Tue, 9 August 2016
Circulatory diseases like heart disease and stroke are the leading cause of death in Ireland. As we are now surviving more heart attacks and strokes, these diseases are rapidly becoming the leading cause of disability.
Luckily we have started to see a decrease in these diseases over the past few decades – 40% of that decrease is due to improvements in medicine but over 50% are due to changes in the risk factors that can lead to heart disease.
There are many risk factors that make us more likely to develop heart disease – in fact there are over 206 risk factors for heart disease. However, some have a stronger impact than others.
Being overweight, lack of exercise and eating an unhealthy diet can all increase our risk. Being fit and active, eating lots of fruit and vegetables and choosing healthier foods all help to reduce our risk.
In the past being male would have been seen as being a risk factor for heart disease but we now know that heart disease just takes about 10 years longer to show up in women so the risk is essentially the same. This means that women need to look after their hearts just as much as men.
Looking after what we eat is an important place to start when we want to look after our hearts. Adding fruit and vegetables is crucial as, among other nutrients, fruit and vegetables are a source of potassium.
Potassium helps to keep blood pressure at normal, healthy levels. Oats contain a special type of fibre called beta-glucan and this helps to keep cholesterol levels healthy. This is why porridge is often recommended on a cholesterol lowering diet.
Triglycerides are another type of fat that plays a role in heart disease. Like cholesterol we need a small amount of triglyceride but too much can increase our risk of developing heart disease. Omega-3 fats found in fish have been shown to help keep triglycerides at normal healthy levels. EPA and DHA are the main types of omega-3s found in fish and taken together they have several benefits for our heart. EPA and DHA contribute to the normal function of the heart and they help to keep blood pressure at normal, healthy levels.
To see the heart-healthy benefits of omega-3s we need to eat between 250mg and 3g of EPA and DHA per day. Tinned fish is a great place to get omega-3s. 100g of tinned sardines will give you 1200mg of Omega-3. You will get 1500mg from 100g of tinned salmon and 3900mg from 100g of tinned mackerel. Tinned fish is an easy and convenient way to add a wide range of nutrients to your healthy diet and a great way of making sure you are getting the omega-3s you and your body need.