Monthly Food Bites–February 2006

Just Released! Eating Well on Campus, Revised and Expanded, is now available!

Keeping Your Heart Healthy

February is National Heart Health Month. College seems like a premature time to be thinking about this! But high cholesterol and heart disease are showing up in young adults. This means that if you haven’t already started to take care of your body and live a healthy lifestyle, it is important to start now.

The first step in caring for your heart is to know your numbers. You can get your cholesterol measured at health fairs, student health centers or your primary care MD. Find out your total cholesterol, LDL (bad cholesterol), HDL (good cholesterol), and triglycerides.

Type of Cholesterol Recommended Optimal Levels Total Cholesterol Less than 200mg/dL HDL Cholesterol Greater than 40mg/dL LDL Cholesterol Triglycerides Less than 100mg/dL Less than 150

Low-density lipoproteins (LDL), or the “bad” cholesterol, are most influenced by your diet and your genetics. The higher the LDL cholesterol, the higher your risk for developing heart disease.

High-density lipoproteins (HDL), or the “good” cholesterol, are protective because they keeps cholesterol from building up in your arteries. They are less influenced by your diet. The higher the better with HDL.

Triglycerides (TG) are another type of fat in your blood. It seems that TG is influenced by being overweight and eating and drinking too much sugar.

For more information on cholesterol and triglycerides, see our archived article, Know Your Numbers.

How to eat a heart-healthy diet

• Reduce the amount of saturated fats. This is the type of fat found in high-fat animal products such as red meats and whole-milk dairy products. Limit oils high in saturated fat – coconut oil, palm and palm kernel oils.
• Reduce your intake of trans fats and “partially hydrogenated fat." These are found in prepared baked goods, margarine, and processed foods.
• Include some unsaturated fats such as olive oil, avocados, nuts and seeds.
• Include Omega-3 Fatty Acids – found in many types of fish.
• Include foods rich in soy such as soy milk, tofu and veggie burgers.
• Increase the fiber in your diet. There are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber is best known for reducing total cholesterol and LDL levels. Insoluble fiber does not have the cholesterol-reducing effects as soluble fiber does, but is still important in your diet. (See Fabulous Fiber)

 What else can you do to protect your heart?

Keep up the physical activity!

Exercise is good for the heart because it makes your heart stronger by helping it pump more blood throughout the rest of the body. It helps reduce the amount of LDL and raise HDL cholesterol. (See Getting Fit)

Quit Smoking!

Cigarette smoking oxidizes the LDL cholesterol, making it more likely to form plaque on the walls of the arteries. Plaque formation on the arterial walls can eventually cause a heart attack.

Contributed by Julia Sanzen
American University Graduate Student

Can healthy eating and college life go together? Absolutely! Get the nutrition facts you need in the book Eating Well on Campus by Ann Litt, M.S., R.D., L.D.

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