Risk Factors
Everyone's risk factors for heart disease are different. Some people can eat lots of saturated fats and cholesterol and still have excellent HDL/LDL ratios and blood cholesterol levels. Others react strongly to food and quickly develop problems.
It's important to understand your personal risk factors in order to tackle the problem with the right combination of diet, exercise, and prescription medications.
Family History
Family history is one of the most important indicators or predictors of who will develop heart disease. Your genes determined how much cholesterol your body produces every day. That's why a recent commercial for a cholesterol-lowering drug quips about getting cholesterol “from lemon pie and your Uncle Lem.” You can't do anything about genetics, but you can optimize your health by the way you treat your body.
There is a genetic mutation called familial hypercholesterolemia in which the body naturally produces much more LDL cholesterol, despite diet and exercise. People with this mutation must usually depend on prescription drugs to help control cholesterol levels.
Fact
Every day, your liver produces between 800 to 1000 milligrams of cholesterol, far more than you could possibly eat. Because cholesterol is an essential compound for life, your body makes sure it always has enough. You don't need to eat any cholesterol at all; your body makes enough for good health.
Smoking
Do not smoke. If you do smoke, quit as soon as possible. Smoking raises LDL cholesterol levels and reduces HDL levels. It also contributes to inflammation. Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, including at least 43 class-C carcinogens. It also increases the blood's clotting system, which can lead to thrombosis and heart attack or stroke.
Trans Fats Consumption
Trans fats are a completely artificial food made by adding hydrogen molecules to polyunsaturated fats. The resulting molecule is not recognized as a foreign object by the body and is incorporated into everything from cell membranes to hormones. This changes the function of those parts of your body, which has an effect on your health.
Trans fats raise the LDL cholesterol level and should be avoided. Eat fresh foods, including lots of fruits, lean meats and dairy products, whole grains, and vegetables. Avoid processed foods and fast foods, and learn to read labels. If the ingredient list contains the word
Sedentary Lifestyle
Even adding mild to moderate exercise to your weekly routine will help reduce LDL cholesterol and increase HDL levels. The AHA recommends 30 minutes of moderate exercise, five times a week. You don't have to exercise for a straight 30 minutes, however. Break it up into three 10-minute sessions for the same health benefit.
Make sure that you have your doctor's approval before you begin an exercise program. Start off slow. Nothing kills your resolve more than very sore muscles after a too-strenuous workout. Your goal is to be able to exercise the next day.
Alert
If your cholesterol level is too low you will also have health problems. Since very low cholesterol levels can reduce serotonin in your brain, depression and anxiety can develop. In extreme cases, people with very low cholesterol levels (below 100 mg/dL) can have suicidal thoughts and be prone to violence.
Obesity
Maintain or achieve a normal weight and BMI level. Look at charts available from insurance companies and compare your height to the weight ranges. If you are carrying more than 20 percent above the highest weight for your height, you are considered overweight. If that percentage climbs to 30, you are considered obese.
Sodium
Americans have a love affair with salt. We eat far too much sodium. One problem is that salt is present in so many processed foods and in restaurant cooking. This “invisible” salt is usually more than enough to meet our daily requirements.
It's difficult to reduce sodium in the diet simply because it's present naturally in so many foods and is used in great quantities in processed foods. Carefully read labels, and keep a running total of the sodium you consume in one day. You'll be surprised at the total number!
Fact
If you really love the taste of salt, try sprinkling a very small amount directly on the food just before you eat. This way the salt will hit your taste buds quickly and the food will taste saltier. Herbs, spices, and acidic ingredients like lemon and vinegar are all good substitutes for salt.
Studies have shown that people on a low-salt diet have a lower risk of heart disease and a 20-percent lower chance of dying of a heart attack. Changing to a low-salt diet will take some research and effort. This may be difficult at first because our taste buds are used to salt; in fact, humans start craving salt at the age of four months. But after a while, you'll find that food tastes better with less salt, and many processed foods will taste too salty.
Poor Diet
A diet composed largely of processed foods and minimal amounts of fruits and vegetables contributes to the development of heart disease. Most Americans do not eat the USDA recommended daily amount of produce and whole grains. With our busy lifestyles, we turn to fast foods and highly processed foods to save time. As we have turned away from whole foods, our health has deteriorated.
