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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – February is Heart Month and the American Heart Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are urging you to make lifestyle changes to protect your heart and lower your risk for heart attacks and strokes, still the number one killer in the US. But, for the last 40 years the way we have gone about this may be all wrong.
Eating recommendations come from a balance of scientific evidence and scientific judgment, called an evidence-based approach. Experts gather research and use their trained judgment to make recommendations about what to eat, how to eat, and when to eat. But science keeps moving ahead and the evidence keeps changing. The recommendations about fat and cholesterol are perfect examples of this evolution of scientific findings.
It is not the amount but the type of fat we eat.
In the mid-1980s we were urged to lower our fat intake. What the experts really meant was that we should eat fewer high fat foods and eat more fruits, vegetables and healthy whole grains. Food companies saw this marketing opportunity and soon the supermarkets were flooded with nonfat or lowfat cookies, ice cream, salad dressing, cheese, and sour cream. This diet shift did not achieve what the researchers had proposed. We had swapped sugar and starch for fat and very few people increased the amount of fruit, vegetable or whole grains they ate.
As the science of fats continued to evolve researchers learned that some fats were healthy and others were less healthy. They recommended that people eat more polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat (vegetable oils) and eat less saturated fat (animal fats). Today we are recommending a moderate amount of fat — not a lowfat diet — and that trans fat (solid fats used in baking and food processing like shortening) should be avoided.
Sadly the only message that was heard by most consumers, loud and clear, is that fat is bad for you. But we know now that simply isn’t true.
Cholesterol may no longer be the bad guy on the block.
More than 55 years ago, researchers started to monitor 5,000 residents from Framingham, Massachusetts to better understand why some people got heart disease and others did not. The researchers discovered, by following all these people, that there was a connection between the level of cholesterol in the blood and the risk for heart disease. This was groundbreaking news. From that point on, high levels of total cholesterol became a marker for the risk for heart disease and remains so today.
But as science continued to evolve, the researchers discovered that cholesterol came in different forms, HDL and LDL. High levels of the HDL form protected against heart disease but high levels of the LDL form increased risk. That may sound confusing. You want your HDL cholesterol to be high and your LDL cholesterol to be low.
The cholesterol story continues to unfold. Many experts feel our current recommendations for the amount of cholesterol to eat daily are too low. Other experts believe a certain amount of cholesterol can be healthy and we should not reduce our cholesterol so much. Experts in other countries – Canada, Australia, the European Union, United Kingdom, Ireland, Korea, Japan, India and New Zealand – no longer recommend restricting foods with cholesterol because they believe this provides no heart health benefits.
Down with sugar, up with fiber.
When the lowfat eating craze took effect, experts hoped that people would substitute healthy carbohydrates – whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables – for high fat foods. This did not happen. Instead we piled on refined carbohydrates with limited fiber and lots of sugar – white bread, cookies, cake, white rice, candy, soda and sweetened fruit drinks.
We have tipped the carbohydrate pattern in this country away from whole grains and toward too much sugar. Whole grains, which provide fiber, boosts your immune system, reduces your risk for type 2 diabetes, and reduces inflammation, a major player in heart disease. Yet, 96% of Americans don’t eat enough fiber and most of eat far too much sugar, as much as 300 to 400 sugar calories each day. This equals 19 to 25 teaspoons of sugar a day!
As sugar intake goes up, the quality of the diet goes down – more calories, less fiber, fewer vitamins and minerals, and more unhealthy fats are eaten. This is the exact opposite of what you want to be eating to prevent heart disease.
Bottom line: A healthy lifestyle trumps genes when it comes to lowering your risk of heart disease. Eat moderate amounts of fat. Avoid trans fat. Eat more whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Eat less sugar and refined carbs.
For more information about protecting your heart, check out one of my books, The Fat and Cholesterol Counter.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with sales of more than 8.5 million books.
Look for:
The Diabetes Counter, 5th Ed., 2014
The Fat and Cholesterol Counter, 2014
The Most Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2013
The Calorie Counter, 6th Ed., 2013
The Complete Food Counter, 4th ed., 2012
The Protein Counter, 3rd Ed., 2011
The Ultimate Carbohydrate Counter, 3rd Ed., 2010
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
Your Complete Food Counter App: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/your-complete-food-counter/id444558777?mt=8
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to: www.TheNutritionExperts.com
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