Heart disease: The foods that ‘must be avoided’ to reduce your risk of the condition

This Morning: Dr Chris discusses heart disease

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Nearly nine million people die every year globally of coronary heart disease, which is caused by narrowed arteries that supply the heart with blood. In the UK, 10 percent of people are expected to die from the deadly condition. Heart disease has many causes including high cholesterol, which should be managed through diet to avoid further complications.

Studies have shown that those who eat a diet rich in vegetables, nuts, fish and oils are a third less likely to die early, compared with those who eat larger quantities of red meat, such as beef and butter.

Saturated fat and dietary cholesterol both play a role in your cholesterol levels, with experts stressing that the most important dietary change to lower cholesterol numbers is to adjust the overall pattern of your diet.

The Harvard Health website states: “Best is a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains. This helps in two ways.

“First, the more of these healthful foods you eat, the less you consume a diet high in saturated fat and highly refined carbohydrates, which both damage the cardiovascular system.

READ MORE: High cholesterol: Top 5 fibre-rich foods that may help to lower cholesterol

“Second, the high-fibre foods help reduce your cholesterol level by making unhealthy dietary fats harder to absorb from the gut.”

It is thought that high intakes of saturated fat increase levels of harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, while excess salt consumption raises blood pressure, both of which are well-established risk factors for coronary heart disease.

High levels of cholesterol increase the amount of fatty deposits in your blood vessels, which eventually make it more difficult for enough blood to flow through the arteries.

Eminent Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon Doctor Namal Gamage, said:
“Foods with high levels of fats, oil, animal source foods with high cholesterol, refined starchy foods with little fibre, too much sweet and too much salt must all be avoided.

“Cholesterol heart disease is one entity of heart disease caused by poor blood supply to the heart muscle due to the narrowing of all blood vessels of the heart. This narrowing, 99 percent of the time, is caused by cholesterol deposits in the interior of those small blocks.

“Cholesterol-rich food items are red meat, egg yolk, crab, prawn, curd, cream, milk, cheese, butter and margarine.

“They contain cholesterol in high concentration. Food items which are deep fried, reusing the same oil again, also enhance cholesterol production inside the body.”

Scientists have also confirmed that such foods are largely responsible for the build-up of cholesterol plaque in the arteries, increasing the risk of a heart attack or stroke.

According to the Mayo Clinic, there are several different conditions that affect the heart. These include:

Blood vessel disease, such a coronary artery disease
Heart rhythm problems
Heart defects you’re born with
Heart valve disease
Disease of the heart muscle
Heart infection

Signs and symptoms of these conditions include:

Pain, numbness, weakness or coldness in the legs or arms
Shortness of breath
Chest pain, chest tightness, chest pressure and chest discomfort
Pain in the neck, jaw, throat, upper abdomen or back

Moreover, a study led by the University of Oxford last month found that eating processed meat raises the risk of heart disease by a fifth.

The team found that eating 50 gram of processed meat per day, including bacon, ham and sausages, increased the risk of heart disease by 18 percent owing to its high salt and saturated fat content.

Co-lead author of the study Anika Knüppel, said: “We know that meat production is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and we need to reduce meat production and consumption to benefit the environment.

“Our study shows that an education in red and processed meat intake would bring personal health benefits too.”

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