The food you eat provides your body with the calories it needs for energy. Food also provides essential vitamins and minerals that support normal growth and development. In addition to the positive effects, your choice of foods may also produce negative effects within your body. Many different substances in foods, including cholesterol and salt, can contribute to chronic conditions that can lead to heart disease.
Significance of Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a fat-like substance needed to provide structure to cell membranes and for the production of hormones. Cells within your body produce approximately 75 percent of the total amount of cholesterol, according to the American Heart Association. The other 25 percent comes from the foods you eat, known as dietary cholesterol. Consuming too many foods containing cholesterol increases the amount of cholesterol in the bloodstream, which can accumulate along the walls of the blood vessels forming a substance called plaque. The buildup of plaque restricts the flow of blood and increases the risk for developing heart disease. Therefore, the American Heart Association recommends that healthy individuals eat a low-fat diet and limit cholesterol intake to 300 mg or less per day.
Effects of Salt
Sodium, commonly known as salt, balances the fluids in your body and helps to transmit signals between the nerves, muscles and brain. Although sodium serves vital functions, consuming too much sodium can cause the volume of blood to increase. The increase in blood volume can cause high blood pressure, medically known as hypertension. High blood pressure affects many organs and increases the risk for heart disease. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 report recommends limiting your sodium intake to 2,300 mg per day. Those individualswith additional heart disease risk factors, such as high cholesterol, or current high blood pressure should lower their sodium intake to 1,500 mg per day, according to the American Heart Association.
Fruits and Vegetables
Since cholesterol is a substance produced by animal cells, it is only found in animal-based products including meat, poultry, fish and dairy products. To consume foods that naturally contain no cholesterol choose plant-based foods such as fruits and vegetables. Many fruits and vegetables naturally contain some salt. The Produce for Better Health Foundation provides a list of fruits and vegetables that contain no sodium such as apples, apricots, bananas, blueberries, blackberries, citrus fruits and watermelon. Naturally sodium-free vegetables include asparagus, green beans, corn, eggplant, potatoes and summer squash. These foods that contain no cholesterol or sodium are an important part of a heart-healthy diet.
Whole Grains
Whole grain is a term used to describe a product made using the entire grain, which includes the bran, germ and endosperm. The alternative, refined grains, have had the bran and germ removed along with much of the vitamins and nutrients naturally found in the grain. Because grains are a plant-based food, they naturally contain no cholesterol. This does not mean that all products produced and labeled as whole grain do not contain cholesterol. You must read the nutrition label to confirm that the manufacturing process did not add cholesterol-containing ingredients. Whole grains also contain no sodium, although, again, during the production of whole grain foods sodium may be added. Refer to the nutrition label to determine the presence of sodium.
References
- American Heart Association: About Cholesterol
- U.S Department of Agriculture: Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005
- American Heart Association: Sodium
- American Heart Association: Know your Health Numbers
- Produce for Better Health Foundation: Fruits and Veggies More Matters -- Sodium
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Inside the Pyramid -- Grains
