Acquired heart diseases during life is a leading cause of death worldwide. Such conditions can be “acquired” by an unbalanced lifestyle, diet in this case playing a critical role.
Cardiovascular diseases kill approximately two million people each year in Europe. In Britain, one in three people die due to cardiovascular disease. For this reason, it is necessary to give high priority to preventive measures and promoting a lifestyle healthy. Cholesterol is a fatty substance essential to the proper functioning of our body. It is one of the substances that make up cell membranes, contributing to vitamin D synthesis in the body to produce different types of hormones. Cholesterol is produced daily in the liver (about one gram per day), but most of the cholesterol enters the body through food.
The daily body’s cholesterol is often much less than the amount assimilated through food. In this case, an excessive accumulation of blood leads to the appearance colestol hypercholesterolemia.
Why is cholesterol harmful to your health? Being a fatty substance, insoluble in blood, cholesterol will be deposited inside blood vessels, causing thickening of their walls. The result is atherosclerosis, which is strengthening and narrowing of blood vessels, the effect being the appearance of heart disease.
But cholesterol is of several types and, fortunately, not all have a negative effect on health. LDL (low density lipoprotein) is the “bad cholesterol” and is responsible for atherosclerosis by depositing inside blood vessels. HDL cholesterol (high density lipoprotein) has the property to remove LDL deposits inside blood vessels, this being particularly important for healthy blood vessels and heart.
Increased levels of LDL in the blood is determined by the cosume of foods rich in this type of cholesterol. Generally, LDL cholesterol is found in animal products. The most dangerous food include pork, beef, chicken, egg yolks, whole milk products, etc.. Although such foods are part of our diet daily and contain vitamins and minerals essential for health, it is important to avoid eating in large quantities.
According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, only 7% of total daily calories should come from saturated fat – the animal, and you should consume less than 200mg of cholesterol per day.
Because it is very difficult to monitor how many calories and cholesterol we eat every day, you should avoid animal products that are harmful to your heart, if eaten in greater proportion than those of plant origin.