LADIES, PLEASE READ THIS!

(PART FOUR OF FIVE)


Hi Friends! Before I continue on my sharing on women's heart, I just want to thank and appreciate Mys Lyke Meeh for indirectly encouraging me on my postings about taking care of women's heart. You know, sometimes, when you have written a few long posts, and the posts are for the benefit of others, it is definitely EXTRA nice to get a comment or two, just to get the assurance that at least someone is reading all that effort :) Thank you again, Mys Lyke Meeh! I surely hope that all these information is of benefit to all you readers :)

Since this is the second last post, I shall not elaborate too much on the points I want to share with you all, but if you are interested in more details, you can always tell me that, and I'll be most willing to share with you as much as I can. Since this is Friday, this is me, sitting in my office cubicle this morning, all dressed up in RED :) I didn't think that wearing RED PANTS is such a good idea. That would probably draw too much attention... LOL!

Just to recap, here are the 6 Risk Factors of heart problems again:

I. High cholesterol,
II. Hypertension,
III. Poor diet and obesity,
IV. Smoking,
V. Diabetes and
VI. Lack of exercise.

And in my previous two posts, I wrote about how to minimise Risk Factor #1, by:

(i) Eating a heart-healthy diet,
(ii) Geting regular physical exercise, and
(iii) Avoiding tobacco smoke (first- & secondhand)


And, I shall complete writing about (i) Eating a heart-healthy diet. Remember the key words of a heart-healthy diet?

WHOLE GRAINS, FRUITS, VEGETABLES, LEGUMES. More of these.

And less of these: CHOLESTEROL, SALT, SUGAR, SATURATED FAT, TRANS FAT, ALCOHOL.


I finished writing about CHOLESTEROL and SALT in food, so in this post, I WILL finish writing about SUGAR, SATURATED FAT, TRANS FAT, ALCOHOL.

To all those who have a SWEET TOOTH, I have bad news for you. Your habit of eating sweet things, if done regularly, is a risk factor of you getting DIABETES. That would be Risk Factor #5. Of course, some would argue that, they had been eating sweet things almost every day for many years, and they are ok. But the truth is, doing all that will one day lead to diabetes. There might be exceptions, but the chances are TOO HIGH that you will get it. Even if you don't, all that calories in sweet things will surely make you fat or obese, which is Risk Factor #3. I know it is hard. But what worse than getting diabetes? It is NOT my intention to create FEAR, or CONDEMN you, but I am just sharing medical findings and wisdom in living. Yes, God blesses, God protects, but then again, God gave us wisdom. God gave us all the medical knowledge. God warns us through His people - doctors, dietitians, nutritionists. It is best to take heed and CUT DOWN on all those sweet stuffs. So the next time you are thinking about indulging in ice cream fondue, chocolate fountain, desserts, candies, soft drink, please think twice. Why satisfy your taste buds for a few minutes, and risk suffering from diabetes for the later years of your life? And ultimately, heart problems, since diabetes is a risk factor of heart ailments. CHOOSE WISELY.

Next up:

SATURATED FAT & TRANS FAT.

I am grouping these two together, because both are quite similar in nature - they are both fats, and both causes an increase of cholesterol in the body. I'm not going to elaborate too much about these two, but just make sure you read FOOD LABELS carefully and watch out for these two fats. Examples of foods containing a high proportion of saturated fat:

- Dairy products (especially cream and cheese but also butter and ghee),
- Animal fats such as suet, tallow, lard and fatty meat,
- Coconut oil,
- Cottonseed oil,
- Palm kernel oil,
- Chocolate (there you go again... CHOCOLATE!), and
- Some prepared foods.

And foods containing a high proportion of trans fat:

- Commercial baked goods — such as crackers, cookies and cakes
- Many fried foods such as doughnuts and french fries
- Shortenings and some margarines also are high in trans fat

In some countries, trans fat that amounts to less than 0.5 grams per serving can be listed as 0 grams trans fat on the food label! Though that's a small amount of trans fat, if you eat multiple servings of foods with less than 0.5 grams of trans fat, you could exceed recommended limits! MOREOVER, please don't think that a trans fat-FREE food is automatically good for you. Food manufacturers have begun substituting other ingredients for trans fat, such as tropical oils like coconut, palm kernel and palm oils. These oils contain a lot of saturated fat (OUCH!!! WAKE UP!). So do you now see why I group these two BAD BOYS together? Don't just watch out for saturated fat or trans fat only. LOOK OUT FOR BOTH AT THE SAME TIME :)

THE TRUTH IS... monounsaturated fat (MUFA) — found in olive, peanut and canola oils — is a healthier option. Nuts, fish and other foods containing unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids are other good choices.

And now, for the ALCOHOL... How much is too much? How does this affect the heart? This can be very subjective, and depends a lot on case to case basis. But research indicates that MODERATE drinkers are less likely to suffer heart attacks than are ABSTAINERS or HEAVY drinkers.

The results indicated that MODERATE consumers (1 to 2 drinks/day) were at a lower risk of coronary heart disease than NONconsumers or HEAVY consumers. Is this a surprise to many of you? You must have thought that AVOIDING ALCOHOL is a good thing. Unfortunately, medical research has proven that theory (avoiding) to be WRONG. Moderate drinking is a good thing for your heart, because:

Firstly, alcohol improves blood lipid profile:
A. It increases HDL cholesterol.
B. It decreases LDL cholesterol.
C. It improves cholesterol (both HDL and LDL) particle size

Secondly, alcohol decreases thrombosis (blood clotting):
A. It reduces platelet aggregation.
B. It reduces fibrinogen (a blood clotter).
C. It increases fibrinolysis (the process by which clots dissolve).

And thirdly, alcohol acts through additional ways:
A. It reduces coronary artery spasm in response to stress.
B. It increases coronary blood flow.
C. It reduces blood pressure.
D. It reduces blood insulin level.
E. It increases estrogen levels


But please TAKE NOTE that, 1 - 2 drinks is the recommendation. Taking more can lead to alcoholism, or addiction, which will turn you into a HEAVY drinker.

The American Heart Association has reported that "More than a dozen prospective studies have demonstrated a consistent, strong, dose-response relation between increasing alcohol consumption and decreasing incidence of CHD (coronary heart disease). The data are similar in men and women in a number of different geographic and ethnic groups. Consumption of ONE OR TWO DRINKS PER DAY is associated with a reduction in risk of approximately 30% to 50%."

Again, please exercise CAUTION. You might want to consult your doctor before starting drinking, especially if you have pre-existing medical problems. Otherwise... CHEERS!

So there you go... I'm done with (i) Eating a heart-healthy diet. I shall finsh off with (ii) and (iii) in my last post, as well as share a little on Risk Factors #2 - #6.

Have a beautiful weekend Friends! And thank you for reading this long post. I sure hope that it is beneficial to you (especially ladies). Take care!