Heart Health

Cholesterol, what you need to know – Part 5

Published February 24, 2012 | By Fiona

Fats and Oils

Many people in their attempts to eat a low fat diet are not eating enough essential oils. Every cell in your body requires essential oils (omega 3), especially your brain. These omega 3s are also anti-inflammatory – all disease processes are inflammatory so it is very important to consume anti-inflammatory foods. They are called essential fatty acids because the body cannot make them – you must include them in your diet!

Ways to include healthy fats in the diet

The main essential fat you need in the diet is omega 3 fatty acids - available in fresh fish (eg mackerel, salmon, herring), cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, raw unsalted nuts and seeds (walnuts, pecans, pepitas etc), tahini and avocado. Add extra virgin cold pressed olive oil to your salads and vegetables (it makes a lovely salad dressing – you can also add fresh lemon or tahini and basil).

For cooking use cold pressed extra virgin olive oil; don’t heat it up just coat the food with it before you place the food into pan. Be careful, olive oil has a low burning point and will flame easily at high temperatures. Coconut oil is also better for cooking at high temperatures (food will taste like coconut). Butter is excellent for cooking too (real unsalted block butter).

Plant sterols can lower cholesterol levels

They are found naturally in plant foods including nuts, seeds, legumes (peas, beans, lentils), fruit and vegetables. Some margarine has concentrated plant sterols added. Margarines enriched with plant sterols may help lower LDL cholesterol but do not treat the cause of the elevated cholesterol. They also often contain trans fats and other unnatural chemicals that can cause inflammation so are not a good long term solution. These sterol margarines only affect cholesterol absorption from the diet; they have no effect on the cholesterol your body makes. Remember it is not the cholesterol number that matters, it is the oxidised cholesterol – anything that increases inflammation will cause oxidation.

Eggs

Eggs are very nutritious and should be part of a healthy balanced diet. They contain good quality protein and omega-3, plus 10 vitamins and minerals. Boiled or poached is best, always cook eggs at a low temperature. The dietary cholesterol in eggs has no effect on blood cholesterol.

Are you taking cholesterol lowering medication?

Most cholesterol lowering medications affect only the cholesterol you make and therefore have no effect on the cholesterol that you eat. It is important to note that high cholesterol is not caused by a deficiency in statin drugs! They do not address the cause of the inflammation which is the real concern in cardiovascular disease.

Did you know that some commonly prescribed cholesterol medications may cause depletion of co-enzyme Q10 in the body? Co-enzyme Q10 is essential to cardiovascular health, it is a very important antioxidant for the heart (remember you need antioxidants to stop your body from making oxidised HDL’s LDL’s (the dangerous cholesterol). The highest concentrations are found in the heart where its action is vital to healthy functioning heart muscle tissues. Taking a co-enzyme Q10 supplement can:

Help maintain the body’s co-enzyme Q10 levels
Promote cardiovascular health
Maintain energy levels
Reduce muscle pain & weakness (common side-effect of statins due to depletion of co-enzyme Q10).

Go back to part 1

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Go back to part 4

For more information or personalised advice on a healthy diet contact Fiona or Rachel on (02) 47 222 111 or www.informedhealth.com.au

References:

Eddey Stephen. Cardiovascular Disease: The best treatment options, 2011. Health Schools Australia, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.

Many references and studies are available at : http://www.dietdoctor.com/science

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242516-Heart-Surgeon-Speaks-Out-On-What-Really-Causes-Heart-Disease

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/saturated-fat-healthy/#axzz24cabyjEN

Posted in Cholesterol, Diabetes, Healthy Eating, Heart Health | Tagged Cholesterol, essential fats, fat, heart health, reduce cholesterol | 5 Comments

Cholesterol, what you need to know – Part 4

Published February 8, 2012 | By Fiona

More recommendations for Diet and Lifestyle:

Include foods in your diet that are rich in soluble fibre, such as low starch salad type vegetables (eg raw beetroot, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini), raw unsalted nuts and seeds (eg walnuts, almonds, pecans, pepitas, sunflower seeds). Note: always increase water consumption with increased fibre.
Cease alcohol consumption or reduce your alcohol intake to no more than one drink per day, ensuring you have 2 or 3 alcohol free days each week. Avoid binge drinking.
Don’t smoke, it increases inflammation and artery damage causing more cholesterol to be produced by the body to act as a “bandaid”.
Exercise regularly (for example, at least 30 minutes of brisk walking daily – you must get puffed)! If you don’t know what exercise you should be doing talk to a qualified Personal Trainer to get the right advice for you.
Avoid fried foods, especially deep fried foods, battered food, pies, sausage rolls, hot dogs, spring rolls etc.
Avoid sugar (confectionary, lollies, cakes, muffins, pastries, chocolate, sweets, sweet drinks etc).
Avoid consumption trans-fatty acids/hydrogenated oils (including margarine and other processed foods) and confectionary (sometimes listed as hydrogenated oil/fat on the label).
Reduce salt (labelled as sodium in packaged foods). Foods are considered to be low in sodium if they contain 120mg or less per 100g. Foods with more than 500mg per 100g of sodium are considered to be high in salt.
Reduce caffeinated and sugary drinks: coffee, tea, soft drinks, milk drinks and energy drinks.
Drink dandelion coffee/tea (it is liver friendly) and other herbal teas such as chamomile.
Drink green tea an antioxidant (no milk or sugar) in moderation (it still contains caffeine).
Eat a serving of berries each day 1/3 to 1/2 cup depending on the size of the berry (bilberry, blueberries, cranberry, strawberries etc) – high in bioflavonoids and antioxidants. Antioxidants are extremely important because they stop the LDLs from become oxidised and therefore damaging to your body.
Add fresh garlic to meals.
Do not skip meals, eat regular meals. Compared to a regular meal pattern an irregular meal pattern has been shown cause blood sugar and blood cholesterol problems.
Drink plenty of water.
Relax: relaxation has been shown to reduce cardiovascular risk factors.
Any food allergies/intolerances or other gut problems such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome must be identified and managed properly. These allergies and gut problems cause inflammation and over stimulate the immune system which will ultimately lead toward chronic diseases like heart disease. It is best to enlist the support of health professionals who specialise in this area (this is one of our specialties at the Informed Health Nutritional Wellbeing Centre).

