Prevention of coronary heart disease: findings from the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study

Abstract This chapter discusses the contributions of the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and Health Professionals' Follow-up Study (HPFS) to the nutritional epidemiology of coronary heart disease (CHD). Compelling evidence from these studies indicates that CHD is heavily influenced by dietary and lifestyle factors. Replacing saturated and trans fats with unsaturated fats, including sources of n-3 fatty acids, substituting whole grain forms of carbohydrate for refined grains and potatoes, consuming an abundance of fruits and vegetables, and controlling body weight will dramatically reduce the risk of CHD. The magnitude of benefit achievable through diet and lifestyle is large and substantially greater than that due to drug treatment of blood cholesterol or hypertension.