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Which Type Of Fat May Help Lower The Risk Of Heart Disease

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The Association Between Total Pufa And Cvd Risk

How Omega-3 Can Improve Risk Factors for Heart Disease

The major types of PUFA include n3 and n6 PUFA. This section will present the evidence for the association between total PUFA intake and CVD, or interventions that have simultaneously increased intake of n3 and n6 PUFA. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials that increased both n3 and n6 intake showed a reduced risk of non-fatal MI + CHD death . In the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study, intake of PUFA was inversely associated with fatal CHD in men, although no relationship existed with nonfatal CHD . Similarly, in women involved in the NHS intake of PUFA in the highest quintile was associated with a 32% reduction in risk of CHD, relative to the lowest quintile . A more recent follow-up of this cohort showed a similar magnitude of effect . In addition, a combined analysis of the NHS and HPFS cohorts showed a 20% reduction in CHD risk in the highest quintile of intake compared with the lowest . However, some prospective cohort studies have shown that PUFA increase the risk of cardiovascular outcomes or are not associated with risk . Despite this, the totality of the evidence suggests that PUFA are protective against CVD.

Replacing SFA with n3 + n6 PUFA

Increase The Amount Of Fiber In Your Diet

Most of us do not get enough fiber in our diet. The recommended amount is 25-35 grams of dietary fiber per day. Dietary fiber is a type of carbohydrate that the body cannot digest. As fiber passes through the body, it affects the way the body digests foods and absorbs nutrients. Fiber can help reduce your LDL cholesterol level. A fiber-rich diet can also help control blood sugar, promote regularity, prevent gastrointestinal disease and help you manage your weight.

There are two types of dietary fiber: soluble and insoluble. To receive the greatest health benefit, eat a wide variety of all high-fiber foods. Refined foods, like white bread, white pasta and enriched cereals are low in fiber. The refining process strips the outer coat from the grain, which reduces the amount of fiber that’s left.

The best sources of fiber are whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes .

The Relationship Between Fat And Cholesterol

How are fats related to blood cholesterol? Research shows that the amount and type of dietary fat consumed can affect blood cholesterol levels. Dietary fat, especially saturated and trans fats, may raise blood levels of total and LDL cholesterol. Replacing some saturated fats with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats can help lower blood cholesterol. Recall that high total blood cholesterol levels and LDL cholesterol levels increase risk of heart disease, while lower levels reduce risk. Higher levels of HDL cholesterol help lower the risk for heart disease.

What foods contain fat and cholesterol? In some foods, fats are obvious, like noticeably greasy, fried or oily foods, or meats with visible marbling. In other foods, such as dairy, eggs, and some meats, fat and cholesterol is harder to see. Fats are found in both plant and animal foods, but cholesterol is only found in foods of animal origin. A food can be high in fat and cholesterol , high in fat but low in cholesterol , low in fat and high in cholesterol , or low in both . The nutrition facts label is a useful tool to determine the amount of fat or cholesterol in a particular food item.

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Replacement Of Sfa With Protein

Few studies have investigated the effect of replacing SFA with protein. In a Cochrane review of randomized controlled trials, replacing SFA with protein did not reduce the risk of CVD events . In a prospective cohort study conducted in Sweden, it was found that replacing 5% of energy from SFA with protein reduced stroke risk . Conversely, in the EPIC-Netherlands cohort, replacing 5% of energy from SFA with protein increased the risk of IHD by 29%. When protein type was examined, it was found that only substitution with animal protein was associated with increased risk of IHD . Replacing 5% of energy from SFA with vegetable protein was not associated with a change in risk. However, in an analysis from the NHS and HPFS, replacing 1% of energy from 12:018:0 SFA with plant protein reduced the risk of CHD by 7% .

Widening Waistline Growing Risks

Coronary Artery Disease Prevention #health

Regardless of whether women are more vulnerable than men to heart problems related to abdominal weight gain, its pretty clear that central adiposity presents important health risks, Dr. Kahn says. Researchers have shown that weight gain around the middle represents an increase in the amount of visceral fat, the type of fat that encases your internal organs. There are many studies showing that an unfavorable waist-to-hip ratio is highly associated with diabetes and cardiovascular risk, says Dr. Kahn.

So, if your waistband has been feeling a little tighter these days, it may be time to take some action.

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Higher Intakes Of Dairy Fat Associated With A Lower Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease

Written bySarah CownleyPublished onOctober 8, 2021

New research suggests that a higher intake of low-fat dairy may be beneficial for heart health. The George Institute for Global Health study has found a link between people who have high intakes of dairy fat and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Higher consumption of dairy fat was also found not to be associated with an increased risk of death.

Researchers combined the results of this new study with 17 similar studies from other countries, creating the most comprehensive evidence on the relationship between heart health, death, and dairy fat.

