Preventing a second, or a first, heart attack: Part 3

Eating the right type of fat.

Our dietary fat intake has actually decreased over the years... but heart attack and strokes have increased.

Obviously, fat isn't the enemy and, in fact, including the right type of fat in your diet can help decrease your risk of having a first, or a second, heart attack or stroke.

Unsaturated fats include:

Monounsaturated fat- Olives, olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, nuts, seeds, natural peanut and seed butters and avocadoes.

Polyunsaturated- Fish and corn, soybean, safflower, sunflower, soybean and cottonseed oils.

Replace the Bad with the Good:

Replacing saturated fats or carbs in your diet with unsaturated fats has been shown to decrease the 'lousy' LDL cholesterol (the one that clogs up your arteries), prevent the increase in triglycerides (the fat that's in your blood) that has been linked to heart disease and that increases with high refined carb intake (sweets, desserts, white bread, white pasta, white rice etc.), reduces the risk of blood clot formation, and decreases erratic heartbeats- the main cause of sudden cardiac death.

Dr. Willett and his team at the Harvard School of Public Health calculated that replacing 5% of calories as saturated fat with unsaturated fat reduces the risk of heart attack by 40%!

Assuming you eat 2000 calories, that would means replacing 11g saturated fat with 11g unsaturated fat.

For example, eat 1 oz nuts (about 1/4 cup) instead of 1/2 cup ice cream or eat 2 Tbsp peanut butter instead of 2Tbsp cream cheese or 1 oz hard cheese.

Speaking of nuts, the Nurses' Health Study, published in the British Medical Journal in 1998, looked at the health of more than 86,000 women. It found that those who ate 142 grams (five ounces) of nuts per week were 35% less likely to develop heart disease than women who ate less than one ounce per week.
The 2002 U.S Physicians Health Study found that men who ate nuts two or more times per week were 47% less likely to die of a heart attack and 30% less likely to die of heart disease than men who rarely ate nuts.

Bottom Line

Make sure that every day you replace some of the saturated fat in your diet- found in animal products like meat, milk products, eggs, lard, shortening and butter- and excess refined carbs with various sources of unsaturated fat, including fish, vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, avocadoes, peanut butter, olives and non-hydrogenated margarine.

Want to read more?

Click here for Part 1
Click here for Part 2

Pistachio recall hits Canada

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Frito Lay Canada are warning consumers not to consume Frito Lay Munchies brand pistachios due to possible Salmonella contamination.

The product is sold in 50g packages (UPC 0-60410-04595-4)dates between Aug 4 and Dec 15 2009.

The Munchies brand was distributed all over Canada but there have been no reported illnesses yet.

Visit the CFIA website for more info.
Visit the FDA website for an updated list of recalled products.

Pistachio Recall: Salmonella scare

The FDA and the California Department of Public Health are advising consumers to avoid pistachio products as they investigate Salmonella contamination in pistachio products sold by the California company Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc.

The company has issued a nationwide voluntary recall today on nuts shipped on or after Sept 1 2008, about 2 million pounds of pistachios- a small fraction of the 55 million pounds of pistachios the company processed last year.

California is the second-largest producer of pistachios in the world.

The FDA states that the pistachios were used as ingredients in many products and, as a result, many products may be recalled as the investigation continues.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and people with weakened immune systems. So far, according to the FDA, several illnesses have been reported by consumers that may be associated with the pistachios but it's not yet known whether any of the Salmonella strains found in the pistachio products are linked to an outbreak.

Setton has recalled their bulk roasted shelled pistachios and roasted unshelled pistachios sold to wholesale customers, as well as its Setton Farms brand roasted salted shelled pistachios (sold in 9-ounce bags with a "Best Before" date between Jan. 6, 2010 and Jan. 19, 2010) distributed in seven Southeastern states. Grocery chain Kroger Co recalled its Private Selection shelled pistachios on Friday due to potential salmonella contamination and Kraft Foods recalled its Back To Nature Trail Mix after it was found to be contaminated with Salmonella.

The FDA site will soon provide a list of recalled products... stay tuned.

Peanut butter salmonella outbreak: what you should avoid

The newest Salmonella outbreak in the States has been linked to peanuts. So far, about 475 people have been infected in 43 States . Moreover, the infections may have contributed to 6 deaths.

The source of Salmonella has been traced to a peanut processing plant, Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), in Georgia. PCA doesn't sell its peanut butter or peanut paste to consumers but supplies ingredients to food manufacturers.

King Nut peanut butter distributed in certain states was found to be responsible for many of the reported illnesses and has been recalled. Most peanut butters in jars seem safe but the US government is advising consumers to avoid eating cookies, cakes, ice cream, crackers and other foods that contain peanut butter or peanut paste. Click here for FDA's most current list of recalled products.

Kellogg's has voluntarily placed a hold on 16 products that contain PCA peanut paste or peanut butter, including Austin and Keebler brand snack foods and Amos cookies. There has been no reported illnesses linked to Kellogg's products and, according to the company, none of these products were shipped to Canada.

Although there have been no illnesses in Canada linked to the growing salmonella outbreak in the US, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning the public not to consume certain products as they may contain PCA contaminated products.

