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Each year, over 1 million Americans are diagnosed with heart disease. More than half of them will have a heart attack, and half of those will die. Most of these people have coronary artery disease or a narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the heart.
As soon as your early 20s, cholesterol begins to accumulate inside the coronary arteries of people who eat large amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol. While the body does have built-in mechanisms to counteract this accumulation, the disease will win, if steps aren't taken to reverse the trend. A number of steps will reduce your risk for coronary artery disease. These include eating a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet, quitting smoking, exercising and managing stress. -
As opposed to fad diets, a diet designed for people with heart disease is a lifelong approach to lowering cholesterol and fat. The diets are lifestyle changes designed to reduce or reverse the risk of repeated cardiac events.
A heart-healthy diet consists of managing the intake of cholesterol and saturated fat to lower the low-density lipoproteins and raise the high-density lipoproteins in the blood. The American Heart Association recommends that people with a history of heart disease reduce their daily cholesterol intake to less than 200 mg/dl a day---less than the amount of cholesterol in one egg, including the yolk. -
To embark on a lifelong, heart-healthy diet, you don't have to abandon your favorites. There are often healthy and tasty alternatives to many of the foods you enjoy. The key is to make small, but permanent, changes.
Some foods highest in cholesterol are egg yolks (266 mg), pork brain (3100 mg) and beef kidney (340 mg). Replace them with meats such as lean pork (77 mg) or lean beef (65 mg). Other substitutions include beans and peas, fruits and vegetables, salmon, tuna and nuts such as almonds, pecans and walnuts.
People are surprised to learn that some of their healthy choices aren't healthy. Even though a food is low in cholesterol, it may be high in saturated fat---another ingredient that can raise cholesterol. For instance, some margarines that are low in cholesterol are high in trans-fatty acids, which can raise cholesterol levels.
Make positive changes by knowing what your favorite foods contain. Search for alternatives. Read the labels, and pay attention to the number of servings, calories per serving and the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol per serving.
