How healthy is your heart?
About 35 to 50 per cent of cases of heart disease in India affect people below
the age of 50. In the West, the average age is 55. Cardiologist K K Sethi,
Delhi Heart and Lung Institute, even has mothers bringing their 14-year-old
children with complaints of high blood pressure. He says, "Most children today
get no exercise and spend their time in front of the television, eating potato
chips as they stay up the night to study. They also have big tummies. By the
time they touch 40, it all accumulates in the form of a heart attack."
Heart ailments are also no longer a rich man's disease. Consumerism and
urbanisation have ensured that even villages have access to unhealthy junk food
like potato chips. Says Dr Sethi, "I get rickshaw-pullers who have suffered
heart attacks. They eat meals cooked in unhealthy oil on the roadside."
The number one reason for a heart attack, however, remains smoking. And, among
women, smoking and diabetes. According to a study in Finland, published in
Tobacco Control, individuals under the age of 40, who smoke tobacco products,
have a five times higher chance of having a heart attack than non-smokers.
Smoking is the single most important cause of heart attacks in younger patients
and among patients below the age of 40 who had heart attacks, 80 per cent were
smokers. And smoking was the only risk factor identified in over half of these
young victims of heart attack.
"Avoid eating jalebis and kachodi, which are cooked in vanaspati oil. It's a
killer," says Dr Sethi. "The more it's reheated, it gets oxidised and creates
transfats in the body," he adds.
Dr Shubha Sabharwal, nutritionist, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, suggests,
"Restrict eating out to once a week and if you're at a business meeting, opt
for salads, which will also detoxify the body. Introduce fibres in your diet
through bran and wheat flour. Cut down on red meat and egg yolks that are high
in cholesterol. Eat foods that protect your heart. Instead of refined oil,
switch to mustard or olive oil."
Restrict eating out to once a week.
- If you're at a business meeting, opt for salads, with non-fatty dressings.
- Introduce fibres in your diet through bran and wheat flour.
- Snack on flax seeds and walnuts, which are rich in Omega 3 fatty acids.
- Cut down on red meat (beef, mutton, lamb) and egg yolks that are high in
cholesterol. Eat plenty of fish - sardines, salmon, mackarel.