Previously, research has relied on people recording the amount and type of dairy consumed, but this has been proven difficult since dairy is commonly used in a variety of foods. So, for this study, blood levels of certain fatty acids were measured to get a more objective measure of dairy fat intake that didnt rely on participants memory.

The participants of this international collaboration between researchers in Sweden, the US, and Australia were followed up for an average of 16 years to determine how many had heart attacks, strokes, or other serious circulatory events. Any deaths from this time period were also recorded.

Short Medium And Long Chain Sfa & Cvd Risk

Medium chain fatty acids contain 712 saturated carbons, while short chain fatty acids contain 1-6 saturated carbons . Long chain fatty acids contain 13 or more carbons that can either be saturated or contain one or more double bonds. These structural variations lead to differences in absorption, transport and even destination . For example, MCFA are absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract more efficiently than LCFA, and are transported via the portal vein directly to the liver for rapid oxidation, while LCFA are packaged into chylomicrons and travel through the lymphatic system, allowing for greater uptake by adipose tissue. Upon entering cells, MCFA can move into mitochondria without the carnitine shuttle, and appear to preferentially undergo fatty acid oxidation. LCFA, however, require the carnitine shuttle for transport into mitochondria . When MCFA replace long chain triglycerides in the diet, these different metabolic routes appear to promote satiety and increase energy expenditure, possibly leading to weight control .

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Swedish Study Examined Dairy Fat Intake By More Than 4000 Adults

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A diet rich in dairy fat may be linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, researchers say.

In a new Swedish cohort study published in the journal Plos Medicine, international experts challenged the view that full-fat dairy options should be avoided due to saturated fat.

Looking at the dairy fat intake in 4,150 Swedish adults the majority of whom were female, with a median age of 60.5 years over a period of 16.6 years, the group measured the blood concentration of certain levels of fatty acids.

They recorded 578 incident cardiovascular disease events and 676 deaths, noting that cardiovascular disease risk was lower among those with higher intakes of dairy fat than compared with low intakes and that higher intakes were not associated with an increased risk of death.

Dairy intake in Sweden is among the highest in the world.

Then, in a meta-analysis, the researchers combined the result of the Swedish study with 17 similar studies in other countries, involving nearly 43,000 participants in the U.S., U.K. and Denmark.

The researchers called for further clinical and experimental studies to “elucidate the causality of these relationships and relevant biological mechanisms.”

Belly Fat Linked With Higher Heart Disease Risk

Hazelnuts May Reduce the Risk of Heart Disease

Muffin top. Spare tire. Beer belly. Whatever you call it, research shows that extra fat around your belly poses a unique health threat.

The study in the March 6, 2018 issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association involved about 500,000 people, ages 40 to 69, in the United Kingdom. The researchers took body measurements of the participants and then kept track of who had heart attacks over the next seven years. During that period, the women who carried more weight around their middles had a 10% to 20% greater risk of heart attack than women who were just heavier over all . A larger waist-to-hip ratio, in particular, appeared to be a bigger heart attack risk factor for women than for men. The analysis showed that compared with BMI, waist-to-hip ratio was 18% stronger as a heart attack predictor in women versus 6% stronger in men.

But the message that you should take from this study should be less about the gender differences and more about the overall risks presented by central adiposity, says Dr. Barbara Kahn, the George Richards Minot Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

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Chowdhury R Et Al Association Of Dietary Circulating And Supplement Fatty Acids With Coronary Risk: A Systematic Review And Meta

Details: This review looked at cohort studies and randomized controlled trials on the link between dietary fatty acids and the risk of heart disease or sudden cardiac death.

The study included 49 observational studies with more than 550,000 participants, as well as 27 randomized controlled trials with more than 100,000 participants.

Results: The study didnt find any link between saturated fat consumption and the risk of heart disease or death.

People with higher saturated fat intake werent at an increased risk of heart disease or sudden death.

Furthermore, the researchers didnt find any benefit to consuming polyunsaturated fats instead of saturated fats. Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids were an exception, as they had protective effects.

Limiting Saturated And Trans Fats

Here are some ways to lower your intake of saturated and trans fats:

  • Maintain a diet that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, poultry, fish and nuts. Also limit red meat and sugar-sweetened foods and beverages.
  • Opt for naturally occurring unhydrogenated vegetable oils such as canola, safflower, sunflower or olive oil.
  • Look for processed foods made with unhydrogenated oil rather than saturated fat or hydrogenated vegetable oils.
  • Use soft margarine as a substitute for butter and choose soft margarines over harder stick forms. Look for 0 g trans fat on the Nutrition Facts label.
  • Doughnuts, cookies, crackers, muffins, pies and cakes are examples of foods high in trans fat. Dont eat them often.
  • Limit commercially fried foods and baked goods made with shortening or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. These foods are very high in fat, and its likely to be trans fat.
  • Limit fried fast food. Commercial shortening and deep-frying fats are still made by hydrogenation and contain saturated and trans fats.

