Nutrition and Diet to Help Prevent Heart Disease
Recent studies have suggested that eating a heart-healthy diet can cut the risk of developing heart disease or stroke by 80%. Considering that heart disease is still the number one killer of both men and women in the United States, this is news worth considering!
Weight control and exercise are the first steps to a healthy heart, but there are additional ways to boost the body’s immunity to heart disease. Take a closer look at how specific food choices impact our ability to help manage or prevent heart disease and high blood pressure— two of the biggest health challenges we face today.
Healthy heart diet: the basics
While age and genetics play a role, doctors have identified six controllable risk factors for heart disease: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, physical inactivity, and obesity. The first steps in preventing heart disease are to quit smoking and incorporate exercise into your life. The rest of your heart healthy plan can focus on your diet – what you eat, and what you don’t eat.
Coronary heart disease is caused by blockages in the arteries that supply blood to the heart. When the blood supply is obstructed, the heart muscle becomes deprived of oxygen and essential nutrients needed to function properly, which can result in angina (chest pains) or a heart attack. The primary substances responsible for narrowing of the arteries are cholesterol and fatty deposits – making dietary cholesterol and saturated fat the two major dietary culprits that affect your heart health,
In order to protect your heart, certain foods should be drastically reduced or eliminated from your diet, while increasing foods that support cardiovascular health.
Eat More | Eat Less |
Healthy Fats (raw nuts, olive oil, fish oils, flax seeds, avocados) | Damaged fats (trans fats from partially hydrogenated foods, deep fried foods); saturated fats (whole-fat dairy; red meat). |
Colorful, nutrient-loaded fruits and vegetables | Processed food (foods that come in a package); foods high in sodium |
Fiber rich foods (whole grains and legumes) | Refined carbohydrates (white starches). |
Fish (especially wild salmon, whitefish, tilapia, catfish, flounder, and mahi mahi) | Red meat |
Water | Fruit juices, soda |
What exactly is an overall healthy diet?
A well-rounded, nutrient-rich diet can help protect you from many diseases and health problems, including heart disease. But for many of us, trying to understand what constitutes good nutrition can be overwhelming
Healthy Eating: Tips for a Healthy Diet offers simple tips to help you get started on a delicious and nutritious eating plan to support overall good health.
Cholesterol, diet, and heart disease
Cholesterol is a waxy substance present throughout the body, and is involved in the production of hormones, Vitamin D, and the bile acids used for digestion. Your body gets cholesterol in two ways: by producing the substance organically, and through the food your eat. The body makes enough of the stuff on its own, so most of the cholesterol we eat is excessive. This is why, if you are at risk of heart disease or have high cholesterol levels in your blood, it is vitally important to cut out the “unnecessary” cholesterol from your diet.
Since cholesterol can’t dissolve in the blood, it must be “chauffeured” to and from the cells by carriers called lipoproteins. There are two types of lipoprotein: low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, is known as “bad” cholesterol. High-density lipoprotein, or HDL, is known as “good” cholesterol.
HDL is considered good because high levels of this substance seem to protect against heart disease. According to the American Heart Association, this may be because HDL tends to carry cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it's passed from the body, and removes excess cholesterol from arterial plaque, slowing its buildup.
On the flip side, “bad” LDL cholesterol can speed up the buildup of dangerous plaque in the arteries, which can lead to a dangerous medical condition called atherosclerosis. This occurs when too much LDL circulates in the blood, which is why your doctor might encourage you to cut down on the cholesterol you are consuming.
Lowering cholesterol levels
If you are trying to lower LDL cholesterol, here are a few things to keep in mind:
1. Avoid high glycemic, refined carbs, which causes the body to overproduce cholesterol and raises the body’s insulin level. High insulin levels are a big risk in heart disease. How many “high cholesterol” people do you know that stay away from fat and cholesterol but are sugar addicts?
2. Eat more soluble fiber, which binds with the cholesterol, enabling the body to remove it.
3. Stay away from trans fats (partially hydrogenated foods), and saturated fats, which raise the amount of cholesterol in your blood.
4. Stick to recommended daily guidelines for heart health – the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends eating less than 300 mg of cholesterol, less than 2400 mg of sodium, and only 7% of your daily calories from saturated fat. The American Heart Association suggests keeping all types of fat to 30% of your daily calories, and make sure these calories come from the good fats – polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids.
Good fats vs. bad fats in the fight for cardiovascular health
Contrary to what many Americans believe, not all fat is bad. Fats are necessary and vital for good health; the type of fat you consume is what is important. In fact, the American Heart Association has an entire website dedicated to fats and heart health, called Face The Fats, where it explains the importance of replacing bad fats with good fats.
