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Edited by: Dr. Francine Welty, M.D., P.h.D - Chair of the Diversity Committee of the American Heart Association, and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School
Think about what you had for lunch today. Was it good for you? Was it healthy? Most people living in industrialized nations would say "no" to this question, but without considering the dire consequences that this answer may have. Cardiovascular disease, a dietary disease, accounted for nearly 17.9 million deaths in 2016 and is still the leading cause of death in the world. People are diagnosed with anything from raised cholesterol or triglyceride levels to unstable angina or myocardial infarction (can lead to death). And the culprit is all in your diet.
How Does My Diet = My Cardiovascular Health?
That's right. The food you eat on a daily basis may contribute to serious cardiovascular health issues in the future. But how exactly does our diet affect our cardiovascular health? What constitutes a poor diet?
Full-fat dairy products such as cheese, cakes, and even eggs, animal-based foods like pork, beef, lamb and some types of tropical oils including coconut oil and palm oil can all contribute to weak cardiovascular health. The nutritional labels of all these foods have one glaring aspect that is common: a high saturated and trans fat content.
Saturated fats: They are made up of chains of carbon molecules that don't contain any double bonds between the carbon molecules and therefore are "saturated" or have more hydrogen molecules than unsaturated fats. Typically, they are solid at room temperature (for instance butter is solid at room temperature) and are found in mostly meat and dairy products.
Trans fats: Are created when hydrogen is added to liquid oils to make them more solid and therefore are known as "partially hydrogenated oils." Trans fats are typically found in fried or baked goods like pastries, pizza dough, cookies, etc.
Saturated fats are directly related to cholesterol but before we get into how we need to learn about two types of cholesterol known as LDL or "bad" cholesterol and HDL or "good" cholesterol.
HDL (High density lipoprotein): HDL helps the body get rid of excess cholesterol that can eventually end up in the arteries.
LDL (Low density lipoprotein): LDL, on the other hand, takes the cholesterol to the arteries where it may collect and eventually lead to plaque that blocks the artery walls leading to limited blood flow and atherosclerosis.
To prevent too much LDL in the body, the liver has certain receptors known as LDL receptors (guess they didn't put much thought into the name) which take the LDL cholesterol out of the blood and take it to the liver to be broken down. However, eating saturated and trans fats causes these receptors to stop working, resulting in LDL cholesterol that is not metabolized in the liver and instead remains in the blood, eventually making its way to the arteries.
Health Problems Associated With Unhealthy Eating
The following are some of the cardiovascular diseases that occur due to poor health associated with a high saturated and trans fat diet:
Atherosclerosis: Atherosclerosis is the buildup of plaque in the arteries walls from fats, cholesterol, etc.. The plaque can narrow the vessel limiting, or completely block the blood flow, but in some cases the plaque can also rupture causing a blood clot.
Heart attack: A heart attack occurs when the heart muscle doesn't get enough blood due to a blockage in one of the main arteries, such as when cholesterol blocks the artery or the plaque ruptures causing a blood clot to form. Without blood which supplies oxygen to the heart muscle, the heart muscle begins to die lowering the ability of the heart to effectively pump oxygen to other parts of the body.
Peripheral artery disease: PAD is a circulatory condition in which there is narrowed blood flow to the limbs, especially the feet, due to fatty deposits, calcium building, cholesterol, or plaque
Ischemic stroke: Ischemic strokes occur when a blood clot or a narrowed artery (commonly the carotid artery in the neck) due to the buildup of plaque from fatty deposits or cholesterol interrupt the blood flow, thus, damaging the brain. A stroke can also lead to weakness or inability to move the arms or legs.
Hypertension: Hypertension is when the force of the blood against the arteries walls is too high sometimes because of plaque caused from cholesterol or fat deposits in the arteries
Other medical conditions that can sometimes be a cause of cardiovascular disease and high LDL levels and eventually puts people at risk for atherosclerosis or coronary heart disease are:
Type 2 Diabetes: With type II diabetes, the body doesn't regulate blood glucose levels the way it is supposed to as insulin isn't properly produced by the pancreas. Diabetes can damage the lining of the arteries making it easier for cholesterol to stick to them and narrow the vessel but more commonly it causes dyslipidemia which lowers HDL and increases the level of triglyceride.
Smoking: Smoking is bad for several reasons but for cardiovascular complications it makes LDL cholesterol more stickier and increases the risk of them clogging up the arteries. The vapors released from the cigarette are also known to cause dyslipidemia and damage the cells that line the vessel walls. Nicotine causes the blood vessel to narrow and not dilate normally - this is called vasoconstriction.
Family histories: When people inherit genes from their parents, they can have a mutation in the gene that makes the LDL receptor protein and therefore the defective LDL receptors on the liver cannot "catch" the LDL cholesterol in the blood. The LDL cholesterol stays in the blood and eventually travels to the arteries where it clogs up the vessel.
So What Should I Eat and Not Eat?
There are easy preventative measures one can take to either reverse or hinder cardiovascular disease and the imbalance of LDL and HDL by controlling the foods you eat. Different diets help cardiovascular health in different ways. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the American Heart Association, and other organizations recommend the following types of diets:
DASH diet: The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet includes potassium, calcium, and magnesium-rich foods while limiting sodium, saturated fats, and added sugars. In just two weeks, the DASH diet can lower blood pressure and LDL levels!
Healthy Mediterranean diet: The Mediterranean diet consists of traditional foods eaten in Mediterranean Sea-bordering countries, such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and heart-healthy fats, but it restricts processed foods, added sugar, and refined grains. It includes fatty fish which are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, a healthy type of fat, and limits intake of beef which is high in saturated fat. The diet improves brain function, promotes heart health, controls blood sugar levels, and even aids in weight loss.
Healthy Vegetarian diet: The vegetarian diet is generally varied (ex. there are many types such as lacto vegetarian, ovo-vegetarian, pescetarian, vegan, etc.) but it primarily consists of healthy plant-based foods such as whole fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts, and whole grains while restricting mainly meat but it's also important to limit sugar-sweetened beverages, fruit juices, and refined grains.
US Healthy Eating diet: The US Healthy Eating diet consists of a mixture of whole fruits, varied vegetables, whole grains, proteins, and low-fat/fat-free dairy while staying away from sugar-added beverages, sweets, and very little to no alcohol. They also recommend 60-90 minutes of exercise per day.
Here is a table of the amount of servings each type of diet recommends:
Though cardiovascular disease has the potential to be fatal, and even if it does not have fatal consequences for an individual's health, controlling one's diet can greatly reduce the chances of developing or worsening cardiovascular disease. Thousands of people struggle to improve their cardiovascular health, because they are negligent of what they eat. Many individuals may be able to fix their cardiovascular problems and live healthier lives if we continue to raise awareness. If you want to improve your diet, make sure to talk to your doctor or health advisor to come up with a diet for you!
This post was based off of the research of Doctor Francine K. Welty, an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School who provided the following sources to write this blog:
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