Articles
Risk factors for heart disease
Cardiovascular disease is Australia's biggest killer. It is responsible for 40% of all deaths.
DID YOU KNOW?
- About half of adult men and one third of adult women have high cholesterol.
- High saturated fats in the diet are associated with elevated cholesterol levels.
- In 1995 - 63% of adult males and 47% of adult women were considered to be overweight or obese.
- Heavy alcohol consumption increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.
CHECK LIST FOR HEART DISEASE RISK FACTORS
- Cholesterol- greater than 5.5 mmol/l
- Triglyceride- greater than 1.8 mmol/l
- Chol\HDL Ratio- greater than 4.5 mmol/l
- High Blood Pressure- Greater than 140/90
- Overweight- a BMI greater than 25
- Cigarette Smoking- high risk with smoking
- Family History- family members with significant heart risks
- Physical Inactivity-less than 1/2 hour exercise 3 times a week
- Stress- high stress increases risk
Here are some of the frequently asked questions, which may help you to clarify important points and understand fats, oils, margarines and cholesterol.
What is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a fat like substance that is essential to animal life and is a component of every cell in the body. Cholesterol is produced in the liver or absorbed as cholesterol from food. Cholesterol is transported as LDL (bad cholesterol) that is associated with heart disease. HDL (known as good cholesterol) picks up excess cholesterol from the tissues and takes it back to the liver for disposal. We do require some cholesterol as every cell of the body needs it. Too much LDL- cholesterol leads to a build up of cholesterol in the arteries called atherosclerosis. This increases the risk of a heart attack. Total cholesterol should be less than 5.5 mmol/l. People at high risk or with heart conditions are often advised to have lower levels than this.
Where is cholesterol found in food?
Rich food sources of cholesterol are from animal sources especially egg yolks, brains, kidney, liver, heart, prawns and squid. Only about 15% of the population are sensitive to the cholesterol in their diet. Cholesterol is not available from vegetable sources however vegetable oils such as coconut and palm oil do contain saturated fat which helps increases cholesterol in the body.
What are lipoproteins?
Cholesterol is transported in the blood in combination with various lipoproteins.
HDL: High Density Lipoprotein is the good cholesterol and has been identified as a protective factor reducing the risk of developing chronic heart disease. Oily fish, exercise and unsaturated oils with small amounts of alcohol if desired will help maintain desirable levels greater than 0.9mmol/l.
LDL: Low Density Lipoproteins are presumed to deposit cholesterol in the tissues and arterial walls and are associated with increasing the risk of developing Coronary Heart Disease. Less than 3.5 mmol/l is desirable. High intakes of saturated fat increase LDL Cholesterol in susceptible people.
What is the Cholesterol HDL Ratio?
This is the total cholesterol divided by the good cholesterol (HDL). If this is high there is an increased risk of heart disease. A total cholesterol reading of 4.4mmol/l or lower is ideal.
Cholesterol HDL Ratio = Total Cholesterol/HDL
Understanding fat
We should have no more than 30% of our energy intake from fat and oils. Oils and fats are made up of different proportions of saturated, monosaturated, polyunsaturated and trans fatty acid groups. The group that has the highest percentage of one fatty acid usually gives its name to the oil or fat. Olive and canola oil contain more monounsaturated fatty acids than polyunsaturated or saturates fatty acids. Olive oil has 76% monounsaturated fatty acids. Grape seed has a majority of polyunsaturated fatty acids at 68%.
Saturated fat
Saturated fats increase the LDL, bad cholesterol in susceptible people. They should not form more than one third or 8% (including trans fatty acids) of the total fat in the diet. The sources of saturated fat in the Australian diet include full-cream milk and other full-fat dairy products and the fat found on untrimmed lamb, beef and chicken plus meat products such as pate and sausages. Significant quantities of saturated fat are also found in many fried, takeaway foods, biscuits, cakes, pies, pastries and snack foods (eg, chocolate, potato crisps and cheese flavoured foods.)
Monosaturated Fat
One third of our total fat should come from monosaturated fatty acids. Examples are olive and canola oil. Nuts and avocado also contain significant quantities of monosaturated fats.
Polyunsaturated Fat
A further third of our total fat should come from polyunsaturated oils that are found in significant quantities in fish, safflower and grape seed oil plus nuts, seeds and lecithin.
Next week there will be discussion on trans-fatty acids, margarines and healthy fat substitutes.
Recipes
Baked Easter Schnapper : This recipe is a good fish choice for Good Friday.
Added to site on : Tuesday, 28 December 2010