Food, Cholesterol and Heart Diseases

Heart disease is one of the most prevalent and the most preventable disease in the world today. When the doctors hand over the diagnosis of high cholesterol or atherosclerosis, people are confused over the next steps, and they go about drastically cutting fat drastically to bring down the cholesterol.

It is therefore critical to understand the nature of cholesterol and its function.

Fat, in general, and cholesterol, in particular, have received unjustifiably bad rep as a source for all heart-related health complaints. The basis for this bias comes from the research work by the American doctor Ancel Keys in 1953. He found a correlation between the death rates from Coronary Heart Disease and the amount of fats eaten in certain countries. According to Dr. Uffe Ravnskov, athor of the book ‘The cholesterol myths’, Dr. Keys’ graph used data from only 6 countries, but the complete picture with all 22 countries shows no correlation at all.

The Journal of Clinical Investigation says “Evolution has devoted close to 100 genes to the synthesis, transport, metabolism, and regulation of cholesterol. This structurally fascinating lipid is utterly essential to the proper functioning of cells and organisms. Cholesterol, cholesterol metabolites, and immediate biosynthetic precursors of cholesterol play essential roles in cellular membrane physiology, dietary nutrient absorption, reproductive biology, stress responses, salt and water balance, and calcium metabolism.”

Healthy fats and cholesterol should be part of a balanced diet the way nature intended. The recommended daily cholesterol limit is 300 mg. Low-fat, low-cholesterol diets can be very unhealthy, especially for women. Why? Because all our major hormones are made from cholesterol: estrogen, progesterone, cortisol, DHEA, and testosterone. If we don’t eat enough, our bodies divert cholesterol from our endocrine system to use for brain function and repair.

Cholesterol comes from two sources: our body and the food. Calories that are not used up immediately are converted into fatty acids or triglycerides. The liver and other cells in our body make about 75 percent of blood cholesterol. The other 25 percent comes from the foods we eat.

Choosing the Right Fat Can Save Your Heart

Indeed, it is not cholesterol per se, but excess cholesterol in the blood, that causes the narrowing and blocking of arteries. As we now know, the body needs dietary fat, and it is the type of fat that determines the health outcome. We must make a distinction between “good fats” and “bad fats.”

Obsessed with fat phobia, people choose low fat, high carbohydrate diets. Though this causes the LDL and total cholesterol to fall, it also results in the decrease of HDL, the good scavenger cholesterol that helps to bring back excess LDL to the liver. Because the ratio of LDL to HDL does not change, there is only a small reduction in the person’s risk of heart disease. Unless the carbohydrates come from low-glycemic, whole-grained and unprocessed food, the carbohydrates can cause glucose to spike up in the blood. Chronic sugar spikes meddle with the body’s metabolism and result in the excess sugar to be converted and deposited as abdominal fat. It is the high levels of triglyceride — the component molecules of fat — more than those of cholesterols, that are associated with a high risk of heart disease.

Most foods contain several different kinds of fats — including saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and trans fats.

Unsaturated Fats

Consuming good fat does not lead to heart problems. In the Greek island of Crete, for example, the traditional diet contains much olive oil and fish. Although fat constitutes 40 percent of the calories in this diet, the rate of heart disease for those who followed it was lower than the rate for those who followed the traditional diets of Japan, in which fat made up only 8 to 10 percent of the calories.

Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat. Unsaturated fats are derived from plants. An unsaturated fat is a fatty acid in which there are one or more double bonds in the fatty acid chain. If it contains one double bond, it is termed monounsaturated and if it contains more than one double bond, polyunsaturated. Double bonds are rigid and prevent the fatty acids from packing close together and as a result, unsaturated fats are liquids and have a lower melting point than do saturated fats.

Unsaturated fats do not increase the LDL and are able to increase HDL cholesterol. Monounsaturated oils are relatively stable, do not go rancid easily and therefore can be used in cooking — for example, olive, almond and peanut oil as well as avocados.

