What are the links between Coronary Heart Disease and high fat diet?
Lucy Kim HN12A
Coronary Heart Disease is a result of a waxy substance called plaque buildup inside the coronary arteries, which leads to blockages of the arteries. The arteries, which normally work as a transport media of oxygenated blood, become narrow and stiff so that they cannot carry out their functions.
There are several causes which lead to the disease, including smoking, irregular exercise and high blood cholesterol level. The most common cause is the deposition of cholesterol; usually referred to as ‘atheroma’. As the atheroma layers build up in the arteries, the blood flow to the heart muscles get extremely insufficient, which leads to a process called ‘atherosclerosis’.
Cholesterol level gets higher due to the consumption of too much saturated fat; high fat diet. According to the daily intake guide, recommended allowance of fat for an average adult is 70 grams per day. When a person consume way more than this fixed amount, it is highly likely for him to be obese and therefore have a high blood cholesterol level which will lead to the formation of fatty deposits in the arteries.
High cholesterol level can cause CHD in patients of any types and ages, and therefore it should be immediately decreased by controlling the amount of the intake of fat, and balancing out other nutrients. By all means suitable amount of saturated fats can be consumed. However, there is one kind of dietary fat that has to be avoided, which is called a trans fats, which many commercial processed foods consist of.
A study suggests that ‘Eating processed meat such as sausages increases the likelihood of heart disease, while red meat does not seem to be as harmful’. Despite both red meat and processed sausages are expected to have a similar fat content, some researchers believe that processed sausages may be a chunk of salt and other preservatives. Nitrate preservatives here can develop atherosclerosis, which again is the result of insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle.
People nowadays are hugely exposed to the risk of high fat diet since they prefer processed foods which are more convenient to approach. As they can easily access to high-fat content food, the possibility for them to develop coronary heart disease will exponentially increase.
Bibliography :
-news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8688104.stm
-nhs.uk/Conditions/Coronary-heart-disease/Pages/Causes.aspx
WWW:
ReplyDelete- Great illustration with clear explanations
- Not only concerns CHD causes of fat but links up to a broader sense, up to other factors as well.
EVI:
- More detailed explanation might have been possible.
- More researches or statistics may have been useful
Questions:
Why are trans-fat especially bad for our health compared with other fats?
Trans-fat is a type of unsaturated fat, which unlike saturated fat, consists of one or more double bond. Trans-fat decreases HDL cholesterol level which is beneficial, however increases LDL cholesterol level which is bad for us.
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