Go back to part 1

Go back to part 2

Go back to part 3

Go to part 5

For more information or personalised advice on a healthy diet contact Fiona or Rachel on (02) 47 222 111 or www.informedhealth.com.au

References:

Eddey Stephen. Cardiovascular Disease: The best treatment options, 2011. Health Schools Australia, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.

Many references and studies are available at : http://www.dietdoctor.com/science

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242516-Heart-Surgeon-Speaks-Out-On-What-Really-Causes-Heart-Disease

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/saturated-fat-healthy/#axzz24cabyjEN

Posted in Cholesterol, Diabetes, Healthy Eating, Heart Health | Tagged essential fats, food allergy, food intolerance, heart health, reduce cholesterol | Leave a comment

Cholesterol, what you need to know – Part 2

Published January 30, 2012 | By Fiona

I previously discussed saturated fat under a separate post but think it is important to repeat here:

Saturated fat – finally the truth!

There are three main kinds of saturated fats. Short chain (eg butter) – which is healthy, butter actually breaks down to butyric acid in the body and this is colon protective. (The soluble fibre in an apple also breaks down in to butyric acid, which is also why apples are colon protective). Medium chain (eg coconut oil) – this is also healthy. It is long chain saturated fats that are damaging to the body. The main foods that cause heart disease are refined sugars including grains. These foods, especially if combined with a low fat diet will be stored as long chain saturated fatty acids in the body, this is what will clog up your arteries and cause atherosclerosis.

Highly refined carbohydrates (sugar, flour and all of the products made from them) over stimulate the immune system and cause inflammation.

Dr Dwight Lundell, a heart surgeon and author of The Cure for Heart Disease and The Great Cholesterol Lie explains how this happens:

“Imagine spilling syrup on your keyboard and you have a visual of what occurs inside the cell. When we consume refined carbohydrates such as sugar, blood sugar rises rapidly. In response, your pancreas secretes insulin whose primary purpose is to drive sugar into each cell where it is stored for energy. If the cell is full and does not need glucose, it is rejected to avoid extra sugar gumming up the works. When your full cells reject the extra glucose, blood sugar rises producing more insulin and the glucose converts to stored fat.”

This is usually visceral fat which is the dangerous fat that covers your abdominal organs and leads to a fatty liver.

What does all this have to do with inflammation?

Dr Lundell explains “blood sugar is controlled in a very narrow range. Extra sugar molecules attach to a variety of proteins that in turn injure the blood vessel wall. This repeated injury to the blood vessel wall sets off inflammation. When you spike your blood sugar level several times a day, every day, it is exactly like taking sandpaper to the inside of your delicate blood vessels.

To make matters worse, the excess weight you are carrying from eating these foods creates overloaded fat cells that pour out large quantities of pro-inflammatory chemicals that add to the injury caused by having high blood sugar.

Simply stated, without inflammation being present in the body, there is no way that cholesterol would accumulate in the wall of the blood vessel and cause heart disease and strokes. Without inflammation, cholesterol would move freely throughout the body as nature intended. It is inflammation that causes cholesterol to become trapped.”

The other issue is excess consumption of omega-6 vegetable oils such as soybean, corn and sunflower that are found in many processed foods. Omega 6 are also important for the functioning of the body but most people over consume omega 6 and under consume omega 3 fats which puts everything out of balance in the body and contributes to inflammation.

Other causes of inflammation can be food allergies/intolerances, parasites, bacteria, stress, viruses, exposure to chemicals including what you put on your skin.

Go back to part 1

Go to part 3

For more information or personalised advice on a healthy diet contact Fiona or Rachel on (02) 47 222 111 or www.informedhealth.com.au

References:

Eddey Stephen. Cardiovascular Disease: The best treatment options, 2011. Health Schools Australia, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.

Many references and studies are available at : http://www.dietdoctor.com/science

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242516-Heart-Surgeon-Speaks-Out-On-What-Really-Causes-Heart-Disease

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/saturated-fat-healthy/#axzz24cabyjEN