Maintaining a Healthy Heart

& Circulatory System

Diet
Salt
Weight management
Lifestyle
Alcohol
Meals
Health checks
Health Food supplements

Diet (top)
Paying particular attention to diet and lifestyle can produce a significant improvement in cholesterol levels, and therefore reduce the risk of heart disease. In particular, reducing intake of dietary salt and saturated animal fats and increasing intake of fibre, fruit and vegetables or other products high in phytosterols such as beta-sitosterol and Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids are all positive dietary changes that individuals can make to reduce their cardiovascular risks.

Eating animal foods containing saturated fat is linked to high cholesterol levels and heart disease. Significant amounts of animal-based saturated fat are found in beef, pork, veal, poultry (particularly in poultry skins and dark meat), cheese, butter, ice cream, and all other forms of dairy products, and reducing intake of these foods can lead to a significant reduction in cholesterol.

Salt(top)
Primitive societies exposed to very little salt suffer from little or no hypertension, and salt intake has also been definitively linked to hypertension in western societies. It has been shown conclusively that eliminating salt from the diet lowers blood pressure in most people; the more salt is restricted, the greater the blood pressure-lowering effect. Dramatic reductions in salt intake are generally effective for many people with hypertension.

Weight Management(top)
Obesity increases the risk of heart disease, in part because weight gain lowers HDL cholesterol. Weight loss reduces the body’s ability to make cholesterol, increases HDL levels, and reduces triglycerides (another risk factor for heart disease). Weight loss also leads to a decrease in blood pressure, which reduces the risk of heart disease in people with high blood pressure.

Lifestyle(top)
Cessation or avoidance of smoking, weight management and avoidance of obesity, increased exercise and moderate amounts of alcohol produces positive reductions in the levels of risk of heart disease and other disorders of the circulatory system. Anyone with an existing cardiovascular problem should always consult their doctor for advice before embarking on a diet and exercise programme.

Alcohol(top)
Moderate drinking (one to two drinks per day) increases protective HDL cholesterol. This effect happens equally with different kinds of alcohol-containing beverages. Alcohol also acts as a blood thinner, an effect that should lower heart disease. However, alcohol consumption may cause liver disease (e.g., cirrhosis), cancer, high blood pressure, alcoholism, and, at high intake, an increased risk of heart disease. As a result, some doctors never recommend alcohol, even for people with high cholesterol.

Number and Size of Meals(top)
When people eat a number of small meals, serum cholesterol levels fall compared with the effect of eating the same food in three big meals. People with elevated cholesterol levels should probably avoid very large meals and eat more frequent, smaller meals.

Health Checks(top)
As there are few (if any) early symptoms of cardiovascular disease, monitoring of blood pressure and cholesterol levels by your health professional is the best way of detecting potential problems early, so that appropriate treatment and lifestyle advice can be given.

Health Food Supplements for the Heart

& Circulatory System

Fibre
Vitamin C
Beta sitosterol and plant sterols
Omega 3
Garlic
Coenzyme Q10

Fibre (top)
Soluble fibre from beans, oats, psyllium seed, and fruit pectin has lowered cholesterol levels in most trials. Doctors often recommend that people with elevated cholesterol supplement their diet with more of these soluble fibre foods.

Vitamin C (top)
The anti-oxidant properties of Vitamin C appears to help to protect LDL cholesterol from damage, and may help to reduce cholesterol levels in people with elevated cholesterol. Research indicates that beneficial effects of Vitamin C are likely to occur with as little as 100 mg per day.

Beta-sitosterol & Plant sterols (top)
Beta-sitosterol is the principle plant sterol found in soy, nuts, seeds and whole grains, and this extract has been shown to significantly reduce LDL cholesterol levels both alone and when taken in combination with other plant sterols at levels of 0.8 - 3.2 grams per day by between 10 - 20% over a 3 month period, after which time the reduction is then maintained. It is believed that part of this effect is because plant sterols reduce absorption of cholesterol contained in the diet, because they are very similar in structure to cholesterol itself and occupy cholesterol absorption sites in the gut.

A synthetic molecule related to beta-sitosterol, sitostanol has also been shown to have beneficial effects in reducing LDL cholesterol by 24% compared with a 9% reduction achieved by reducing intake of saturated animal fats alone.

There is also considerable research to show that an increase in Soya based foods effectively helps to reduce cholesterol levels, and therefore helps to maintain a healthy heart and circulatory system. Soy contains both isoflavones and phytosterols which in high concentrations in the diet have been shown to lower total cholesterol.

Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids(top)
Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids must be eaten in the diet and cannot be made by the body. ALA (alpha-linoleic acid) derived from plant sources such as Perilla is partially metabolised to EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), both omega-3 fatty acids. Most fish oil supplements are 18% EPA and 12% DHA, or a total of 30% omega-3. These omega-3 fatty acids keep blood triglycerides in check which are generally linked with an increased risk of heart disease, and may inhibit the progression of atherosclerosis. EPA and DHA keep blood from clotting too quickly, and thus are important in maintaining heart and circulatory health.

Trials using over 3 grams per day of omega-3 supplements have been shown to have a significant lowering effect on blood pressure, indicating that they have a possible role in the normal function and regulation of blood pressure.

Garlic(top)
Research is conflicting. Garlic supplements at 600 to 900 mg per day have been shown to have a positive effect in reduction of both cholesterol and triglyceride levels in some studies, but these findings have not been consistent with later research.

Coenzyme Q10 (top)
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a powerful antioxidant that protects the body from free radicals and helps preserve vitamin E, the major antioxidant of cell membranes and blood cholesterol. CoQ10 is widely distributed throughout the human body, and is used by the body to transform food into the energy on which the body runs, ATP.

Several trials have reported that supplementation with Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) leads to a significant decrease in blood pressure in people with hypertension. Much of this research has used 100 mg of CoQ10 per day for at least 10 weeks, and indicates that it may have a significant role in the normal regulation of blood pressure.