According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease caused 26 percent of all deaths in the United States in 2006. Coronary artery disease is the most common form of heart disease in the United States and killed more than 450,000 people in 2005. Coronary artery disease is caused by atherosclerotic plaques that are created by high cholesterol. High cholesterol is caused by eating foods high in fat, saturated fat and trans fat.
Value Meals
They aren't called "whoppers" for nothing. Burger King's triple whopper with cheese value meal contains 1,780 calories, 101g of fat, 35.5g saturated fat and 2,140mg of sodium. This artery-clogging meal is one of the worst in the company's whole value meals package. Their steakhouse value meal isn't far behind with 1,300 calories, 63g of fat, 20.5g saturated fat, 0.5g trans fat and 1,910mg of sodium. Saturated fat and trans fat elevate cholesterol, particularly the bad LDL cholesterol. Trans fat actually lowers the good, or HDL, cholesterol, so these meals provide a double whammy to the arteries.
Fried Foods and Commercially Baked Goods
Fried foods and commercially baked foods, such as French fries and donuts, often contain trans fats. Pasteries, pie crust mix, biscuits, pizza, stick margarines and cookies often have trans fats in them. The American Heart Association states that no more than 1 percent of the daily total calories should include trans fats. Trans fats are also listed on nutritional labels as partially hydrogenated oils. Foods with this artery-clogging fat in them are a triple whammy for the arteries. Not only do they increase bad cholesterol and decrease good cholesterol, trans fats elevate triglycerides, which are known to contribute to atherosclerosis. Another artery-clogging food is Banquet Fried Chicken. One piece of their original recipe contains 330 calories, 21g of fat, 5g saturated fat, 1.5g of trans fat and 890mg of sodium. After eating three pieces, you have consumed 990 calories, 63g of fat, 15g of saturated fat, 4.5g of trans fat and 2,600mg of sodium.
Desserts
Many Americans love to go to out for ice cream for dessert. But the mega desserts that are so often offered are serious artery cloggers. For instance, a large Baskin and Robbins Mint Oreo shake contains 1,390 calories, 37g of fat, 21g of saturated fat, 1g trans fat and 790mg of sodium. A chocolate chip cookie dough sundae from the same store has 990 calories, 43g of fat, 28g of saturated fat, 1g of trans fat and 540mg of sodium. P. F. Chang's Great Wall of Chocolate is a huge mass of chocolate that contains four total servings. If you consume this entire dessert alone, you would be ingesting approximately 1,500 calories, 72g of fat, 24g of saturated fat and approximately 1,400mg of sodium. They make no mention of trans fat in their nutritional information.
