what are you eating?
by Kelly Gray

It’s a fact. Your diet impacts your health. We all know this, and yet we are an overweight nation with an alarmingly high number of us dying yearly from heart disease. And with so many resources for correcting diet problems and creating the right eating patterns, changing your diet – or more importantly, your way of life – can seem a confusing and arduous process. In this issue, CHF writer Kelly Gray sought answers from the experts and boiled it down to the easiest things you can do every day, every week to start changing how you think about nutrition.

Diet lies… why do we keep listening?

“If I exercise, I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want.” There seem to be as many misconceptions about proper diet as factual data. While working out in any form is good for your body, working out for an hour only to eat an entire pizza afterwards to “reward” yourself negates much of the workout’s benefit. Eating healthy includes moderation, but unfortunately, the way most of us were taught as kids to eat: small bowl of cereal for breakfast, a loaded burger for lunch then a king’s ransom for dinner, has landed us where we are now, one of the most unfit nations in the world.

Another diet lie that permeates our consciousness is that of portion size. “It doesn’t matter how much I eat, as long as it’s low fat or good for me.” So wrong is this that experts believe “low fat” and “fat free” foods are actually making us fatter. People mistakenly eat larger quantities of low fat food, but in fact, eating five “fat free” cookies is just as bad as eating a smaller portion of its high fat counterpart.

“Don’t eat carbs or you’ll get fat!” is yet another lie we can out to rest. Pasta, for example, is high in complex carbohydrates. These good carbs provide time release energy rather than the quick boost and crash bad carbs are responsible for.

The lie that causes the most trouble is also the most deadly. If you are one of millions of people who’ve bought into the lie that exercise alone is enough to prevent heart attacks, you are putting yourself at risk. According to the American Heart Association, obesity and overweight is a major risk factor for heart disease. People with excess fat, especially if much of it is located at the waist, are more likely to develop heart disease and stroke even if they have no other risk factors. Excess weight increases the work the heart has to do, raises blood pressure and blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and lowers HDL ("good") cholesterol. By losing even as few as 10 pounds, you can lower your heart disease risk.

Demystifying the Omega 3 factor

Omega-3 oils found in many types of seafood have been linked to improvements in and prevention of certain kinds of cancer, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, arthritis, asthma, certain kinds of mental illness, depression, and lupus. The American Heart Association recommends eating fish at least twice a week. As if that recommendation isn’t reason enough to be sure you ingest plenty of Omega-3s, consider this:

• Omega-3 offers heart-healthy benefits, including:
• Helping to decrease blood lipids (cholesterol, LDL's, and triglycerides)
• Reducing blood clotting factors
• Increasing relaxation in larger arteries and blood vessels
• Decreasing the inflammatory processes in blood vessels

For years, studies have shown that Omega-3 fatty acids found in seafood, especially salmon, can help lower blood cholesterol levels. Wild salmon in particular contains two critical Omega-3 fatty acids – EPA and DHA. EPA fats promote normal cholesterol and triglyceride levels and improve blood flow. They also promote healthy skin and enhance immune function. DHA fats play an essential role in brain function. DHA levels play a critical role in cognitive functioning throughout life and normal levels are needed for optimal memory and brain function.

The preferred choice for Omega-3 consumption is from eating seafood because the fat is better absorbed by the body and it comes with many other nutrients. Sockeye salmon has the highest amount of Omega-3 of any fish with approximately 2.7 grams per 100-gram portion. Just one serving of salmon per week can help to lower cholesterol and the risk of heart disease.