were 68 percent more predisposed to have hypertension and 50 percent more likely to have diabetes than those who watched TV for 7 hours or under per week.

According to the led author, Dr Tsalamandris, the results stressed the essence of avoiding long periods of inactivity.
The second part of the research, which focused on the importance of high-energy breakfast, grouped participants according to how many calories they took from their breakfast:These can be seen from the classification below::

Individuals in the high-energy breakfast group took over 20 percent of their daily calories from their breakfast. Participants in this group tended to consume milk, cheese, cereals, bread, and honey for the first meal of the day.
Those in the low-energy group derived 5–20 percent of their daily calorie intake from their breakfast, usually by consuming coffee or low-fat milk along with bread with butter, honey, olives, or fruit.
One group consisted of people who did not have breakfast at all.

The summary of the findings from these groups indicated that participants who ate a high-energy breakfast on a regular basis were more likely to have more healthful arteries than people in the other two groups.