* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download Cholesterol and Heart Disease
Survey
Document related concepts
Food choice wikipedia , lookup
Dietary fiber wikipedia , lookup
Low-carbohydrate diet wikipedia , lookup
Human nutrition wikipedia , lookup
Abdominal obesity wikipedia , lookup
Fat acceptance movement wikipedia , lookup
Adipose tissue wikipedia , lookup
Body fat percentage wikipedia , lookup
Diet-induced obesity model wikipedia , lookup
Epidemiology of metabolic syndrome wikipedia , lookup
Transcript
Cholesterol and Heart Disease Cholesterol is a fat like substance that comes from eating animal products such as meat, dairy products, and eggs. Cholesterol is essential in the proper function of the human body, but too much can cause serious problems that lead to heart disease. • Total: Desirable = less than 200 mg/dl Borderline = 200-239 mg/dl High = 240 mg/dl and above LDL: less than 100 mg/dl HDL: 35-59 mg/dl Triglycerides: less than 150 mg/dl LDL—(Low Density Lipoproteins) This type of cholesterol is harmful to your body as it sticks to the walls of your arteries and forms a hard substance known as plaque. This plaque formation over time can build (called atherosclerosis), dislodge and cause a stroke. • HDL—(High Density Lipoproteins) This form of cholesterol is healthy, as it acts to prevent LDL cholesterol from attaching to the walls of your arteries. Exercise has been shown to increase your HDL and decrease your LDL. • Triglycerides—the form in which fat is stored in the body for use as energy. Excess amounts of triglycerides can cause fatty deposits around vital organs such as the heart, kidneys and liver and impair their function. A “fatty” liver can effect the way it functions as a waste purification system and in turn interfere with how it processes cholesterol (www.forbesmedi.com). High triglycerides can be caused by excesses of fat intake, high carbohydrate diets or excess calories (www.americanheart.org). WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT Ever heard the saying “you are what you eat”, well that’s true to a certain extent. What you eat can determine what condition your body is on the inside. The first step to combating high cholesterol is to monitor the foods that you eat, and to be active on a regular basis. Here we will discuss which foods to include, avoid and the importance of exercise in the prevention and management of high cholesterol. HOW TO CONTROL WITH DIET Major Dietary concerns: • Cholesterol: Limit daily consumption to no more than 200 mg/day if you have high cholesterol. If you don’t have high cholesterol, then eat no more than 300 mg/day. • Saturated Fat: These fats are solids at room temperature and act to increase your cholesterol levels. Examples are Crisco, lard, bacon grease, butter, etc. When looking at the total fat, compare it to the amount of saturated fat. If the saturated fat is half the amount of the total fat, then it’s not a good choice. Try and choose items that have no more than 1-2 grams of saturated fat. The other fats that make up the total fat are unsaturated fats that do not increase cholesterol. (Continued on page 2) (Continued from page 1) • Trans Fat—these items are also bad for you, as they increase bad cholesterol and decease good cholesterol. Examples of things that have trans fats are potato chips and donuts. • Hydrogenated oils—Foods that have hydrogenated oils will also increase your cholesterol because the process of hydrogenation turns the healthy vegetable oils into unhealthy saturated fats, and you know what saturated fats will do. Examples of hydrogenated oils are stick margarines and Crisco. Fried snack foods can also have hydrogenated oils. LIFESTYLE CHANGES • Lose weight—excess weight can increase cholesterol so this in itself helps to decrease your total cholesterol, even with a weight loss of only 5 to 10 pounds. • Exercise—helps to maintain weight, increase the good cholesterol and decrease the bad cholesterol when done on a regular basis. It also increases bone density! THINGS TO INCLUDE IN YOUR DIET TO COMBAT HIGH CHOLESTEROL: 5 a day for better health—increase your servings of fruits and vegetables to increase your intake of fiber and phytosterols. • Fiber—is essential in the management of high cholesterol. It helps to decrease the amount of cholesterol that gets into the bloodstream by binding bile acids and preventing them from being converted into cholesterol by the body. Choose more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and try to get 20-35 grams of fiber per day. • Phytosterols—these are substances found in plants that have similar chemical structures to cholesterol. These phytosterols act to interfere with the absorption of animal cholesterol into the bloodstream, but are not actually absorbed themselves (www.forbesmedi.com). Research has shown that phytosterols can decrease total cholesterol by 10% and decrease LDL cholesterol by 13% (www.pdrhealth.com). Currently there are commercial spreads, margarines and salad dressings like Benecol® and Take Control® that have phytosterols in them, and as part of a healthy diet, can help to reduce your cholesterol, or you can just up your fruit and vegetable intake to increase your phytosterols (www.americanheart.org). Eat more Omega 3 Fatty Acids—such as fish (salmon, halibut, tuna etc.), flax seed/ flax seed oil, or spreads such as Smart Balance® that contain Omega 3’s as they act to decrease triglycerides, blood pressure, and the risk of abnormal heart rhythms that can cause sudden cardiac death. (www.mayoclinic.com) Alcohol—decreasing your alcohol intake can significantly reduce your triglyceride levels (www.americanheart.org). acb 2/2007 • • Remember, All things in Moderation