The Links Between Diet and Coronary Heart Disease

The Links Between Diet and Coronary Heart Disease

Coronary heart disease is a disease of the arteries that causes damage

to, or malfunction of, the heart. It is the biggest killer in Britain

and is also the most expensive illness in the country.

When atherosclerosis - the accumulation of fatty material, calcium and

plaque (which is like a firm shell with a soft inner core containing

cholesterol and as blood hits it, the plaque may crack open and expose

its inner cholesterol core, which promotes blood clotting) in artery

walls - occurs in the lining of the coronary arteries they become

narrow, restricting the flow of blood. Because of this, the heart has

to work harder to force blood through the coronary arteries and this

can cause blood pressure to rise. It also makes it harder to get

oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle.

There are three forms of coronary heart disease:

· Angina pectoris – This causes great pain in the chest when

exercising, but goes when resting. The pain is causes by a severe

shortage of blood to the heart muscle.

· Heart attack – (Also known as myocardial infraction). This is when a

large branch of the coronary artery is blocked by a blood clot which

causes a severe shortage of oxygen to part of the heart muscle, which

therefore dies. This causes sudden and severe pain and could be fatal

unless treated immediately.

· Heart failure – This is when the heart weakens and fails to pump

efficiently due to a blockage of a main coronary artery.

People with high levels of saturated fat and cholesterol in their diet

tend to have high blood cholesterol levels.

Saturated fats are typically animal fats that are solid at normal room

temperature and include dairy products like milk and butter. It’s the

saturated fats that seem to influence the amount of cholesterol in the

blood.

Eating too much saturated fat is one of the major risk factors for

heart disease. A diet high in saturated fat causes cholesterol, a