Lower Cholesterol, Conquer Heart Disease

Do you know that heart disease is responsible for more deaths than all forms of cancer combined? Even though, it is one of those diseases that can be controlled, still the number of deaths due to heart disease alone is alarming. A slight awareness on your part can help you ward of this deadly illness. It's when your blood vessels get clotted and the supply of blood to the heart is blocked that gives rise to heart problems. This process of blocked arteries starts right in the childhood but rarely produces symptoms until middle age.

High blood cholesterol is the most clearly established risk factor for heart disease. Research has pointed out that lowering the elevated blood cholesterol levels reduces the risk of heart attacks. Cholesterol deposits in the body when the intake through diet exceeds the requirements of the body. Thus faulty dietary habits are the prime cause for heart disease. There is no doubt that appropriate changes in your diet can reduce blood cholesterol.

Heart disease and cholesterol

A number of genetic and experimental studies point out a relation between heart disease and cholesterol. The cholesterol that enters the body through foods is carried in the blood by special molecules called lipoproteins. The lipoprotein molecules are of different kinds -- the low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and the high-density lipoprotein (HDL). In human beings, specific LDL carries the blood cholesterol. HDL also carries some cholesterol in the blood. The LDL regulator plays a critical role in regulating blood cholesterol levels but when due to excess dietary intake of fatty foods, the LDL increases in blood the control is lost. At this time the LDL particles start depositing in the tissues and form a major part of the build up in the artery or the blood vessel wall, clotting the artery by forming cholesterol deposits, which are referred to as plaque. The developing plaques narrow down the channels of the vessels that furnish major blood supply to the heart muscle.

Diet therapy

The first step in the treatment of raised blood cholesterol is diet therapy. This involves modifying the diet to lower cholesterol levels as well as controlling excess weight in overweight patients. Excess weight is also associated with high cholesterol, so weight loss can play a role in reducing cholesterol and a moderate level of physical exercise may also help in lowering the cholesterol. The dietary approach involves lowering total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol consumption. Fat should comprise a total of 30 per cent of the calories. An essential consideration is the reduction of saturated fat to 10 per cent of the total calories. This can be attained without altering the proteins and carbohydrate content in the diet.

Dietary tips that can help you limit your total fat intake:

• Avoid whole milk and have skimmed milk and milk products.
• Avoid fried foods such as samosa, pakora, parantha etc.
• Avoid the intake of red meat and restrict to chicken and fish.
• Avoid cream and pure ghee.
• Avoid rich cream based desserts such as ice creams, fruit creams etc.
• Increase the intake of fibre as fibre has a role in lowering cholesterol. Increasing the intake of whole cereals and pulses, and raw fruits and vegetables can help you do so.

That is why it is imperative that you keep a check on your diet from the very beginning, eat a diet low in cholesterol to keep your heart in fine shape.