FEELING GOOD

ARE YOU OUT OF CONTROL?

Healthy Heart Diet

FRANCES SHERIDAN GOULART

Special to the Jewish News

K

eeping your heart
healthy? Put on your
walking shoes and
stop chewing the fat. Amer-
icans eat too much fat —
more than 40 percent of the
calories in the S.A.D. (Stan-
dard American Diet) comes
from meat. Americans are the
world's champion meat-
eaters — 111 lbs. per capita
yearly. Eggs, butter, cheese,
ice cream and fast foods ac-
count for most of the rest.
What's the limit? The
American Heart Association
recommends a limit of less
than 30 percent. And if you
can live with 20 percent,
you'll live a lot longer. Fat
does more than make you fat,
it supplies more than twice
the calories that protein or
carbohydrates do (9 vs. 4 per
gram).
Fat clogs the arteries and
sets the stage for heart
/-- disease and strokes, and
when the arteries become
clogged (a condition called
atherosclerosis, or hardening
of the arteries), your risk of
blood vessel disease rises.
Atherosclerosis is the leading
cause of early death among
Americans. And saturated
fats tend to raise the level of
cholesterol in the blood.
Highly unsaturated or
polyunsaturated fats, on the
other hand, tend to lower
blood cholesterol levels. But
total fat is what counts most,
says the AHA.
Reducing salt to 3 grams (1
teaspoon of salt) or less, get-
ting more fiber, and exercis-
ing every day — even a brisk
walk does the cardiovascular
trick, says the President's
Council on Physical Fitness
— are other factors that do
the most to keep your heart
healthy.
1
What are you doing from
day to day to protect or en-
danger your heart? Every
habit
counts for something.
L
Check out your heart smarts
/73
with this quiz — compiled
from information provided by
the National Institutes of
Health, the American Heart
Association, the President's
Council on Physical Fitness
and the American Medical
/-)
Association. Give yourself
one point for each correct
answer, and keep track of
your score.
1. Eggs contribute most
cholesterol to the average
diet. True or false?
• True. They account for 35
percent. Beef is next (16
percent).
2. The top five sources of
fat in the American diet are
hamburgers, meat loaf (7.0

Frances Sheridan Goulart is a
writer who lives in Connecticut.

percent); hot dogs, ham,
lunch meats (6.4 percent);
whole milk (6.0 percent);
doughnuts, cakes, cookies
(6.0 percent); and pork (5.5
percent). True or false?
• True for the first four, but
beef steak and roasts, not
pork, are number 5.
3. Meat alone accounts for
27 percent of the total fat and
33 percent of the saturated
fat in the American diet. True
or false?
• True.
4. Name three food oils
that are most beneficial to
heart and arteries.
• Olive oil, soybean oil,
corn oil, but Dr. Scott Grun-
dy, director of the Center for
Human Nutrition at the
University of Texas Health
Science Center in Dallas,
recommends combining all
three and using in place of
butter and shortening.
5. If your blood pressure is
normal it should be checked
every two years, then yearly
after age 50. True or false?
• True.
6. Which three food sup-
plements protect your heart
and help lower cholesterol
buildup?
a) Antioxidants such as
vitamins C, E and selenium
b) Soy lecithin and zinc
c) Vitamins B-1 (thiamin),
B-5 (nantothenate), c) B-6
(pyridoxine)
• A, b and c are all true,
says Dr. Arnold Fox, inter-
nist cardiologist and former
assistant professor of med-
icine at the University of
California at Irvine Medicine
School.
7. Which of these vege-
tables is a source of
unhealthy saturated fat?
a) avocados
b) tomatoes
c) eggplant
• A. The avocado is the on-
ly vegetable that's not so hot
for your heart. (Eggplant
helps reduce cholesterol;
tomatoes do neither.)
8. The three best sports for
building cardiovascular
fitness for life are swimming,
bowling and bicycling. True
or false?
• False, says the Presi-
dent's Council on Physical
Fitness. Jogging or brisk
walking are better than
bowling.
9. Which of the following
foods does the American
Heart Association suggest
eating daily to keep your
heart healthy?
a) eggs
b) corn oil
c) bran
• B and c. Once or twice a
week is enough for eggs.
10. Which of the following
foods helps prevent danger-
ous blood clots?
a) Capsicum hot peppers
b) Spaghetti
c) Potatoes

CAN HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT
IN A NEW AND UNIQUE WAY

CALL 353-0465
Don't Give up on Yourself!!!

American Heart
Association

of Michigan

Do you know
who's healthier?

74
Pre-exercise heart rate:
/30/ 90
Blood pressure:
/65/110 — hot-
Cold pressor reaction:
7 "nets
Maximal oxygen consumption:
poor"'
Cardiovascular fitness level:
/ lra
Maximum heart rate:
Percent body fat:
Total cholesterol:
Total HDL/cholesterol ratio:
300
Triglycerides:
90
.Glucose..
h
Risk of coronary heart disease..

SS"
Pre-exercise heart rate'
6ff
1 1.5
Blood pressure .
— CohR,
Cold pressor reaction . /
1.3 ■Pleits
Maximal oxygen consumption .
Cardiovascular fitness level: CY—GGI/ e
I 10
Ma61111171 heart rate'
g
Percent body fat:
1 72
Total cholesterol:
Total HDL/cholesterol ratio'
3
Triglycerides:
VA
Glucose'
los4/
Risk of coronary heart disease.• ✓e

It's hard 'to tell how healthy a body is just by
looking. For example, the two 40-year-old males
above appear to be in fairly good shape. But take
a look at the facts we discovered when we put
them through the Sinai Hospital Health and
Physical Fitness Evaluation.
How would you shape up in these tests? Do
you really know what your fitness level is? Do you
really know what your coronary risk level is?

And we won't just stop at telling you what your
health situation is. We'll also show you how you
can capitalize on your strengths and Improve
your weaknesses for better total fitness. We'll
give you information on diet and other lifestyle
changes, as well as an individual exercise
prescription, tailored to your specific needs.
If you want to know about your health, say
"yes to know" by calling Sinai's Cardiac Fitness
and Rehabilitation Program. For your Health

Get the facts

—

your facts

—

for only $150.

Find out how well you rate on all the tests listed
above, plus numerous other wellness indicators.
All for only $150. Isn't that a small price to pay for
the peace of mind of really knowing your state
of health?

rr

.

and Fitness Evaluation call 493 6333.

-

THIS IS SINAI.

USING ALL WE KNOW TO MAKE YOU WELL.

Continued on Page 61

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