Heart Health Heart Healthy Diet

Nutrition and Cardiovascular Disease

Jack G.: A Patient Example
After Jack G. had a mild heart attack requiring an angioplasty at age 50, he became interested in any and all forms of preventive cardiology. He sought out a prevention-oriented cardiologist. With his cardiologist's guidance, he started to make several major lifestyle changes. He started a diet very low in saturated fats, with much less meat than he had previously eaten. He enrolled in an outpatient cardiac rehabilitation exercise program for three months, three times per week. After this was over, he continued to exercise on his own with 30 minutes of daily vigorous treadmill walking. He found that he had high cholesterol levels, with a high total and LDL (the "bad") cholesterol, high triglycerides, and a low HDL (the "good") cholesterol. He also discovered that he had undiscovered high blood pressure. Under his cardiologist's guidance, he was placed on a regimen of both prescription medication and nutritional supplements and vitamins. The latter included two fish oil capsules daily, as well as grapeseed extract, and soluble fiber supplements. Today, Jack is at his ideal body weight, exercises daily, and states that he feels more energy than he has had in many years; his cholesterol values are half of what they were at the time of his heart attack, and his last annual stress test was completely normal!

Omega-3 fatty acids
Observations of native populations have yielded intriguing insights into nutritional intake and rates of cardiovascular disease. Early observers noted that Eskimo populations in Greenland have very low rates of heart disease and cancer despite a diet that is more than 50 percent in fat; this has led to extensive research into omega-3 fatty acids, a kind of fat typically found in cold water fishes such as salmon, tuna, herring, and mackerel, as well as flax seeds. A recent large randomized trial found that in men with a history of heart attack, fish oil supplementation can dramatically reduce the risk of recurrent heart attacks, death, and stroke. Multiple studies have shown that fish oil can lower triglycerides in men, potentially improving the overall cholesterol profile, and reducing the risk of CHD.

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