Week 11: Nutrition -- Eat a diet that can protect your heart from disease

by AMANDA WITTMANN

Americans generally eat much more fat than the body requires, resulting in unwanted weight gain, high cholesterol levels and increased risk for heart disease and stroke.

Although we think fat is bad, our body needs some level of fat to help our cells grow and give our body energy. There are four types of fat that you should know about to help protect your heart from heart disease and stroke: monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, saturated fats and trans fats.

Choose these fats less often. (They hurt your heart and blood vessels)

- Saturated fat: increases bad cholesterol, damages your heart and blood vessels, and increases your risk for heart disease. It's generally found in beef, lamb, pork, poultry with skin, beef fat, lard, cream, butter, cheese, whole or reduced-fat dairy products, palm oil, palm kernel oil and coconut oil.

- Trans fat: acts like a saturated fat in the body, increases bad cholesterol, may lower good cholesterol, and increases your risk for heart disease. It is generally found in baked goods, cakes, muffins, pies, etc., fried foods, snack foods, margarine, vegetable shortening or any product that contains hydrogenated oils.

Choose these fats more often. (Small amounts protect your heart.)

- Monounsaturated fat: decreases bad cholesterol and may lower your risk for heart disease. It's generally found in vegetable oils, such as olive, canola, peanut and sesame, avocados, nuts and seeds.

- Polyunsaturated fat: decreases bad cholesterol and may lower your risk for heart disease. It's generally found in vegetable oils, such as soybean, corn, safflower and sunflower, fatty fish, such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring and trout, nuts and seeds.

The American Heart Association recommends that less than 25 to 35 percent of the total calories you eat each day should come from fat (regardless of the type). Seven percent or less of those calories should come from saturated fat and 1 percent or less from trans fat.

If you eat 2,000 calories a day, then you should eat no more than 50-65 grams of total fat a day. Sixteen or less of those fat grams can be from saturated fat and no more than 2 grams can be from trans fat.

To begin eating heart-healthy, first replace the saturated fat or trans fat that you normally eat with unsaturated fats. For example, instead of cooking with butter (saturated fat) try cooking with olive or canola oil (unsaturated fat).

Next, reduce the total amount of fat (whether it is saturated or unsaturated) you eat every day. Even though unsaturated fats are better options than other saturated and trans fats, it doesn't mean you can eat an unlimited amount of unsaturated fats, too.

Remember, regardless of the type of fat you eat, your body still gets calories from fat (more calories than when you eat carbohydrate or protein). Too much total fat, regardless of the source, can result in unwanted weight gain and potentially contribute to heart disease.

Amanda L. Wittmann is Healthy Communities, Healthy People program coordinator with the Nassau County Health Department.