Home and people New report: for your heart’s sake eat less fat

Press, 28 May 1983, Page 10

Home and people New report: for your heart’s sake eat less fat

“Diet” heads the list of recommendations in the recently released National Heart Foundation’s Report on Prevention and Control of Coronary Heart Disease in 1983.

The report echoes recommendations both from previous reports, and those upheld by similar organisations in other countries.

The report emphasises that the total food calories eaten by New Zealanders is excessive. The number one recommendation listed was that “food intake should be such as to maintain ideal body weight for an individual.”

This concept may be the key to the whole “dietheart” story. Those very foods that contribute the “excessive” calories are also now implicated as other risks for heart disease: fats, sugars, and alcohol.

On average, both men and women in New Zealand, under 50 years old, eat 10 to 25 per cent more calories than that suggested by the United States Recommended Dietary Allowances.

These allowances have been reduced over the years with our increasingly, sedentary existence.

We do not need so much food. Mechanisation of manual tasks, labour-saving devices, lifts and automobiles have reduced our calorie needs.

Nevertheless, New Zealand dietary surveys show a lack of change in our total calorie consumption. Studies in 1928, 1964 and 1977 all showed that New Zealand men eat an average of about 3400 calories each day: no change in 50 years! At risk Who is at risk for coronary heart disease? They are people who already have symptoms, those who have a strong family history of heart disease, a high blood cholesterol level, or high blood pressure or diabetes. Let’s face it, that is most of us. Heart disease is our greatest single cause of death!

Reducing the risk by changing certain life-style patterns is based on the concept that by modifying the factors causing risk we should decrease the dangers of coronary heart disease. The diet-heart connection has mainly centred on the confirmed association between high cholesterol levels in our blood, and a greater risk for developing heart disease. Combined with this evidence, high cholesterol levels have been reduced by eating a diet low in saturated fats and high cholesterol foods. But the latest heart news encompasses the whole diet and comments on total calories, total fat s alcohol, sugar, salt, and

lack of exercise along with another habit correlate of an affluent society: smoking. Lifestyle factors A higher risk for heart disease is found with: ® Elevated blood cholesterol (and altered ratios of other blood fats and types of cholesterol) — may be caused by too much food, especially too much total fat; too much saturated fat (mainly animal fat); too much high cholesterol food; comparatively low polyunsaturated fat (vegetable fat); too little exercise.

© Elevated body weight — caused by too little physical activity; too much food and drink, in particular FATS, SUGARS, ALCOHOL.

® Elevated blood pressure — from too much body weight; too much salt; too much alcohol.

® Accelerating factors for heart disease — too much smoking; co-existing diabetes; or high triglyceride fats in the blood. Ways to counteract these risk factors are shown in the tables at the end of this column. Why attack fat? The 1977 diet survey carried out by the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand shows fat as contributing over 40 per cent of our total calories.

This is more than the contribution of starchy foods, now promoted by nutritionists to supply the bulk of our calories. According to the diet survey, meat, fish, and poultry supply 40 per cent (half as beef) of our total fat, followed closely by dairy products, 30 per cent (half as butter). The saturated component (most capable of raising our blood cholesterol) is also supplied mainly by dairy products — 40 per cent (half as butter again) and meat, fish, and poultry (38 per cent, over half as beef). In effect, the saturated fat eaten by the average New Zealander each day, as meat and butter, is equivalent to two large fatty steaks (or three tablespoons of dripping) and l¥a tablespoons of butter.

Interestingly, our most significant source of polyunsaturated fat (may aid the lowering of cholesterol) is meat, mainly because pork is such a high contributor.

unsaturated fat than other meats, such as beef, but it supplies five times more

But the fallacy about pork is that not only does it provide more poly-

TO COUNTERACT RISK FACTORS:

Heart Foundation Lifestyle Recommendations * food to maintain an ideal body weight * eat more fibre as cereals, grains, vegetables and fruits * reduce daily intake of fats by trimming fat off meat, leaving visible fat on the plate, minimal use of adding fat in cooking, baking and food service (sauces); preferentially use low fat varieties of dairy products . and baked goods; make greater use of fish and poultry as a meat substitute; have less reliance on high fat “fast” food. * have fats of vegetable origin (mainly polyunsaturated) in preference to animal origin (mainly saturated) * reduce sugar consumption * discourage heavy alcohol consumption * limit cholesterol consumption by having less organ meats, egg yolks * discourage high intake of salt and salty foods * discourage smoking * take regular exercise such as jogging, walking, swimming or cycling for at least 20 minutes, 3 times weekly * the report suggests labelling of packaged foods for fat, sugar and salt content

saturated fat than polyunsaturated fat. And it is this ratio of too much saturated fat in comparison to polyunsaturated that is possibly more significant than the actual amount of polyunsaturated fat to lower blood cholesterol. Polyunsaturated versus saturated The much talked about “polyunsaturated” fats do not lower cholesterol levels as effectively as reducing saturated fat.

If we eat less fat of animal origin, it means we

Risk Factor to Reduce • high body weight • high blood pressure • high blood fats • high cholesterol levels • altered fat ratios • overweight (associated high potassium foods may aid lowering of high blood pressure) • high body weight • high blood cholesterol • altered levels of other blood fats • high blood cholesterol • overweight • overweight • high blood pressure • high blood triglycerides • high blood cholesterol • high blood pressure • altered blood fat levels (accelerates other risk factors) • overweight • altered blood fat levels • high blood pressure (may reduce stress) enables free choice to exert control over own food intake.

have less saturated fat. This ties in with weight control and a better ratio of saturated to polyunsaturated fat. This may be a better approach to controlling blood cholesterol. But what of butter and margarine? What is the difference?

Polyunsaturated table margarines have the same calories weight-for-weight as butter. Their only advantage for weight control is that they are more easily, thinly spread. But the margarines have a greater proportion of polyunsaturated fats: the advantage being that if our conditioned taste is for a fat spread on our bread, then the margarine supplies the fat with a lesser effect to raise blood cholesterol.

There has been an argument that butter is more “natural.” Perhaps a more desirable change for some people, rather than change butter to margarine, would be to drastically reduce the amount of whichever is chosen.

So butter is okay if it is eaten in much less quantity than traditionally.

During 40 years our consumption of starchy foods, in particular cereals has declined some 14 per cent, and fish consumption by 60 per cent. Meanwhile, our cheese consumption has quadrupled, our ice-cream consumption has increased ninefold, milk and milk products have increased by a third. Our beer consumption has doubled, wine .drinking has increased twelvefold and spirit consumption has more than doubled. Nevertheless, New Zealanders are making changes.

The Year Book shows that we are eating less butter (by 26 per cent from 40 years ago) and beef consumption has recently declined some 18 per cent (1977 to 1980) and pig meat consumption by 11 per cent. So if we eat more of wholegrains, vegetables, pulses and fruits, and eat less of: butter and margarine; fat on meat; fatty meats; fat in cooking or baking; meat; and sugar, alcohol, salt, and salty foods, the recommendations can be met.