Eat Well to Keep Your Heart Healthy
It’s time to break the gender health stereotype: Heart disease is the leading cause of death of women and a major threat to women’s overall health and well-being. Click here for more information on dried plums’ role in heart health.
Note: The following information is neither a substitute for regular medical checkups nor a substitute for discussing your general health and nutrition needs with your physician or health care provider. For more information on reducing your risk of heart disease, visit the Web site of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health at www.nhlbi.nih.gov.
Heart disease usually affects women about 10 years later in life than men—at about 55 years of age, or after menopause—because estrogen plays a protective role in younger women. With increasing age, arteries become thicker and less elastic. If the buildup of cells, fat and cholesterol further harden and narrow arteries and cut off blood flow, a stroke or heart attack may result.
Heart disease, however, is more than a "heart attack". High levels of blood cholesterol and fatty deposits narrow the arteries that bring oxygen and nutrients to your heart. This puts a great strain on your health, although you may have few symptoms initially. Women often experience different warning signs of progressive heart disease than do men, such as unexplained heartburn or indigestion or prolonged and profound fatigue.
To protect your heart early in your life:
- Control known risk factors such as high blood pressure and high levels of blood cholesterol.
- Maintain a healthy weight.
- Stay active.
- Stop smoking if you haven’t already.
- Find ways to relax and enjoy life.
Food choices play an important role in modifying the risk for heart disease. Although dietary recommendations have tended to focus on the role of fat as the basis for a heart-healthy diet, research continues to discover the benefits of a total-diet and food-based approach, such as the eating plan from the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) study funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The DASH eating plan follows guidelines to limit saturated fat and cholesterol and increases foods rich in nutrients to lower blood pressure through minerals like potassium, calcium and magnesium. The DASH eating plan emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, low-fat and fat-free milk and milk products, fish, poultry and nuts. It is lower in lean red meat, sweets, added sugars and sugar-containing beverages compared to the usual American diet.
The DASH eating plan recommends a certain number of servings from various food groups depending on caloric need. On 2,000 calories a day, 8–10 servings of fruits and vegetables are recommended. Make one of your fruit selections dried plums.
Dried Plums May Help Women Lower Blood Cholesterol Levels after Menopause
At menopause, women’s risk for coronary heart disease drastically increases due to loss of estrogen. Options for lowering cholesterol include a diet rich in plant fiber and other protective nutrients.
In an animal model of postmenopausal hormone deficiency, dried plums suppressed a rise in blood cholesterol without affecting HDL (good) cholesterol associated with the onset of menopause, according to a study conducted at Oklahoma State University. The study showed that including the equivalent of about 10–12 dried plums in the diet of ovarian-hormone-deficient animals prevented the rise in total and non-HDL blood cholesterol levels. Postmenopausal women who are not on HRT and who are seeking ways to lower total cholesterol might consider including fiber-containing foods, such as dried plums, in their daily food choices.
www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/
Lucas, E.A., Juma, S., Stoecker, B.J., and Arjmandi, B.H. "Prune Suppresses Ovariectomy-Induced Hypercholesterolemia in Rats." Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry 11 (2000): 255–259.