Daily Health Bulletin

Strong Food Aroma Could Lead To Weight Loss

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Smells may be far more powerful than we think; especially when it comes to how much food you take in. Some new research appearing in the new journal Flavour suggests that the the strength of food aroma can make a difference in how much of a food people eat. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Don’t we all over-indulge in foods that smell especially good?

The team of researchers, led by René A de Wijk, from the Top Institute Food and Nutrition, Wageningen, The Netherlands, was trying to find out if increasing the aroma intensity of a food had any impact on how much someone would eat on a bite-by-bite basis.

The team watched 10 subjects (ages 36 to 50 years old) eat a vanilla custard desert, but they had to do so in a dentists’ chair. Each subject was fitted with a nose-piece connected to a machine that delivered aromas of the desert along with a tub that was placed in their mouths to pump in the right amount of custard. It’s a hard way to eat, no doubt, but it let the researchers vary the smell as well as measure very specifically how much was eaten.

The participants could control (by button) how much custard they got, and they were then randomly presented with three creamy smells – no smell, a weak smell and a strong smell. The actual taste of the custard desert never changed.

The team of Dutch researchers found that the intensity of the food’s aroma affects the first bite, as well as additional bites you take as part of the meal. Higher aroma intensities (more concentrated smells) brought smaller bite sizes. Especially influenced by aroma was the next to the last bite.

Smaller bites are known to be associated with lower flavor sensations from a food, and are the body’s natural feedback loop that uses bite size to manage the amount of flavor experienced. So if you smell a stronger aroma of creaminess, you may eat smaller bites in an unconscious effort to balance the taste and possible fat and calories.

Continues below…

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Stronger Food Smells Mean Smaller Bites… Continued…

As you can see, there are many sense and digestive factors that are at work when choosing what size bite you’ll be taking. Smell appears to be another significant factor in deciding on that size.

The decrease in bite size in relation to a smell is fairly small… it may be from 5% to 10% of food intake for each bite according to the researchers.

The amount of food anyone puts in their mouth each time, at each meal, varies considerably from person to person, between types of foods and texture. Harder foods take longer to chew and therefore eaten in smaller bites compared to softer ones. Also, when you start to feel full, the size of your bites goes down. People also generally take smaller bites of a food when they don’t care for it, or if it’s not familiar.

The researchers suggest that food aroma could be manipulated in order to control how much people would eat. Stronger smells might bring a 5% to 10% drop in bite size, and this could help many with the struggle to lose weight.

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Is Weight Loss One Of The Advantages Of Eating Chocolate?

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Weight loss as one of the advantages of eating chocolate sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? That is until you understand the science behind it. If you’re trying to lose weight (and who isn’t?) you might not have to ban chocolate from your diet. At least not dark chocolate…

A new study appearing in the Archives of Internal Medicine and funded by the U.S. government finds that subjects who ate chocolate a lot actually weighed less than people who reported eating it less often.

Sounds strange but there’s solid data to back the claim. Using just about 1,000 healthy men and women, the researchers saw that those who reported eating chocolate 5 times per week had BMIs (body mass index) of about one point less, on average, than those who ate chocolate less often. One BMI point equals about 5 pounds using a woman who is 5′6″ tall and weighs 125 pounds as an example. Different weights and heights will produce different numbers.

What’s interesting is that the research team did look for other reasons that might explain the weight difference. Chocolate eaters didn’t exercise any more than non-eaters. They didn’t engage in other behaviors that might explain why they were thinner than those who ate less chocolate. The study was observational in nature, so it cannot prove that chocolate eating causes weight loss.

The findings just don’t seem to make intuitive sense. Eating chocolate should have you gaining weight, not losing it. What’s more, in the study, those who were eating a lot of chocolate also said they ate more calories in total as well as more saturated fats than those who consumed chocolate less frequently.

So, how can more calories equal less weight..?

