Cardiovascular disease, which includes coronary heart disease and stroke, causes more deaths throughout the world than any other illness … about 16 million people die each year from its effects. Death rates have reduced over the years, but survivors of cardiovascular disease often develop heart failure or angina, which may result in a poor quality of life.
Main risk factors are:
- high blood cholesterol
- high blood pressure
- low fruit and vegetable intake
- smoking
- lack of physical activity
The different types of fat are often a point of confusion in the fat story. Saturated fat which mainly comes from animal products, that is meat, cheese, cream, etc., clogs arteries and is bad for health.
Monounsaturated fats feature highly in the Mediterranean diet and many studies have found this type of diet to be protective against heart disease (Nurses’ Health Study, Lyon Diet Heart Study). Typically, this type of fat comes in the form of olive oil.
Then comes the essential fatty acids - otherwise known as Omega-3 and Omega-6. The richest source of Omega-3 is from fish oils, while Omega-6 mainly comes from plant oils and nuts.
Omega-3 alters the ratio of LDL (bad) cholesterol to HDL (good) cholesterol, by raising HDL cholesterol. Omega-6 lowers LDL cholesterol
Although it’s a good idea to substitute saturated fat such as butter and hard fats with vegetable oils, recent studies show that if we don’t have the correct balance between Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats we may be putting our health at risk. Professor Tom Sanders from King’s College, London suggests we need to have a ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 in the diet between 5:1 and 10:1. If it is more than 10:1 we should eat more foods such as fish, green leafy vegetables and pulses. Although as a nation we are consuming the recommended levels for Omega-6, we are not doing so for Omega-3.
This may all sound very confusing. Put simply, we need to:
- consume more fatty fish such as fresh tuna, mackerel and sardines.
- make sure we use olive and vegetable, nut or seed oils.
- minimise the use of saturated fats such as fatty meats and cheeses.
- eat whole grain foods instead of refined ones
… and finally, eat lots of fruits and vetables.
NOTE: Although tuna is a fatty fish, the canned variety does not contain Omega-3. It has been refined out of the fish in the canning process. If the can states there is Omega-3 in the product, it will have been fortified.
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www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,2763,1490755,00.html