The good fats for heart health are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, which reduce bad cholesterol levels and provide nutrients that help our cells function properly. Polyunsaturated fats include the Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids, which also benefit cardiovascular health. Easy sources of these good fats include nuts, seeds, fish, vegetable oils (especially olive oil) and avocados.
The bad fats when it comes to heart disease include saturated, trans fats, and damaged fats. Saturated fat is considered “bad” because it is unnecessary – our bodies produce sufficient amounts on their own, so there’s no need to eat additional saturated fat, which can spike LDL (bad cholesterol) levels. But even a good fat can become bad. Just like leaving meat out in the sun can cause it to spoil, a healthy oil or fat can be rendered unhealthy if it is damaged by light or heat. Examples of fat that has been damaged are partially hydrogenated oils, or anything deep fried.
However, when talking about unhealthy fats, there is one type that is the arch-nemesis of heart health: trans fats. Trans fatty acids spike LDL levels even more than saturated fats, as well as lowering the good HDL levels in your blood. According to the American Heart Association, eating trans fats increases your risk of developing heart disease, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes. Trans fats are found in many processed foods like cookies, crackers, fast food, some margarines, and in anything that contain partially hydrogenated oils, so read labels carefully and avoid deep fried fast foods.
Good fats for heart health
Rather than cutting all fat from your diet, it is better to replace the bad fats with good fats. Two of the most heralded fats are omega-6s and omega-3s. These are known as essential fatty acids (EFAs) because the body cannot manufacture them and they must be provided through the diet.
Read: Healthy Fats: Choosing the right fats for your diet
Fish: A great source of heart-healthy fat
Cold water fish like wild salmon, herring, mackerel and sardines are a great sources of omega-3 fat, which has been proven to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. The American Heart Association recommends that people eat fish, especially oily fish, at least twice a week, as some studies suggest that this can reduce your risk of heart disease by 23%.
Since much of the fish we consume today has a high mercury content, mercury-free omega-3 fish oil can be taken in supplement form with all the same benefits. Other fish good for heart health that tend to have lower levels of mercury are lake trout, tilapia, flounder, cod and mahi-mahi.
If you are unable to eat seafood, try to consume more soybean products (like tofu), canola oil, walnut and flaxseed, which contain alpha-linolenic acid (LNA). LNA can turn into omega-3 fatty acid after it is digested.
The Bottom Line on Fats and Heart Health
1. Limit your intake of saturated fats - Replace red meat with beans, nuts, poultry, and fish whenever possible, and switch from whole milk and other full-fat dairy foods to lower fat versions.
2. Use liquid vegetable oils rich in (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats) in place of butter in cooking and at the table.
3. Aim to eat one or more good sources of omega-3 fats daily—fish, walnuts, canola or soybean oil, ground flax seeds or flaxseed oil.
- Adapted from Fats and Cholesterol: Out with the Bad, In with the Good, Harvard School of Public Health.
Carbohydrates and heart disease
Just like with fats, carbohydrates can both beneficial and detrimental to your heart health. Simple, refined carbohydrates like sugar and white flour can create a spike in blood sugar and insulin, which increases the likelihood that calories from these foods will be converted into fat and cholesterol. In addition, refined carbohydrates can lower your “good” HDL cholesterol, and boost triglycerides.
However, complex carbohydrates are one of the building blocks of a heart-healthy diet. Whole grains, fruits, and vegetables take longer to digest, and do not cause the same rapid increase in blood sugar and insulin.
Rather than embarking on a “low-carb” diet, consider the glycemic index (GI) of your food. As a basic rule of thumb, foods that contain good fat, fiber and complex carbs will be lower on the glycemic index. High glycemic foods are typically white and processed with very little fat and fiber.
Using the GI, its best to choose low glycemic foods that are slowly digested and do not cause the extreme spikes in blood sugar associated with high-glycemic foods. High-glycemic foods have also been linked to a higher incidence of heart disease and diabetes, so try to choose low and medium GI foods (a GI of 55 or less ranks as low) as much as possible. An additional tip: if you know you are going to eat a high GI food, combine it with a low GI food for an overall medium GI meal. For example, combine white rice (high GI) with legumes (low GI).
| Glycemic Index: “Good” and “Bad” Carbohydrates | |
High glycemic index (“bad” carbs”) | Low glycemic index (“good” carbs) |
white bread (rolls, biscuits, bagels) | whole-grain breads and cereals |
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