Decrease Saturated and Trans Fats & Increase Polyunsaturated Fats Consumption for Longer Life.
Did you know that fats – the healthy ones – can actually extend your life expectancy?
That is some good news for around a million healthy fat lovers worldwide. This is a claim that have been poised after experts have found out that some 50,000 heart disease associated deaths have been due to low intake of vegetable oils, known healthy polyunsaturated fats.
This study was posted by Boston’s Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, headed by Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian on the Journal of the American Heart Association in January 20, 2016.
Polyunsaturated fats or the good, healthy fats, can originate from:
- Fatty fish such as herring, , salmon, and trout
- Beans like soybeans and products like tofu; seeds like sunflower seeds and walnuts; as well as vegetable oils like corn oil, soybean oil, and sunflower oil.
According to AHA or the American heart Association, these are healthy fats that can help lower bad cholesterol in the body and the risk of having heart disease or even stroke. Consuming the daily expected amount can surely improve the overall health condition of the person and thus the life expectancy of the person.
The exact opposite of healthy fats or poly unsaturated fats are called saturated fats, which people usually find in meats as well as dairy products. The same is true with Trans fats, which can be found in baked, fried, or processed food. Consuming these types of fats in an excessive amount can eventually harm the overall health condition of a person, leading to heart problems and all other health complications that includes stroke. The more important thing though is that these harmful fats should not only be avoided but that people should consume more polyunsaturated fats to keep body healthy and strong.
Doing this, Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian believes that the 700,000 deaths that have been accounted from records since 2010 can surely be minimized drastically. All these deaths are thought to root from the lack or low consumption of omega-6 polyunsaturated fats. It is significantly interesting that these figures make up the 10 percent of the annual heart disease associated deaths around the world. Conversely, only 4 percent of the deaths associated with heart disease problems are accounted to eating excessive amounts of saturated fats or around 250,000 and 8 percent to trans fats.
It is also good to note the distribution of these deaths by countries. United States and Canada are still highest in heart disease deaths that are associated to excessive trans fats consumption, while tropical countries like Malaysia and the Philippines are still highest in heart disease deaths that are associated to saturated fats excessive consumption. Egypt, Germany and Russia are the countries that top the list when it comes to heart disease deaths rooting from low polyunsaturated fats consumption.
Therefore, to be truly healthy, it is no longer good to simply lower the saturated and trans fats intake but also increase the intake of polyunsaturated fats. Doing so will definitely help improve the physical health of a person and at the same time extend the life expectancy.
Source: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_156802.html