Continues below…

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Eat More Chocolate And Weigh Less..? Continued…

One possible explanation is that the calories in the chocolate are being offset by some other ingredient that might speed metabolism.

Nutritionists not involved in the research are understandably skeptical of the idea that chocolate brings down body weight. Perhaps eating chocolate is a marker for an overall way of living and relaxed attitudes about eating that are healthy for people according to Marion Nestle, Ph.D. MPH who is a professor of nutrition and no relation to the chocolate company.

One expert who is willing to sing chocolate’s weight loss praises is David Katz, MD, MPH, director of the Yale Prevention Research Center. He says that dark chocolate comes naturally with many things that make it a good choice for dieters.

- The bittersweet taste of dark chocolate actually works to suppress appetite, where sweet tastes serve to encourage it.

- It’s high in fat, and this slows digestion and might actually curb appetite for a longer period.

- Dark chocolate is also a natural source of a small amount of caffeine, which can speed up metabolism, helping your body burn more calories while at rest.

Katz also points out that the calories in chocolate are not free. You need to account for them just as you would any other food you eat. No one is saying you can eat chocolate and effortlessly lose weight – the idea is more complex than that. You need to choose your wisely to gain the advantages of eating chocolate - resisting high fat and sugar varieties and go dark (at least 60% cocoa content), keeping the portion small – about the size of a postage stamp or a Hershey’s Kiss.

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Death Rates For Cancer Are Falling

Monday, May 14, 2012

It feels good to share some truly good news for a change. A new CDC report titled Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2008 finds that the overall death rates for cancer fell (1.6% a year) among children and adults in the U.S. The downward trends show how much progress has been made in screening, prevention, early intervention as well as the treatment of cancers.

Here are some highlights…

- Breast cancer incidence rates remained stable, after the steep declines of the early 2000s. Fewer women of postmenopausal age are using hormone therapy and this has been credited with the decline.

- Childhood cancers have risen by 0.6% per year since the early 1990s, but the dramatic decline in deaths from cancer that started in the mid 1970s is still going strong. In fact, the cancer death rate in children and teens dropped by 2.7% per year from 1975 to 1996, and kept on going down by 1.3% per year from 1996 to 2008.

- Colorectal cancer incidence and death rates are still going down, largely because more of us are using colonoscopy and other screenings to detect cancers earlier, when most treatable.

- Lung cancer incidence and death continue to drop for men and women mostly because fewer people smoke. The rates of cancer have dropped most in states with strong tobacco cessation programs.

- Prostate cancer death rates have gone down since the early 1980s, but how much PSA testing contributes to this drop remains unclear.

- Cancer death rates have gone down for nearly all ethnic groups – American Indians and Alaskan natives remain the only two unaffected since 1999.

There are some bits of bad news, of course. The first is the increased incidence of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. Since 1999 the rates of melanoma have risen by 2.5% per year in women; 2.3% a year in men. Experts see this is an emerging epidemic.

The other bit of bad news news is that cancers associated with obesity are going up. And since more of us are obese than ever before, this is a potential danger that’s far bigger than anything our healthcare system has seen to date.

For more than 30 years obesity, being inactive and eating a poor, nutrient starved diet have been just behind tobacco use as preventable causes of disease and death in the United States. Tobacco use has declined since the 1960s; obesity rates have doubled since then.

Continues below…

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Good News: Deaths From Cancer Continue To Fall… Continued…

The review of over 7,000 studies offers support for the link between obesity and higher risk of colorectal and postmenopausal cancers of the breast, cancers in the esophagus, pancreas, kidney and uterus. Not being active was tied to colon cancer risk, as well as the chances for postmenopausal cancers of the breast and uterus.

In fact, being obese and inactive are coming to be known as new public health threats in terms of fighting cancer. While doctors knew that carrying too much fat was bad for you because of the risk of heart disease and diabetes, not to mention many other chronic conditions, cancer hadn’t yet made it onto the list. Now it has.