These products include:

Hebert's Fully Loaded P.B. Crunch mini-bars produced Aug. 26. 2008 and Sept. 9, 2008.
Nature's Path Organic Optimum Energy Bar-Peanut Butter with an Oct. 1, 2009 expiry date.
Clif Bar Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch with a Sept. 7, 2009 expiry date.
Clif Bar Crunchy Peanut Butter with expiry dates between Sept. 6 and Sept. 11, 2009 and Nov. 13, 2009.
Clif Bar Peanut Toffee Buzz with an expiry date of Sept. 12, 2009.
Clif Builders Peanut Butter Protein Bar with expiry dates of June 20, 2009 and Aug. 20, 2009
Clif Bar Club Pack 18 Variety Pack with expiry dates of Sept. 8, 2009 and Nov. 3, 2009.
Lärabar Peanut Butter Cookie snack bars
Lärabar Peanut Butter Cookie Bite Size

Symptoms of salmonella poisoning include high fever, severe headache, vomittting, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Those with compromised immune systems, ie. the elderly and children, are at greater risk.

Update: The FDA has just confirmed that salmonella was found in a package of peanut butter sandwich crackers made by Kellogg's (Kellogg's Austin Quality Foods Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter).

Go nuts, eat nuts!

Nuts may have gotten a bad rep because they're a concentrated source of calories and fat. Interestingly, its mainly their fat that provides so many of their health benefits.

Nuts are a great source of the healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, particularly when they replace saturated fat in the diet. Replacing 5% of total calories as saturated fats with unsaturated fats can help reduce your risk of heart disease by 40%!

Macadamias, cashews, almonds, pistachios, peanuts and pecans are rich in monounsaturated fat, while walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts and brazil nuts are rich in polyunsaturated fat (omega 3) .

Aside from providing a healthy dose of unsaturated fats, nuts are also a source of fibre (making nuts a great filling snacks), protein, vitamin E (an antioxidant), vitamin B6, as well as niacin and folic acid, magnesium, zinc, selenium (just one brazil nut provides the whole day’s recommendation for selenium!), phytochemicals (shown to have antioxidant properties) and plant sterols (shown to improve cholesterol).

In 2003, the American FDA released the health claim: " Scientific evidence suggests but does not prove that eating 1.5 oz per day of most nuts as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease".

The research

It's been shown that eating 30 grams (1 oz) of nuts five times per week has been shown to be effective in reducing the risk of heart disease by 30 to 50% and lowering cholesterol levels by 10%.

In 1996, the Iowa Women's Healthy Study found that women who ate nuts >4 times a week were 40% less likely to die of heart disease.

Part of the Nurses' Health Study, published in the British Medical Journal in 1998, looked at the health of more than 86,000 women. It found that those who ate 142 grams (five ounces) of nuts per week were 35% less likely to develop heart disease than women who ate less than one ounce per week. In the 2002 U.S Physicians Health Study, Harvard researchers found that men who ate nuts two or more times per week were 47% less likely to die of a heart attack and 30% less likely to die of heart disease than men who rarely ate nuts.

The 1992 Adventist Health Study, which examined the diets of more than 31,000 Seventh Day Adventists, found that participants who consumed nuts more than four times per week experienced 51% fewer heart attacks compared to those who consumed nuts less than once per week.

How much should you eat?

Despite their healthy nutrient profile, nuts are still a concentrated source of calories in the diet. Instead of adding nuts to your diet on top of everything else you eat in a day, eat them to replace other less-healthy foods, such as foods high in saturated or trans fat.

A serving of nuts is 60 ml, 1/4 cup or about 30 grams. For nut butters, the appropriate portion size is 30 ml, or about two tablespoons. Try to include a serving of nuts or nut butters at least 3 times a week.

Finally, to maximize the health benefits that nuts have to offer, you're better off enjoying them on their own instead of drenched in salt or smothered in chocolate or added fat. Added salt, sugar and fat can offset any benefits that nuts have to offer.

Effects of processing on nuts

I have heard that roasted nuts are unhealthy. However, there are no legitimate references for this. The only source I found is from whfoods.org that states that:

Roasting nuts at a temperature higher than 170F (as in commercially roasted nuts) will cause a breakdown of their fats and the production of free radicals.

I have read that as long as nuts are dry-roasted (commercial or not) their nutritional value will be much the same as raw nuts, but with a slight reduction in B vitamins due to the heating process. On the other hand, nuts roasted in oil contain 10 per cent more calories than dry-roasted or raw varieties and they are often salted. Watch out for nuts roasted in coconut or palm oil (read the ingredients)- these nuts will be higher in saturated fats.

Nuts contain natural fats so to keep them in the best condition and slow down their oxidation, store them in an airtight container in your fridge or freezer. Nuts can be refrigerated up to four months and frozen up to six months. Nuts commonly come packaged in foil or plastic packets from the supermarket. Foil packaging protects the fats in the nuts from oxidation and gives them a longer shelf life.

Sources:
http://www.healthyfoodguide.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=101&Itemid=50 ;
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/food/nuts.html ; http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=10