Diet to Lower Triglycerides: How About Going Low-Fat?
The purpose of this website is to present, to all who want the knowledge, a safe and dependable method through which individuals can lower their elevated blood triglyceride levels. However, it is heartening to realize you can achieve astonishing results - if you put your mind to it.
The hypothesis that consuming a great amount of fat in diet will lead to cardiovascular disease is outdated and needs further understanding.
While some fats are essential for good health, other fats - such as trans fat found in margarine and many commercial baked goods -- are harmful to the body.
Therefore, it is the type of dietary fat that matters and not the total amount of fat consumed that decides the cardiovascular disease risk.
While some people restrict fat to 20 percent, there are other enthusiasts who even consider reducing fat intake to 10 percent or less of caloric intake.
However, extreme low fat intake level is difficult to achieve without compromising food and appetizing choices.
It should be noted that up to 30 percent of the U.S. adult population should not be on a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet because they suffer from insulin resistance.
This condition, also known as metabolic syndrome or Syndrome X, is caused by over consumption of carbohydrate over a long period of time, and it is linked to a high risk of cardiovascular disease.
Instead, they should be on a diet which is
A diet extremely low in fat has been linked to an increase in cancer and strokes, primarily through the free radical pathology pathway.
Once again, the proper choice of type of fat in the diet is more important than the absolute amount. And the general delusion that the low-fat diet causes low cardiovascular risk without considering the kind of fat taken in must be dismissed.
Sad to say, most people when they reduce their fat intake, replace fat mostly with carbohydrates -- such as pasta, rice, cereal, and potato.
This is actually worse because a high-carbohydrate diet:
- increases insulin levels (a common problem in the United States)
- increases blood triglyceride levels, and
- reduces HDL-"good" cholesterol.
In the United States, the popular notion of a high-carbohydrate diet of the last 30 years has produced:
- an obese population (*) never seen before in human history and
- an epidemic of adult onset diabetes.
Therefore, knowing the details on what to eat is critical.
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(*) According to the FDA Consumer Magazine (January-February 2005 Issue) in 2002 in the United States the average weight for men ages 20-74 was 191 pounds (86.8 kilograms); for women the same ages it was 164 pounds (74.5 kilograms).
Fat Recommendations
A well-balanced proportion of fat is the key to healthy eating. A diet too low in fat may actually harm the body.
The overall fat intake as a percentage of dietary calories should not fall below 30 percent.
The correct way is to discern the right (good) type of fats to take and those (bad) to avoid.
Out of that 30-percent amount of daily fat intake:
- less than one third (<1/3) should be saturated fat
- the rest (>2/3), or as much as possible, should come from mono-unsaturated fat.
Plenty of "good" mono-unsaturated fat can be found in olive oil, seeds, nuts, and cold-water fish.
It should be noted that saturated fat - both from animal and plant sources - is necessary for good health. If animal source is desired, choose the following:
- free-range poultry, preferably organic
- free-range beef, preferably organic and grass-fed
- ree-range organic eggs, and
- deep-water fatty fish such as wild Alaskan salmon, preferably not farm-raised.
It is very important, however, to avoid trans fat, like margarine and fried foods.
Moreover, the use of processed polyunsaturated fats -- such as corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, or canola oil -- should be restricted.
Here are some practical tips:
- Trim visible fat from all cuts of meat.
- Include at least two fish meals a week.
- Don't batter or fry fish in animal or hydrogenated vegetable fats (margarine); pan-frying and deep-frying can decrease the omega-3 content of the fish.
- Instead of frying foods, try steaming, stir-frying, or baking.
- Limit take-out foods, potato chips, biscuits and cake, and other processed food containing vegetable shortening (trans fat).
- Choose fat from unrefined sources - for example, oily fish, nuts, soy, avocado, and virgin/cold pressed oils.
- Use an extra virgin olive oil and/or pure coconut oil, if available.
- Use non-stick cooking pans to cut back on the amount of fats that are used solely to stop the food from sticking.
The Worst Kind of Fat
Poly-unsaturated vegetable oils - liquid at room temperature - are being "hydrogenated" by food processors in order to make them solid.
This processing improves their resistance to oxidative damage, extends shelf life and increases their commercial value; however, it also results in a trans fat from which margarine and shortenings have been made.
Trans fat is commonly used in cakes, donuts, fast foods, and fried foods. According to a 1999 study, it is estimated that in the United States about 5 grams of trans fat is being consumed per day (The Journal of the American Dietetic Association).
While trans fatty acids may be classified as hydrogenated polyunsaturated fats due to their chemical structure, they generally are like saturated fats in terms of their effects on cardiovascular health.
