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YOU DON'T have to condemn yourself to a fat-free diet or deprive yourself of butter, eggs, cheese and shrimp to protect your heart.
Heart disease is one of the top killers of both men and women in this country. People often say, well, you've gotta die of something. But as one of my colleagues pointed out, struggling for years with the handicaps resulting from a stroke or heart attack might be even less fun than dying.
Eating well can cut your risk of heart attack and stroke, and you needn't deny yourself the pleasures of life.
We used to think that we had to cut fat and cholesterol out of our diets to keep our arteries clear. Now we know that the type of fat is even more important than the amount of fat. Moderate-fat diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, which includes lots of olive oil, can be easy on the arteries. The artery-clogging culprits seem to be saturated and trans fats more than unsaturated oils or even cholesterol.
Saturated fats are solid at room temperature. They include butter, lard, beef fat, cream, and waxy tropical oils such as coconut and palm oil. Trans fats are manmade: they are oils that are solidified in factories. Think of shortenings, like Crisco, as well as stick margarines. Trans fats usually have "hydrogenated" in the name, such as partially hydrogenated soybean oil found in many crackers and baked goods, as well as chips and fast-food French fries.
Unfortunately, trans fats aren't listed separately on food labels yet, although the federal government might add them next year. Until then, check ingredient lists.
It's easier to watch your saturated fats. Look at food labels and try to keep saturated fats to less than 20 grams per day. Trim visible fat and skin off meats and chicken, limit meat to 4 or 5 ounces a day, and choose 1 percent milk over whole milk. Cook with oil more often than butter, and try some reduced-fat cheeses, yogurts and ice creams.
Having been raised in Wisconsin, the dairy state, cheese is my especial weakness. When I eat cheese, I try to really enjoy the flavor. Often, I will grate or crumble strong cheeses--blue cheese, pecorino romano and good old sharp cheddar are my favorites--over salads, soups or pasta. I don't need as much cheese this way than if I were eating it in big chunks. When making pizza or lasagna, I use part-skim mozzarella; with all the garlic and herbs in these dishes, you don't even notice the difference except that they seem more appetizing because they're not swimming in oil that has separated from the melted cheese.
I also have a penchant for fatty sausages, thanks to my mother's yummy German cooking. Nowadays I buy spicy sausages and cut them into bits, using them to flavor sauces rather than as a main attraction.
Try to eat more good fats: unsaturated fats found in olive oil, avocados, all kinds of nuts and seeds, and fish are especially good for you. In fact, the American Heart Association recommends two servings a week of fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, sardines or herring, because they actually make arteries more flexible.
As for cholesterol in foods, it's not as bad for your arteries as we used to think. It turns out most people can eat an egg yolk a day and lots of shrimp or shellfish without raising their cholesterol much.
However, a small percentage of unfortunate folks have a gene that makes them extra-sensitive to cholesterol in foods. These people have very high blood cholesterol at a young age and do need to avoid eggs, liver and other sources of cholesterol.
For the rest of us, however, our blood cholesterol is linked more to the amount of fat we eat than the amount of cholesterol. It's bad to have big globs of fat floating in our blood, so our livers produce cholesterol to transport fat safely around the body. The more fat you eat, especially saturated fat, the more cholesterol your liver will make, secreting the cholesterol into bile in the small intestines to help you digest fats. The digested fats and cholesterol are reabsorbed through the intestinal walls and into the bloodstream.
If you eat lots of soluble fiber, found in oatmeal, beans, peas, lentils, fruits and vegetables, the fiber actually binds to the cholesterol in your intestines and sweeps it out of your body, which is why eating lots of soluble fiber can lower your cholesterol levels.
Another trick is eating special fats that aren't absorbed by the body called plant stanols and sterols. Eating Benecol and Take Control brand margarines, which contain these special fats, can lower cholesterol. Because you have to eat 3 tablespoons a day of the margarines and they're expensive, I don't recommend them except to people who have high cholesterol (more than 240) and really like to eat margarine every day.
Besides fats, certain vitamins and minerals can help protect your heart. The B vitamins, including folate and vitamins B6 and B12, seem to be particularly important. Low levels of these vitamins cause a chemical called homocysteine to be produced, which is linked to higher risk of heart disease. In fact, taking a B-vitamin complex has been shown to help people who had angioplasties, a medical procedure that opens dangerously clogged arteries.
So take a plain multivitamin every day, one that has 100 percent of the daily value, not megadoses. The vitamin E in it may also help your heart.
Also, try to eat foods rich in potassium, magnesium and calcium, foods which have been shown to reduce blood pressure and thus the risk of stroke. You can get these from low-fat dairy products, beans, peas, lentils, nuts, dark green vegetables such as spinach or greens, and whole grains like whole wheat bread, oatmeal and brown rice.
Finally, consider eating some soy foods, because 25 grams of soy protein a day can reduce cholesterol. That would be 3 to 4 servings of soy milk, tofu or tempeh a day. Soy sauce and miso soup, tasty as they are, don't have much soy protein.
And, of course, eating is not the only way to help your heart. Regular exercise, limiting alcohol, quitting smoking and losing weight if you're overweight also help.
The cheese in the following dish has a zesty flavor and is relatively low in fat, while the polenta is a fancy Italian way of preparing cornmeal, a whole grain with lots of fiber. The colorful vegetables are a good source of vitamins and antioxidants. The roasted garlic and balsamic vinegar are soooo savory.
Polenta and chevre with roasted vegetables
3 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 medium red bell pepper, quartered
1 medium yellow bell pepper, quartered
1 medium red onion, sliced (red is a prettier color, but white onions work fine)
2 small zucchini, about 8 oz., cut in half lengthwise
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 small head garlic
fresh pepper to taste
2 ounces goat cheese (chevre)
Makes 4 servings.
Preheat oven to 425º F.
In a deep saucepan, bring stock to boil. Reduce heat to low and gradually whisk in cornmeal. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. (You'll get fewer lumps if you stir in only one direction; it doesn't matter which one.) Pour into 8-inch-square baking dish, smoothing top. Chill.
In a bowl, combine peppers, onion, zucchini and olive oil. Transfer to baking sheet lined with foil. Wrap garlic loosely in foil and add to baking sheet. Roast vegetables in preheated oven, turning occasionally, for 45 minutes or until tender. Squeeze garlic out of skins; chop remaining vegetables. Transfer all to a bowl. Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and toss well to coat. Add fresh black pepper if desired.
Turn polenta onto cutting board and cut into 4 squares. In a large nonstick frying pan sprayed with vegetable spray, cook polenta over medium-high heat for 2 minutes or until golden. Turn; cook for 1 minute. Spoon polenta onto serving plates. Top with vegetable mixture; sprinkle with goat cheese.
Serves 4.
Nutritional information per serving: 253 calories, 8 g protein, 9 g fat (3.1 g of it saturated), 39 g carbohydrates, 155 mg sodium, 8 mg cholesterol, 6 g fiber.
Recipe adapted from "Sensationally Light Pasta and Grains" by Rose Reisman
JENNIFER MOTL, a registered dietitian, welcomes reader questions. E-mail her at jenmotl@infi.net, or write to Nutrition, The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401.