The just released report on the death rates for cancer was a collaboration between the CDC, the National Cancer Institute, The American Cancer Society and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, and is the first time the relationship between being obese and getting cancer has been the focus of attention.

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Surprising New Addition To The Superfoods List

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Sounds hard to believe, but it is true. So say University of Scranton researchers who have just added popcorn the superfoods list. Popcorn is naturally full of loads of antioxidants – just as many as some fruits and veggies we could name.

The compounds in popcorn are known as polyphenols and are also naturally abundant in foods like blueberries, pomegranates and kale. The most recent research in popcorn’s benefits was presented by Joe Vinson, Ph.D., well known in the field of nutrition at the 2012 national meeting of the American Chemical Society.

In a project designed to reproduce the digestive process, the University of Scranton team confirmed that air popped kernels, not to mention their waxy outer hull, have 2% polyphenols. Two tablespoons of kernels pops up to about an ounce of popped corn, which gives you 500 mg of polyphenols.

Interesting that like so many other good-for-you-foods, many of the health benefits of popcorn come from the outer hulls, not the fluffy whiteness of the insides. This suggests it’s fine to eat the seeds at the bottom of your popcorn bowl, just be careful of your teeth.

According to the study findings, polyphenol content breaks out like this:

- up to 300 milligrams per serving in popcorn

- 114 mg per serving in sweet corn

- 160 mg per serving in all fruits

The explanation is rather simple. Polyphenols are diluted by the water that’s a natural part of nearly all fruits and veggies. These substances are more concentrated in the popcorn kernel, as this food averages only 4% water, instead of 90% for fruits and many veggies. It’s the hulls, the part that seems to get caught in your teeth (or dental work) that has most of the polyphenols and that beneficial fiber.

The researchers estimate that the average American diet includes enough fruits to provide 255 mg of polyphenols a day. Veggies give us another 218 per day. A serving of air popped popcorn would offer 13% of the average daily intake, much higher than anyone had thought. And it tastes good too.

Continues below…

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Air Popped Kernels Have More Antioxidants Than Fruits And Veggies… Continued…

Of course no one is suggesting that popcorn replace fruits and veggies as part of a healthy diet, far from it. These foods are still the best choice because of their high fiber, ample vitamins and nutrients, as well as their water content. These are essential to staying healthy, and have things that popcorn, despite being a great, healthy snack, just can’t give us.

Also important to understand – air popped is what we’re talking about here, not the movie theater, dripping in butter (or butter substitute) and salt kind many of us indulge in. Microwave popcorn has two times the calories of air popped… so not a bad option, but not altogether a healthy one either. With about 43% of microwave varieties being fat you can see why – popping in your own oil adds 28% fat content… better, but not by much.

What’s more, a single serving of light and tasty air popped popcorn will give you over 70% of your daily intake for whole grains. The average person only gets about half a serving of these grains per day, so popcorn could be a tremendous asset along with other more convential items on the superfoods list.

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Many Benefits Of Being Healthy

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Before you dismiss this study on the benefits of being healthy as wasted effort… consider this. Researchers spend lots of time studying what makes us sick, not what keeps us healthy, until now. A new study finds that healthy behaviors – eating right and exercising for example – bring down the risk of an early death by as much as 76%. The work appears online in the well-regarded Journal of the American Medical Association.

It might be common sense according to study author Quanhe Yang who is an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division for Heart Diseases and Stroke Prevention, but that doesn’t mean it’s common practice for as many as it should be. We all know what brings up the risk of heart disease, and if you can do things that delay (or prevent) that, you reduce your risk long term, and thus live longer and healthier.

Yang and his team relied on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES for short). They used this information to examine seven aspects of healthy living in almost 45,000 adult men and women over 20 years old between the years 1988 and 2010.

The 7 healthy living measures included:
- not smoking
- being active
- healthy blood pressure
- healthy blood sugar
- healthy cholesterol levels
- balanced diet
- normal weight

Those who were “ideal” in six or more of the parameters were 76% less apt to die from heart disease; 51% less likely to die from other causes, even cancer. This group was also 70% less likely to be diagnosed with ischemic heart disease.

