FAT AND HYPERTENSION
We get fat in our diet from four sources:
♦ Saturated fat from beef, pork, lamb, veal, butter, milk, cheese, eggs, and other foods that come from animals. Coconut and chocolate are also high in saturated fat, as are margarine, cocoa butter, and palm oil.
♦ Polyunsaturated fats, which come from fish, poultry, vegetables, and vegetable oils (such as corn oil). Polyunsaturated fats are more fluid at room temperatures.
♦ Monounsaturated fats, found in olives and olive oil.
♦ Hydrogenated fats. These are fats or oils taken from vegetables and then artificially converted into solid shortening or margarine by adding hydrogen to them. In this process polyunsaturated fats are converted to saturated fats.
The fats from our foods get into our bloodstream, where they can cause the red blood cells to clump together. This can severely reduce the blood flow and oxygen exchange in certain parts of the body, leading to angina (chest pain) or a heart attack if the oxygen exchange is totally cut off. And if the arteries are
not already clogged, they can become so as the fat we eat is deposited onto the artery walls. The accumulation of plaque in the artery walls makes these pipes narrower and more rigid. It’s harder for the heart to pump blood through these narrowed, rigid pipes. It takes more pressure to keep the blood moving, and so the heart has to work harder.
*26\29\2*