Consider using a food diary to keep track of what you eat. Its a handy way to evaluate the healthy, not-so-healthy and unhealthy foods youre making a part of your everyday diet.

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The Association Between N

In a prospective cohort study of more than 91,000 women , there was an inverse association between n-6 PUFA and sudden cardiac death risk , independent of traditional CHD risk factors. When the highest quintile of PUFA intake was compared to the lowest quintile, the risk of SCD was reduced by 43% in those with a high intake . Findings from the Cardiovascular Health Study lend support to that study . Wu et al., followed more than 2700 participants who were 65 or older and free of CVD at baseline, from 19922010 . They found that higher plasma phospholipid linoleic acid concentrations were associated with lower mortality from CVD, especially mortality related to nonarrhythmic CHD . More importantly, they also found that when subjects were categorized based on both their plasma linoleic acid and n3 PUFA concentrations, those with the highest circulating levels of both had a 54% lower mortality risk as compared to those with the lowest levels of both, demonstrating the importance of both fatty acids in the diet for cardiovascular health.

Replacing SFA with n6 PUFA

Dietary Fats And Cholesterol Levels

Heart Disease: Types, Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis And ...

Cholesterol is a fat crucial to many metabolic functions and is an essential part of all the bodys cell membranes. It is made by the body from the food we eat and is produced in the liver.

Blood lipids that contain cholesterol include low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein . LDL cholesterol can lead to plaque forming in the arteries while HDL cholesterol helps to remove cholesterol from the body and makes it harder for plaque to form in the arteries.

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Fats And Your Food: Striking A Heart

Fat has become a bad word in heart health, but its more complicated thanthat. While its true that carrying extra body fat is bad for you, thetypes of fats that come from different foods in the diet are not all thesame. Your body needs dietary fats in order to function. And the newthinking is that trying to cut out all fats from your diet may actually becontributing to obesity.

Theres been a big shift in thinking about what makes a healthy diet, says Kerry Stewart, Ed.D. , a professor of medicine in the cardiology division at The Johns Hopkins University. Research at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere shows that cutting out dietary fat alone doesnt have much of an impact on reducing cholesterol levels. People need fat, carbohydrates and proteinthe major macronutrientsfor good, balanced health, Stewart says.

One key to heart health is the type of fat you eat. All fats contain the same number of calories9 calories per gram. But the three main types have different effects in the body.

A quick guide:

Avoid The Trans Fats Limit The Saturated Fats And Replace With Essential Polyunsaturated Fats

Why are trans fats bad for you, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats good for you, and saturated fats somewhere in-between? For years, fat was a four-letter word. We were urged to banish it from our diets whenever possible. We switched to low-fat foods. But the shift didn’t make us healthier, probably because we cut back on healthy fats as well as harmful ones.

You may wonder isn’t fat bad for you, but your body needs some fat from food. It’s a major source of energy. It helps you absorb some vitamins and minerals. Fat is needed to build cell membranes, the vital exterior of each cell, and the sheaths surrounding nerves. It is essential for blood clotting, muscle movement, and inflammation. For long-term health, some fats are better than others. Good fats include monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Bad ones include industrial-made trans fats. Saturated fats fall somewhere in the middle.

All fats have a similar chemical structure: a chain of carbon atoms bonded to hydrogen atoms. What makes one fat different from another is the length and shape of the carbon chain and the number of hydrogen atoms connected to the carbon atoms. Seemingly slight differences in structure translate into crucial differences in form and function.

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Dairy Products Are Rich In Nutrients

“Increasing evidence suggests that the health impact of dairy foods may be more dependent on the type — such as cheese, yoghurt, milk, and butter — rather than the fat content, which has raised doubts if avoidance of dairy fats overall is beneficial for cardiovascular health,” she said in the statement.

“Our study suggests that cutting down on dairy fat or avoiding dairy altogether might not be the best choice for heart health,” she added.

“It is important to remember that although dairy foods can be rich in saturated fat, they are also rich in many other nutrients and can be a part of a healthy diet. However, other fats like those found in seafood, nuts, and non-tropical vegetable oils can have greater health benefits than dairy fats,” Trieu said.

Brian Power, lecturer at the Department of Health and Nutritional Sciences at Ireland’s Institute of Technology Sligo, said the study encourages us to “rethink what we think we know about food and disease.”

“Dairy products do not need to be avoided,” Power, who was not involved in the study, told CNN in an email. “This is largely lost in its translation when communicating what we know about healthy eating.”

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