Only 2.1% of the study population was considered “ideal” on six or more markers. These people were often younger, more educated and female. The majority of the study participants were healthy on at least three of the seven parameters.

Continues below…

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Results Just In On How To Live Longer… Continued…

While each of the seven factors had an impact on health, having an ideal blood pressure reading was the biggest contributor to health, dropping risk of heart disease by an amazing 40%. Today there are almost 68 million U.S. adults who are considered hypertensive… if you could drop that number by 10%, this prevents 14,000 heart events each year.

And while under 1% of the U.S. population eats a healthy diet of fruits, veggies, fish and whole grains, with limited salt and sugar, doing so brings down the risk of cardiovascular disease by 13%. The same percentage you get from not smoking.

Smoking has gone down since 1988 when the study began, blood sugar readings (a marker for diabetes) and weight have gone up. Researcher Yang believe that if doctors can shift people toward behaviors that foster ideal cardiovascular health we really can take steps toward reducing the risk of disease and death.

There are lots of ways to help your heart stay healthy according to the editorial that appeared in the same JAMA issue as the study. Doctors can continue to work with patients at risk so they can take a step from poor to better health.

Today heart disease is known to be the number one cause of death here in the United States. It takes the lives of almost 600,000 of us each year according to numbers from the Centers for Disease Control. Living healthier to take advantage of the many benefits of being healthy is one way to reduce your chances of being one of this number.

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Health Benefits Of Capsaicin

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Like spicy foods… then you’ll love this new report on the health benefits of capsaicin. The same compound that gives cayennes, jalapenos, habaneros and other chili peppers their full, zesty flavor may also be supplying some heart healthy benefits as well, according to new research just presented at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society. Capsaicin has long held an acknowledged role in the treatment of pain, and thanks to the current study, science knows more about how this substance works to help the heart stay healthy.

Science has been looking at capsaicin’s benefits, and you probably recognize the name as a treatment for the pain associated with arthritis, as well as neuropathy pain or the itch of psoriasis. Capsaicin works by encouraging the body to make endorphins that reduce our perception of pain.

The team from the Chinese University of Hong Kong examined how capsaicinoids (the technical name for capsaicin and compounds like it) work on the blood vessels of hamsters. The team fed the subject hamsters diets that were high in cholesterol (sound familiar?) and spiced the foods for some groups of animals with different levels of capsaicinoids.

The hamsters that were fed any level of capsaicinoids had lower cholesterol levels, especially when it came to LDL (bad) cholesterol. What’s more, they had less plaque in their arteries compared to the group of hamsters that did not receive capsaicinoids. In fact, the substances were shown to be beneficial in improving a whole range of factors that are known to be related to heart and blood vessel health.

Zhen-Yu Chen, Ph.D., a professor of food and nutritional science, study author and presenter hopes that the outcome of the research adds to the understanding of how spicy foods might work to make our hearts healthier.

The take home message is that spicy foods like these can be a nice supplement for those who enjoy the flavor anyway. Something that tastes good, and is good for you.

There has also been research suggesting capsaicin might be helpful in protecting against prostate cancer, that it might be able to kill off the cells. At least that’s how it worked in test tubes, where researchers found a relationship between capsaicin and increased cell death. There is also work that finds those who eat a lot of chili peppers have less prostate cancer. It may be that the natural carotenoids and flavonoids in these foods that are known to scavenge free radicals in the system, are the reason for less prostate cancer. No one can say for now, nor does it mean that hot peppers cure this form of cancer.

