by Ashleigh Feltham Accredited Practising Dietitian and Accredited Nutritionist

Heart disease is still the number one killer in Australians. Eliminating all fat in your diet is not the answer to preventing heart disease. In fact, you need fat to support the health of your body and your heart. One great way to promote healthy cholesterol levels and heart health is to not simply include healthy fats in your diet, but swap them in place of the less healthy fats like saturated fats and trans fats as well as foods with high amounts of added sugars.

Including healthy fats like omega-3 fat in your diet promotes a healthy heart in many ways. One way is by lowering the triglyceride levels in your blood. Triglycerides are a type of fat and when the level of triglycerides exceeds 150mg, it can reduce the effectiveness of your good HDL cholesterol. This cholesterol helps to remove the bad LDL cholesterol from your arteries and back into the liver where the LDL cholesterol is broken down and excreted from your body.

A study found that for 1 gram of marine-derived omega-3 polyunsaturated fat there was a 5-10% decrease in triglyceride levels. Plant based omega-3 fats showed no such benefit to triglyceride levels in this study. Fatty fish are the most beneficial form of omega-3 fats, such as salmon, sardines, trout, mackerel and herring.

Many varieties of quality and ethically sourced salmon, trout and sardines are available from Safcol. For example, the Safcol Salmon Meals offer not only salmon but other ingredients which offer additional support to the health of your heart with wholegrains, legumes, vegetables and herbs.

Research shows how important reducing your triglyceride levels is for your health. By making simple swaps and healthy additions to your diet, you can decrease your triglyceride levels by 50% or more.

Take home message

Marine omega-3 fat is the superior source of this essential fat to help promote healthy triglyceride levels. Why not try adding in a seafood meal this week? It’s an easy swap to help reduce your triglyceride levels, which will make big changes to your health and your life.

Reference:

1. Miller M, Stone NJ, Ballantyne C, Bittner V, Criqui MH, Ginsberg HN, Goldberg AC, Howard WJ, Jacobson MS, Kris-Etherton PM, Lennie TA, Levi M, Mazzone T, Pennathur S; American Heart Association Clinical Lipidology, Thrombosis, and Prevention Committee of the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism; Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology; Council on Cardiovascular Nursing; Council on the Kidney in Cardiovascular Disease. Triglycerides and cardiovascular disease: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2011 May 24;123(20):2292-333. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0b013e3182160726. Epub 2011 Apr 18. PMID: 21502576.