Your Diet and Coronary Heart Disease
Heart disease is the #1 killer of BOTH men and women in the US. In women, a first heart attack is likely to be fatal, or result in death within the first year, in up to 50% of all cases. Yes, that is up to HALF of all women dying.
Just think of the number of bereaved men and motherless children represented by that statistic, and start taking steps today for maximum heart health.
The following recommendations are a summary of the major research that has been carried out on what you can do to prevent heart attack.
• Limit saturated fat and trans fatty acids in your diet to less than 10% of calories (or less than 7% if you have high blood cholesterol levels). You can accomplish this by restricting your intake of the major sources of saturated fat (fatty meats, poultry skin, full-fat dairy products, and tropical oils) and by restricting your intake of hydrogenated fat (found in commercially prepared baked and fried foods and margarines), the major source of trans fatty acids.
• Center your diet around fish, skinless poultry, and plant-based, unprocessed, whole foods, such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes (such as beans), and nuts.
• Eat at least two servings of fish per week, particularly fatty fish such as mackerel, salmon, and albacore tuna. Fatty fish provide a type of fat, called omega-3 fatty acids, that is believed to be heart healthy.
• Include soy foods in your diet—replace foods high in saturated fat and cholesterol with 25 g of soy protein per day. This diet recommendation is particularly important for those with high levels of total and LDL cholesterol.
Learn more about preventing heart disease through nutrition in Diet and Disease Prevention Part 4