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Continues below…

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This Spicy Compound Might Help Your Heart… Continued…

Spicy foods can improve metabolism. Research published in 2011 from the Journal of Nutrition found that foods flavored with turmeric, paprika, cinnamon, rosemary, oregano and garlic powder brought down both triglyceride levels and insulin after a 1,200 calorie meal eaten by overweight but otherwise healthy men. It may be that the antioxidants naturally a part of the spices help fight oxidative stress, and thus the risk of chronic conditions. The amount of spice used in the study was one, large dose, 14 g, the antioxidant equal of five ounces of red wine or a 1.4 ounce serving of dark, delicious chocolate.

So, if you like the burn of these foods, enjoy them in moderation, as part of your overall healthy eating plan.

And yet, a caution. Take the heat warnings about spicy foods seriously. Pure capsaicin extract is rated at over 15 million Scoville units (a measure of capsaicin present) and should be used in moderation, and only as directed by a physician. Be sure to follow the instructions on the label, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after applying so you don’t risk getting any in your eyes. It may take up to two weeks before the health benefits of capsaicin on pain begin to be noticed.

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Could Unroasted Coffee Beans Aid Weight Loss?

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

How’s this for intriguing news? An extract of green (unroasted) coffee beans, when taken as a daily supplement, can help you drop those pounds – so say the findings of a small study presented at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society. The work included 16 patients (aged 22 to 26) who were either overweight or obese and who were given daily doses of the extract in capsules.

The researchers were looking at the impact of unprocessed, unroasted coffee’s major, natural ingredient, chlorogenic acid. Roasted coffee has far less of this substance because it breaks down at the roasting temperatures typically used, between 464 to 482 degrees Fahrenheit. So, though roasting gives coffee beans the color, aroma and delicious flavor, it may well take something very valuable away from them.

All the study subjects were told to keep eating and exercising as they usually did, and the team of researchers monitored them for weight loss over the next six months.

The project was divided into three six-week sections. In one section the participants consumed a capsule every day that had 700 milligrams of green coffee extract. The second section called for subjects to take a 1,050-milligram capsule each day. Finally the participants were given a placebo capsule, full of an inactive powder, so that each participant cycled through all three sections. This form of research has advantages because each person gets all the doses, and also serves as a control.

At the end of the study, the team saw that daily intake of the extract brought a nearly 11%, on average, drop in the body weight; a 16% drop in body fat of the subjects. There were no reported side effects for either of the study doses given. The research was done in India and funded by American makers of green coffee extract products.

You can buy green coffee bean extract at prices ranging from $10 to $20 for a 60-capsule supply.

And while this was a small study, study lead Joe Vinson, a University of Scranton professor of chemistry points out that earlier work has been done in both France and Japan. This research showed that subjects experienced a mild weight loss. With higher extract doses than used in other studies, the subjects lose rather larger amounts of weight.

Continues below…

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Unroasted Coffee Beans For Weight Loss..? Continued…

More work needs to be done of course, but the findings give encouragement when it comes to supplements that might be beneficial to weight loss, though sensible diet and regular exercise are still key strategies for lasting weight maintenance. A follow up project on these same supplements and weight loss that includes 60 patients is now being planned.

The research has yet to undergo the peer review process, so is considered preliminary. You should also know that supplements like green unroasted coffee beans extract are not given the rigorous U.S. Food and Drug Administration testing that’s applied to pharmaceuticals for safety, effectiveness and purity. Keep in mind that just because a substance may bring on weight loss, does not necessarily mean it is good for you.

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Health Benefits Of Dark Chocolate Growing

Monday, May 7, 2012

Good news on the health benefits of dark chocolate. More research has found that dark chocolate, eaten in moderation, has some pretty healthful benefits. In fact, at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society, a symposium (Cocoa: Science and Technology) was given that was devoted entirely to cocoa and discoveries about our favorite indulgence. Researchers the world over got together to share candy bars and 18 reports from international experts with the audience.

A Harvard Medical School instructor, Eric Ding, PhD, discussed his examination of 24 studies published on chocolate. The research included over 1,000 subjects and looked at if their chocolate eating effected heart disease risks such as high blood pressure.

