What are trans fats? Fatty acids in foods are made up of polyunsaturated (like safflower oil, sunflower oil and corn oil), monounsaturated (like olive oil, peanuts, and avocados), saturated (like coconut oil, palm oil, butter and cheese) and trans fats (like margarine and shortening). Saturated and trans fats are linked to coronary heart disease. The majority of trans fats are produced by the food industry when it uses a process called hydrogenation to turn liquid vegetable oils into semi-solid products. This process hardens and stabilizes the oils, enhances the flavor and extends the shelf life of food products. These trans fats also break down less easily which makes them more suitable for frying. The majority of trans fats are found in foods made with shortening, margarine or partially-hydrogenated oils and in baked goods like crackers, cookies and donuts and in fried foods like french fries and fried chicken. The trans fat content of some of these foods can be as high as 45% of the total fat in the food product. Trans fats also occur naturally at fairly low levels in ruminant-based foods like dairy products and beef and lamb.

     Are trans fats worse than saturated fats? There is a lot of evidence linking both trans fats and saturated fats to coronary heart disease. Trans fats appear much more dangerous because metabolic studies have shown that they increase the blood levels of our bad cholesterol (LDL) and decrease the levels of our good cholesterol (HDL). Saturated fats appear less damaging because they elevate the total cholesterol levels – both bad (LDL) and good (HDL). Continue Reading »

     Another thing that you don’t hear too much about is the effect of sugar on your heart. In fact, sugar is a leading contributor to heart disease. Sugar raises serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels and also makes your platelets extra sticky causing your blood to clot more which can be a cause of heart attack and stroke. Not only that, but it can lessen the amount of good bacteria in your intestines which indirectly increases blood cholesterol levels. Sugar also causes insulin to be released into your bloodstream and researchers now think that insulin may help cholesterol to be deposited in the walls of your blood vessels.

     So what can you keep to keep your heart healthy?

     Believe it or not, one of the key heart healthy foods is eggs. I know, you’ve probably believed for your whole life that eggs were bad for your heart and maybe you even avoided them. This is largely due to the fact that eggs to contain a lot of cholesterol and it was once thought that eating cholesterol would contribute to heart disease, however studies now show that the cholesterol that you eat has very little effect on the cholesterol levels in your blood. In fact, a study In the British Medical Journal reported that eating seven eggs a week in combination with a low-fat high fiber diet did not cause cholesterol levels to be raised at all. eggs have great nutritional value, especially the yolk which is loaded with choline which actually helps to dissolve fat and cholesterol.

     Onions or another food that is great for your heart and in fact eating them with a high-fat meal can help platelets not get sticky or clumpy as they normally do. Both onions and garlic, when eaten raw, contain compounds that help to prevent blood clots as well as lower blood pressure and improve cholesterol levels. Continue Reading »

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     A diet high in tryptophan – an amino acid converted by the body into the feel-good chemical serotonin – can improve mood and wellbeing, pediatrician and natural health expert Caroline Longmore said.

     The body cannot produce tryptophan so unless we get enough through our diets, we may suffer a deficiency, leading to low serotonin levels which are associated with mood disorders, anxiety, cravings and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

     “Following a diet which contains foods rich in naturally occurring serotonin will improve your mood, leaving you energised and in a state of harmony and wellbeing,” Dr Longmore said.

     Mental health experts say while the theory behind tryptophans for improving mood is solid, its use by depressed patients has a chequered history in Australia.

     Gordon Parker, from the Black Dog Institute, said tryptophan supplements were widely used before the 1990s but after a number of patients suffered serious side effects from a contaminated batch, they were temporarily taken off the market.

     Professor Parker said while some patients strongly believed such supplements were beneficial, scientific evidence was lacking. Continue Reading »