By Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS
It’s a new decade and many people are using this new start as a reason to make positive changes to their eating habits. Maybe your end goal is to lose weight and finally keep it off. Or, perhaps you’re trying to change your diet so you can avoid getting heart disease. Whatever your goal, just make sure you’re basing your new eating plan on valid (and not outdated) information.
If following a heart-healthy diet is important to you, the big news is about carbs and fats. I’ve been saying for years that fat has been wrongly demonized. If anything, it’s sugar – not fat – that’s causing us to go off the metabolic rails. And now there is more proof that we aren’t doing our hearts any favors by eating a high-carb diet.
A new 12-month cross-sectional study involving 577 participants conducted in Malaysia reveals that healthy adults who ate higher proportions of carbohydrates (compared with the amount of proteins or fat they consumed) tended to develop several elevated risk factors for cardiovascular disease including high blood pressure and more plaque-promoting small LDL cholesterol particles.
And while high-carb/low-fat patterns of eating were strongly associated with the worst outcomes, eating higher proportions of dietary fat was not associated with elevating these risk factors. In fact, fat intake didn’t move the needle one way or the other.
A hormone called insulin and a condition called insulin resistance are at the core of pre-diabetes, and are turning out to be early warning signs for heart disease. And the results of this study showed that insulin measures were considerably better when people ate diets with a lower amount of carbs, and that was true regardless of the amount of fat consumed.
Easy, no-fail heart-healthy eating tips
Whatever your reasons for changing how you eat, set yourself up for success with small, reasonable goals that you’re able to keep. Instead of resolving to completely overhaul your diet, try making a few easy changes that may have a healthy impact on your heart. You’ll be more likely to develop habits that will stick.
First, remove these items from your kitchen:
· Corn oil and canola oil. These seed oils are filled with omega-6 which is very pro-inflammatory.
· Sugar. Let’s be realistic. I know you’re probably not going to give up your favorite sweets entirely. But be kind to your heart by restricting those high-carb goodies to just a few days a month.
· Canned soups, salad dressings and pasta sauces. These are often loaded with hidden sugars and a ton of sodium. In stead of relying on these cooking shortcuts, do an inter net search for simple recipes you can make from scratch.
· White flour and white rice. These are heavily processed and raise your blood sugar almost as much as pure sugar.
Then, add these items to your panty:
· Palm oil. You can find this online and in specialty markets. Millions of people around the world use it as their everyday cooking oil. Malaysian certified palm oil is rich in nutrients such as brain- and heart-healthy vitamin E tocotrienols.
· Stevia and monk fruit. These are natural sweeteners that have no effect on your blood sugar.
· Nuts: People who eat more nuts have lower BMIs. Their diets are higher in magnesium, higher in fiber, higher in poly- and monounsaturated fats, all of which can have a profound effect on your health.
· Dark chocolate (minimum 60% cocoa on the label): Chocolate contains cocoa flavanols; beneficial plant-based
phytonutrients that support cardiovascular health.
This year, you can finally make heart-healthy dietary changes that are easy to achieve. These tips will help you take better care of your heart throughout the winter and may become heart-healthy habits you’ll want to follow all year long.