The team found that on average, systolic blood pressure (top number) went down slightly (under 10 points on average) in the chocolate eaters. In those over 50, systolic readings are watched more closely as they are a stronger risk for heart disease than the diastolic (lower) reading.

When it comes to cholesterol, there’s good evidence that chocolate can bring up the HDL (good) cholesterol. Ding and the team saw that in general, the lower your LDL (bad) and the higher the HDL, the better chance you have of preventing heart disease or other chronic diseases.

And, add to that, with dark chocolate, insulin resistance is improved. This is a benefit if you either have diabetes, or are trying to avoid it. Blood flow was also improved.

Another study conducted by Stephen L. Atkin, MD of the Hull York Medical School, gave 10 patients who had type 2 diabetes small servings of chocolate an hour before giving them glucose that was to stimulate a meal. Atkin saw improvements in the functioning of blood vessels, and this could be beneficial in terms of bringing down the risk of heart disease.

Chocolate might even be good, again in moderation, for those who have congestive heart failure according to researcher Francisco Villarreal, MD, PhD, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, another speaker at the American Chemical Society symposium.

Continues below…

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Moderate Amounts Of Chocolate Found To Be Good For More Than Your Heart… Continued…

In a small study of five patients, he gave each 100 milligrams of a flavonol (epicatechin) that’s found in chocolate every day for a three-month period. Measuring a substance called nitric oxide, known to regulate the contractions of blood vessels and thus impacting blood pressure, Villarreal saw a very significant increase in the levels of nitric oxide.

You should know that Villarreal is co-founder of a company that is working to develop epicatechin as a treatment for heart problems. Both the National Institutes of Health and chocolate maker The Hershey Company funded his study.

Still that flavonol, an antioxidant, is part of many projects examining the health impacts of chocolate. According to Villarreal, it appears to have some impact on the powerhouse of the cell, the mitochondria. It’s true that lots of diseases have a mitochondrial component.

By the way, “in moderation” means about 1 ounce of chocolate each day, but the quantities used in research are both higher and lower. Keep in mind that health benefits of dark chocolate don’t extend to lowering your BMI, despite a research letter appearing in the Archives of Internal Medicine that finds regular chocolate eaters have lower BMIs. Most experts hold to the idea that there’s no BMI or weight change from chocolate.

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Lower Breast Cancer Risk By Avoiding Alcohol

Sunday, May 6, 2012

If you want to lower breast cancer risk avoiding alcohol may be key, as even a little alcohol might be enough to get you in trouble. While experts have warned of the many health dangers of too much drinking, a new review of existing research to be published in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism reveals that just a single alcoholic drink each day can raise a woman’s risk of breast cancer by almost 5%. Heavier intakes (3+ drinks/day) can bring the increase in risk to a dangerous 50% according to the team of researchers from France, Italy and Germany.

Warnings about alcohol consumption and breast cancer were first brought to light in the early 1980s, and have gained ground ever since. Alcohol is thought to raise estrogen levels, and there are earlier studies that have found alcohol linked strongly to estrogen receptor positive cancers that need the hormone in order to keep growing.

For the current review the team examined past research and selected 113 earlier studies that examined light drinking and breast cancer risk. They were able to attribute 2% of breast cancers in both North America and Europe to light drinking alone; almost 50,000 of these cancers the world over to drinking heavily. The findings do seem to echo the advice of physicians, to live a healthy lifestyle and minimize your intake of alcohol.

A healthy woman, who is at average risk for breast cancer, should not drink more than one alcoholic beverage a day. If you’re at a higher risk of breast cancer because of a family history for example, you should avoid daily consumption of alcohol and perhaps only drink on special occasions, if at all.

While a family history of breast cancer increases your risk of the disease, remember that most women who get breast cancer do NOT have a family history of the disease.

The link between even moderate alcohol intake and a slightly higher risk of breast cancer has been reported earlier according to Dr. Joanne Mortimer, who is director of the Women’s Cancer Programs at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in California. The new findings update this thinking, and because they made use of both newer and older studies, are able to give a better estimate of the risk of drinking alcohol every day.

