Dangerously high levels of blood cholesterol can lead to a heart attack or stroke but making a few simple changes to your diet can help. Consultant dietitian Paula Mee tells Hélène Hofmanhow to do it
Research has shown that high levels of blood cholesterol increases your chances of getting heart disease. However, a healthy diet can help to maintain your cholesterol at a healthy level.
Consultant dietitian Paula Mee has put together a pamphlet for Bord Bia, which offers simple tips and recipes for a cholesterol lowering diet. The Healthy Eating Plannerexplains what you should look for on a food label, the benefits of incorporating foods such as eggs, oats and oily fish into your diet and offers suggestions for nutritious but filling meals and snacks.
According to Mee, reducing your cholesterol by just 1 per cent can reduce your risk of heart disease by 2 per cent. She says that most people can reduce their cholesterol by 10 per cent simply by making changes to their diet.
"We've always had a very agricultural background here in Ireland and in the past we were heavy consumers of butter and cream - too much of which raises your blood cholesterol," explains Mee.
"Globalisation has transformed our supermarkets and we're open to all kinds of products but unfortunately it hasn't necessarily helped us. We're eating more streaky meats, such as sausages and rashers, liver pates and a lot of cakes, pastries, sausage rolls. All of those contain transfats and saturated fats, which are fine in moderation but we should avoid them when we can," says Mee.
Blood cholesterol is made in the body, mainly by the liver and is found in the cell membrane of all body tissue. We all need a certain amount of blood cholesterol to maintain our blood cells and produce hormones.
However, excess cholesterol sticks to the inner walls of arteries, causes the artery to narrow and the heart has to pump harder to maintain blood flow, which causes high heart pressure. When an artery supplying the heart gets blocked, it causes a heart attack. Similarly, if an artery to the brain becomes fully blocked it causes a stroke.
It's important to note that not all cholesterol is bad. There are two main types: high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. HDL cholesterol soaks up excess cholesterol left in the arteries, while LDL cholesterol sticks to the walls of the arteries forming a hardened plaque and reducing the blood supply and increasing the risk of heart disease.
"If you get a cholesterol reading you need to know whether you have high levels of HDL or LDL cholesterol. People might get a screening in a supermarket, but you really need to follow up with your GP and look at your lifestyle, your diet - what we eat affects blood cholesterol," says Mee.
Once you reach the age of 30, the Irish Heart Foundation recommends going to your GP for a cholesterol test at least once every five years.
"Shell fish and eggs are a high source of dietary cholesterol but have little impact on blood cholesterol. It's food that is high in saturated fats and transfats that you need to watch out for," explains Mee.
"The emphasis is on fresh food and getting back to basics - beef, lamb, eggs, potatoes - these should be the cornerstone of our diet.
"There has been a number of misconcep tions about eggs. In the past we thought they were bad for cholesterol. Even medical professionals might have advised people to stay away.
"That was because eggs contained dietary cholesterol but we now know that that's not what raises your blood cholesterol. Eggs are one of the most economical, nutritious and versatile foods. It's the saturated fats and transfats that do that and people should concentrate on cutting those out," she says.
However, Mee points out that all foods are acceptable once they are consumed in moderation. The pamphlet suggests adding extra vegetables to a pizza as "damage limitation" to increase its nutritional value, or serving frozen yoghurt, fruit salad or stewed rhubarb as dessert.
"It doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. We are living in the real world. People are commuting long hours to and from work, you're dealing with two exhausted parents who haven't gone to the shop and need something from the freezer," says Mee.
"The idea is to get people to think how they eat during the week. Look at who's going to be home and look at what you can cook. It's not advisable that we live day to day, you need a degree of planning," she says.
"It's not hard to make up a core shopping list so you'll always have what you need to whip up a nutritious and healthy meal for the family," she says.
The Healthy Eating Planner is supported by the Irish Practice Nurses Association and the Irish Heart Foundation and is available from Bord Bia: www.bordbia.ie, 01-6685155.