Without a doubt, trans fat is the worse kind of fat! During the hydrogenation process, the chemical structure of the natural fatty acid is changed from their original cis- configuration to unnatural trans- configuration.
Trans-isomerization alters the 3 dimensional configuration of dietary fatty acid, causing damage to the cell membranes and altering the function of phospholipid-dependent enzymes contained in these membranes. This altered fluidity increase cell membrane permeability.
As a result, the active transport enzymes for sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium are impaired. Such cell membrane is also subject to free radical attack and damage.
Therefore, a high intake of trans fat has been linked to a variety of free radical and degenerative conditions such as:
- cancer
- arthritis, and
- cardiovascular disease.
Trans fat also:
- increases blood levels of triglycerides
- increases LDL-"bad"cholesterol, and, more significantly
- reduces the level of "good" HDL-"good"cholesterol (that has been often related to the lower risk of cardiovascular disease).
Trans fat has been linked to a 93 percent rise in the risk of cardiovascular disease (The New England Journal of Medicine).
The research also revealed that a replacement of trans fat with monounsaturated fat (like nuts, olive oil and flaxseed oil) could reduce heart disease risk by over 50 percent.
Trans fats should be avoided as much as possible in our diet.
During the frying process, trans fats are exposed to heat and oxygen resulting in the worse possible combination of unhealthy fatty acids. Also, salad oils used in producing salad dressing like mayonnaise have excessive amount of lipid peroxides.
Studies have shown that the average woman age 19-50 got more trans fat from commercial salad dressing than from any other food!
Naturally occurring trans fat is quite rare, being limiting to a small amount in raw milk as a consequence of gut bacteria in dairy cows. Definitely, this is not the kind of fat nature intended us to have in the body.
Unfortunately, we, consumers as a whole are quite ignorant of the negative effect of trans fat. In order to disclose its presence on food labels, you need to look for the term "partially hydrogenated."
However, it is difficult to assess the amount of trans fat in the food, because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require manufacturers to specify the amount of trans fat on the food label.
Margarine, for example, providing 3 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon, is very high in trans fat, with as much as 3 additional grams per tablespoon.
Chocolate chips cookies, containing 2 grams of saturated fat, may contain double that amount of trans fat, though this is not seen on the label.
Anytime you see the word "hydrogenated fat" on the label, you are looking at trans fat. The easiest way to calculate is to look at the total fat at the label and subtract the amount of mono-unsaturated, poly-unsaturated, and saturated fat.
Final Notes on Fat
Without any doubt fat is a macronutrient necessary for optimum health. The key lies in selecting the right source of fat, followed by the proper preparation. Blind dietary fat reduction can be harmfull to our body.
Those who are vegetarians will not have much difficulty as fat in its natural state is found in abundance in seeds and nuts.
Those who cannot do without meat face a more challenging task. The reason is because during the commercialization process, the chemical structure of the macronutrients within the meat is altered significantly.
It is impractical to eat only the "good " and avoid all the "bad" fat, since most food comes with a combination of both. Balance is the key.
Concentrate your diet on mono-unsaturated fats such as olive oil and saturated fats derived from free-range animals. (Mono-unsaturated fats are relatively neutral with a small tendency to raise HDL-"good" cholesterol and lower LDL-"bad" cholesterol).
Bad fat such as processed polyunsaturated fat or trans fat by all means should be avoided.
Many people think chicken and fish are healthier than red meat. Red meats can be low in fat and included in a healthy-heart diet -- if properly selected and cooked (without frying in processed oil).
Resorting to a low-fat diet should not be the goal, as it has no significant bearing on the overall cardiovascular health.
Remember, chicken and fish, which often are low-fat choices, can be prepared (such as deep frying) so they are higher in fat than lean beef.
Dark meat poultry has more fat than white meat. Keeping the skin on chicken or frying it adds more fat.
Once again, what you buy at the supermarket and how you cook the food makes the difference. If possible, always buy free-range beef and poultry, preferably organic.
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© 2001-2005 HIGH TRIGLYCERIDES Reduced Nutritionally at 40+. Triglyceride Reduction TGs Formula - A Drug-Free Approach to Elevated Blood Triglycerides. All rights reserved worldwide. This document may not be copied in part or full without express written permission from the publisher. The information on high triglycerides and nutrition provided herein is a general overview on this topic and may not apply to everyone, therefore, it should not be used for diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition on triglycerides. While reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information on high triglycerides diet, Full of Health, Inc. assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from use of the information herein.