Obesity is a well-documented health crisis in America. Recent statistics show that 30 percent of U.S. adults are obese – this translates to more than 60 million Americans! Obesity impacts more than just your pant size – it also increases your risk of many chronic diseases including heart disease, which accounts for one million deaths in the United States each year.
Obesity not only increases your risk for heart disease, it also increases your risk for the risk factors associated with heart disease, including high cholesterol. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends a “heart healthy” diet to help keep blood cholesterol low and decrease your risk of developing heart disease. A heart healthy diet recommends:
- 30 percent of your total daily calories come from fat
- 8 to 10 percent of your total daily calories come from saturated fat
- Less than 300 milligrams of dietary cholesterol per day
- 2400 milligrams of sodium per day
- Adequate calories to achieve or maintain a healthy weight.
While a heart healthy diet recommends limiting dietary cholesterol, some researchers assert that dietary fat is a larger factor in your body’s cholesterol levels because it can increase your total cholesterol and LDL levels. There are two types of cholesterol: HDL and LDL. A high level of HDL decreases your risk of heart disease while a high level of LDL increases the risk of heart disease. To put it simply, you want high levels of HDL and low levels of LDL. To distinguish between the two types of cholesterol I find it helpful to refer to HDL as “healthy cholesterol” and LDL as “lousy cholesterol.”