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Protect your heart, eliminate bad fats from the plate

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Category: Region NCR

Heart month article v3To have a healthy and balanced diet, an adequate amount of fat is required to supply the proper amount of essential fatty acids, which are vital for the proper functioning of our cells.   

Fat also helps to absorb the different fat-soluble vitamins such as Vitamin A for vision, Vitamin D for bone health, Vitamin E for its antioxidant properties, and Vitamin K for normal blood clotting. With this said, it is important to note that there are different kinds of fats, which may include the “good fats” or unsaturated fats, and the “bad fats” or the saturated fats and trans fats.

Unsaturated fats are oils which are liquid at room temperature but turns solid when it is cold. Unsaturated fats are also typically from plant oils. This includes monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which can both lower the risk of heart disease and stroke. Monounsaturated fats can do this by lowering the “bad” cholesterol (Low-Density Lipoprotein or LDL) without lowering the “good” cholesterol (High-Density Lipoprotein or HDL), while polyunsaturated fats can do this by lowering the bad cholesterol and increasing the good cholesterol.

On the contrary, saturated fats are typically solid at room temperature and only liquify when heated. They are found in animal-based foods such as beef, pork, poultry, full-fat dairy products and eggs as well as tropical oils like coconut and palm oil. Saturated fats can increase the production of bad cholesterol in the body, which can lead to atherosclerosis, or the clogging of the blood vessels. This can block the blood flow to your heart which causes a heart attack, or block the blood flow to the brain, which causes a stroke.

Another type of saturated fat is the trans fats or trans fatty acids, found in two forms – the natural type, which comes from some animal products and is not harmful, and the artificial type, which is made from a chemical process called hydrogenation. It is the process of adding hydrogen molecules to liquid vegetable oil to make them solid at room temperature and give the food product a longer shelf life. Examples of food items which are high in trans fats include doughnuts, and baked goods including cakes, pie crusts, biscuits, frozen pizza, cookies, crackers, and stick margarines and other spreads. Foods rich in trans fats should be avoided because it is a health hazard, as it can raise the bad cholesterol and lower the good cholesterol, create inflammation in the body, contribute to insulin resistance, and a significant increase in the risk of heart disease.  

It is important for us to reduce the bad fats in our diet and replace it with good fats because cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are responsible for 72% of deaths in the country in 2021 (WHO, 2022). We can do this by cooking/eating more at home, so that we may have more control over how much fat, and what type of fat we put in our food. We should also read food labels and ingredients lists when we are grocery shopping, so we can avoid ingredients such as “hydrogenated vegetable oil” or “partially hydrogenated oil” and choose foods which are lower in fat or have no trans fats.

Along with this, when eating out, we can choose dishes which have more vegetables in them and opt for grilled, steamed, or soup dishes instead of fried dishes. We can also opt for fish instead of beef or pork, and instead of eating pastries or biscuits, we can also choose fruits and whole grain products for our snacks. Doing this will help us eliminate the bad fats from our diet and ensure the health of our heart.

Written by: PDO I Aubrie S. Verceles and RNPC Milagros Elisa V. Federizo

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