Polyunsaturated oils (sunflower, soy, corn and safflower oil) remain liquid even when refrigerated, go rancid easily and must be treated with care. Rancid oils can cause free radicals to form and attack the cell membranes and red blood cells.

The two major categories of polyunsaturated fats are Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. Oils are described as Omega 3, 6, 7 or 9 oils, according to the position on the carbon chain of the first unsaturated hydrogen space. In general, the lower the Omega number is, the more delicate and unstable the oil is likely to be, and will therefore need careful handling to prevent the oils becoming rancid.

Omega-3 fats are extremely healthful in that they protect against sudden death from heart attack. They can also help people lower their triglycerides. Omega-3s are used by the body to produce hormone-like substances with anti-inflammatory effects. The best sources of Omega-3s are fatty fish, such as salmon and sardines. Canola oil, walnuts, and flaxseed also contain some Omega-3s.

Omega-6 fats have a double bond in the sixth space from the end of the carbon chain. These fats are found in oils such as corn, soybean, cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, evening primrose oil, walnut oil, and sesame oil.

Saturated Fats

In a saturated fat there is no double bond that can be broken into a single bond and take on a hydrogen atom. In other words the fat is “saturated” with hydrogen atoms. There are no gaps in the fatty acid chain and they are able to pack together very tightly. This makes them highly stable, solid at room temperature, and normally do not go rancid, even when heated — for example, coconut oil and butter.

Saturated fats constitute at least 50% of all cell membranes. They enhance the immune system and protect us from harmful micro organisms entering into the digestive track. Some healthy saturated fats are:

• Butter

Butter truly is better. Besides being an excellent source of fat-soluble vitamins, butter is rich in lecithin (needed for fat metabolism), trace minerals (particularly selenium), and short and medium chain fatty acids that the body uses for energy. Butter also contains butyric and lauric acids, both antitumorigenic, antifungal, and antimicrobial substances. Indians have always used ghee (clarified butter) in native ayurvedic medicines. Studies show that vitamins and minerals from vegetables are better absorbed when eaten with butter. Butter also provides the intestines with the fatty material needed to convert carotenes from plants into vitamin A.

• Vegetable oils

Palm oil and olive oil are rich in oleic acid that is beneficial for the cardiovascular system.

• Coconut oil

Coconut oil is loaded with lauric acid. As with butter, most of the saturated fat in coconut oil is of the short and medium chain variety which means coconut oil is not fattening, but used for energy. Because of its high saturated fat content, coconut oil is very stable under high temperatures, ideal for cooking and baking.

Hydrogenated or Trans Fat

Most of these man-made trans-fatty acids are toxins to the body.

Used in the past as a replacement for saturated fats, hydrogenated fats are manufactured by the partial hydrogenation of liquid vegetable oil. This involves adding hydrogen to a polyunsaturated fat, making it solid at room temperature. In addition to raising LDL cholesterol, as saturated fat does, hydrogenated fat also decreases the level of HDL cholesterol.

Tips for Heart Care

Omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish and some plant oils) lower cholesterol, improve blood vessel elasticity and thin the blood, making it less likely to block blood flow.

Include plenty of fruits and vegetables in your diet, because the natural antioxidants in them can protect you against heart disease. Fruit and vegetables are also important sources of folate, which can lower the blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine. Homocysteine is acquired mostly from eating meat, and high levels can lead to heart and blood vessel disease.

Adequate magnesium is necessary for the prevention of heart disease. Magnesium can relax the heart muscles and coordinate the activity of the heart muscle and keeps coronary arteries from spasms, as it has a muscle-relaxing action. Foods rich in magnesium include tofu, bananas, nuts, broccoli and whole grains. Include tomatoes, bananas and dry fruits like apricots, raisins and figs for your daily dose of Potassium.

Exercise is good for your heart. Do not strain yourself, though, and listen to your body’s signals as you exercise. Follow your doctor’s advice.