But, moderate alcohol intake has been found to be good for the heart. So how do women choose?

Continues below…

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Just One A Day Can Raise Risk Of Cancer… Continued…

Look to the American Cancer Society guidelines that suggest if you don’t drink alcohol, don’t start for health benefits. If you do drink, keep your intake to one drink a day, though if you are at risk of breast cancer you might be smart to avoid alcohol altogether.

Mortimer believes that if you are at risk, a single change like this won’t have much impact. You’ll need to be doing other things – exercising and eating healthy – as well to truly lower breast cancer risk. In the U.S., estimates suggest that one in every eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some time in her life. The risk from light alcohol intake is then added to that starting point. The good news is that drinking alcohol is totally within your control -so you can do something about your breast cancer risk if you need to.

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Healthy Oils And Fats

Thursday, May 3, 2012

It used to be that we all believed saturated fats were bad for you, and your heart. Now some new work finds that while they still aren’t any picnic, these fats may not be so hard on your heart after all. What’s more, replacing these fats with other unhealthy options – highly refined carbs – might actually increase your danger of heart disease.

Eating more fruits, veggies and whole grains has an incredible impact on heart health. Cutting back on salt (a leading cause of high blood pressure) is also beneficial when it comes to keeping your heart healthy and strong. This new research shows reducing saturated fat intake is important, but not nearly as vital as other things.

Rather than focusing on banishing all saturated fats from your diet, nutrition experts recommend you simply try to eat plenty of veggies, grains and fish – as well as all types of fats in moderate amounts. Here are five smart tips for fitting fats and oils into an overall heart healthy diet.

1. Stop obsessing about saturated fats. Experts suggested we all cut back on this type of fat when they learned it raises LDL (bad) cholesterol. Since high LDL is a leading risk of heart disease this made sense, but further study finds that this type of fat has some benefits too – in the form of lowering triglycerides, and raising HDL (good) cholesterol. Together, both of these can lower your risk of heart disease. Experts now realize that there are many important biomarkers for heart disease, not a single one. The American Heart Association now recommends limiting saturated fat to no more than 7% of your total calories for the day.

2. Use a variety of plant based oils, as they are a healthier alternative to butter. While there’s lots of argument about the healthiest unsaturated oils, olive oil is staple of the well-regarded Mediterranean diet and has earned a place among the healthy oils. It’s also for perfect salad dressings, for drizzling on pasta or for dipping bread, though not so good for cooking. Canola and sunflower oils are better for cooking because they both have high smoke points and aren’t likely to overshadow the flavors of the foods.

3. Get plenty of omega-3 fats as they’ve been shown to protect against abnormal heart rhythms. They also seem to keep blood vessels flexible, and with brain cells high in omega-3s, they are likely important to healthy brain function as well. Some research finds that a lack of omega-3 fats can be associated with psychiatric issues like depression or even schizophrenia. The American Heart Association advises you eat at least 2 servings of salmon, sardines, lake trout or albacore tuna a week. Other options include walnuts, flax seed and canola oil.

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New Information About Fats And Your Heart… Continued…

4. Watch out for trans fats, known to raise LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and bring down HDL (good) cholesterol, while also increasing inflammation that’s been linked to stroke, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic conditions. Experts at the Harvard School of Public Health found that a 2% increase in calories from trans fats brings up the risk of heart disease by 23%. Watch for foods that have hydrogenated oils as ingredients.

5. Put fats in perspective and follow an overall healthy eating plan. When the low-fat craze started, everyone was talking about fat, and that a healthy diet meant slashing fat from what you ate. Now experts understand that fats are an important part of your overall healthy eating plan, especially unsaturated fats. A perfect example is the highly regarded Mediterranean diet that gets 30% (or more) of its calories from fats that are a natural part of plant based oils and fish.

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