Misunderstandings about food that affect heart health

Eating dairy is good for the heart

MSc. Tran Quoc Viet, Department of Cardiology, Tam Anh General Hospital, Hanoi, said many people often use butter to fry, stir-fry, and grill food… But not all types of butter are good for health. . Animal butter is of natural origin, separated from animal milk (mainly cow’s milk) with a high fat content of about 80%. Margarine is extracted from oil-containing seeds such as cereals, beans, almonds, cashews… with a low fat content of about 20%.

When eating a lot of animal butter, the body absorbs large amounts of saturated fat, increasing bad cholesterol levels more than good cholesterol. Bad cholesterol is the main factor causing atherosclerosis, plaque that narrows and clogs arteries leading to stroke.

Meanwhile, margarine helps reduce bad cholesterol, suitable for dieters, overweight and obese people, people at risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.

All types of sugar are harmful to the heart

Doctor Viet explains that not all sugar is bad. Natural sugars available in fruits, vegetables, milk, cereals… provide energy, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to maintain overall health.

Added sugar (refined sugar) added to candy, soft drinks, packaged foods… provides “empty calories”, without fiber, vitamins, minerals and other nutritional ingredients. Eating a lot of added sugar can easily cause weight gain, promote aging, tooth decay, and hormonal imbalance. This type of sugar is absorbed quickly, causing post-meal blood sugar levels to skyrocket. The result is damage to the heart and arteries, increased insulin levels, increased heart rate and high blood pressure.

Eating lots of pink salt helps improve heart health

Pink salt has slightly less sodium than regular table salt. This salt also has small amounts of pink-enhancing mineral elements such as magnesium, zinc, iron, calcium and potassium. Due to its diverse nutritional value, many people think adding pink salt to their daily meals helps maintain overall health, supports the circulatory system to function well, and reduces the risk of low blood pressure or vascular congestion problems. blood.

Doctor Viet said there are currently not many studies proving the uses of pink salt. Pink salt still contains sodium and chloride, eating too much pink salt causes a lot of sodium to be absorbed into the body. When the sodium content in the blood increases, the kidneys have to work at full capacity to filter the blood, to balance the ion concentration in the body. The consequence is an increase in osmotic pressure in the blood vessels, causing water to move inside the blood vessels, causing increased blood volume and high blood pressure.

According to recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), each person should eat less than 5 grams of salt a day.