Worldwide studies have examined the links between various aspects of
the food which people eat and the amount of coronary heart disease they
suffer. Looking at all the evidence, there is a striking link between heart
disease and the amount of fat in the diet, particularly saturated fat. As the
proportion of saturated fat in the diet increases – so do deaths from heart
disease.
A heart attack is the end result of a long, slow process. Gradually the
arteries which supply the heart muscle become narrowed by a fatty
substance called “atheroma”. People who have high levels of cholesterol in
their blood are more likely to have a heart attack or suffer with angina,
particularly if they are cigarette smokers or have a raised level of blood
pressure. At one time it was thought that the blood cholesterol level was
mainly the result of the amount of cholesterol eaten in food (dietary
cholesterol). But further research has shown that eating foods which contain
a lot of fat, especially saturated fat, has a much greater effect in pushing up
the blood cholesterol level than the dietary cholesterol. This is because most
of the cholesterol in our blood is made from saturated fat by the liver.
The Department of Health set up a special committee to look at all the
evidence about diet and heart disease and how it could be prevented. It
reported that by comparison with other countries, the British had
exceptionally high saturated fat consumption, high blood cholesterol levels,
and high death rates from coronary heart disease. Their strongest
recommendations were that: THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF FAT IN THE UK DIET
SHOULD BE REDUCED.
THE AMOUNT OF SATURATED FAT SHOULD
BE REDUCED.
Their report recommended that we should aim to get less than 35% of
our energy from fat and less than half that amount should be from saturated
fat. At the time of the report the average person consumed about 42% of
their calories as fat and surveys in the 1980’s have shown that this pattern
has not changed very much.
At the same time they suggested that people might also benefit from
increasing the amount of fibre-rich foods like bread, cereals, fruit and
vegetables that they eat.
The amounts of salt, sugar and alcohol should also be controlled and
obesity avoided through a combination of appropriate food intake and
regular exercise.
Advice like “Cut down on fat” is all very well in theory, but what does
it mean when faced with a super market full of foods or with a restaurant
menu? How much do I cut down and how do I do it? What’s a saturated fat?
These are all questions that you will find answered in this chapter.