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Just recently the American Heart Association (June of 2006) released new diet and lifestyle recommendations. The recommendations intended for healthy Americans age 2 and older replace the guidelines issued in 2000. Now recommended are:

' Further reducing saturated and trans fatty acids in the diet;
' Minimizing the intake of food and beverages with added sugars;
' Emphasizing physical activity and weight control;
' Eating a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and whole-grain foods;
' Avoiding use of an exposure to tobacco products; and
' Achieving and maintaining healthy cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose levels.

Although the previous recommendations stressed a healthy dietary pattern, these new recommendations broaden that concept to include the importance of a healthy lifestyle pattern. The chair of the American Heart Association's Nutrition Committee and Gershoff professor of nutrition science and policy at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, at Tufts University in Boston, Alice Lichtenstein, states: 'The two go together ' they should be inseparable.'

Alice Lichtenstein also states: 'The key message of the recommendations is to focus on long-term, permanent changes in how we eat and live. The best way to lower cardiovascular risk is to combine physical activity with heart-healthy eating habits, coupled with weight control and avoiding tobacco products.'

The American Heart Association continues to stress achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight. At this time, however, they are starting to put more emphasis on balancing the number of calories eaten with the number of calories burned. They are more concerned with how our food is prepared. We should avoid adding saturated fat, sugar or salt and portion size control.

The new American Heart Association recommendations statement also has new sections of practical information for consumers which includes:

' Knowing your caloric needs;
' Food preparation tips;
' Examples of dietary patterns consistent with the new; recommendations.

The new recommendations address special groups such as:

' Children;
' Older adults;
' Individuals with metabolic syndrome or chronic kidney disease;
' And certain socioeconomic groups at high risk for cardiovascular disease.

Since environmental factors strongly influence how Americans eat and exercise there is a new feature of the 2006 American Heart Association Diet and Lifestyle recommendations that includes:

' A list of ways that practitioners, restaurants, the food industry, schools and local governments can help the general public adopt the new recommendations.

Examples include:

1. Displaying caloric content prominently on menus;
2. reducing portion size;
3. limiting trans fatty acids;
4. And using low-saturated-fatty-acid oils in food preparation.

Another major change in the dietary recommendations is a lower goal for saturated fat: from less than 10 percent to less than 7 percent. The goal for trans fatty acids is less than 1 percent of total calories.

The American Heart Association recommends making changes in how we eat and move slowly and maintaining those changes over time.

There is a free brochure about the new recommendations called 'Making Healthy Food and Lifestyle Choices: Our Guide for American Adults.' You can call 1-800-AHA-USA1 or visit the website at http://www.americanheart.org.

Many health care professionals and scientists also recommend supplementing your diet with Fish Oil. In recent years, scientists discovered two types of LDL cholesterol. One type appears to have no potential to cause health problems. The other type is strongly associated with arterial plaques and can increase the risk of heart disease. Now we have what they call: Good and Bad Cholesterol. Scientists now tell us that the more bad 'bad' Cholesterol a person has the more likely they are to have a heart attack.

So'. how do we know what kind of Cholesterol we have? Your health care professional will have to do a cholesterol screening for you, and interpret the results for you.

According to the studies of some scientists you can improve your bad 'bad' cholesterol levels in two ways:

1. First, decrease your insulin levels.
2. Another way to decrease the bad 'bad' cholesterol is to supplement your diet with high-dose pharmaceutical-grade fish oils.

The fastest and most effective way is to do both simultaneously.

References: The American Heart Association; The Omega RX Zone written by: Dr. Barry Sears

* Disclaimer: The information contained in the articles are not meant to diagnose or treat any kind of a health problem. All health symptoms and problems should be addressed by a Medical Professional of your choice.

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