Heart Disease is the number one killer in the US today and it has retained its status since the 1940’s. Why were we not able to change this statistic even with all the advanced research and information that we have learned over the last 60 years? Either we are not listening to the advice of the researchers, or we are getting misinformation.

Do you recall when margarine was considered a major part of a list of heart healthy foods?

Now we know that margarine is actually dangerous. Margarine is a trans-fat that contains hydrogenated oils which have been shown to lead to inflammation in the arteries.

Now we are being told to lower our cholesterol, and the general consensus is the lower the better. President Eisenhower, when he had his first heart attack, had a total cholesterol level of 164 which is normal according to all standards.

He had his cholesterol checked many times a year and eliminated the saturated fats and conscientiously ate foods that were supposedly good for your heart. Subsequently he had a number of heart attacks, only to eventually die from heart disease.

Things haven’t really changed over the years. People are still trying to eat low cholesterol foods and yet the government statistics still show that every year more than 1 million people have heart attacks, and ½ a million people die each year from the disease.

Enabling yourself to heal from heart disease requires an honest look at the research. There are heart healthy foods that contain saturated fats, but they also contain other factors that may in fact be ultimately good for your heart.

Coconut oil, even though it is classified as a saturated fat, contains medium chain fatty acids which have been shown to lower LDL’s (bad cholesterol) and raise the HDL (good cholesterol) content.

People tend to stay away from avocado because it is high in saturated fats. Did you know that avocado has been shown to reduce overall cholesterol by 8% and it can raise the HDL’s by a whopping 15% ? Raising the HDL levels helps reduce the inflammation which causes heart disease. The same applies to nuts.

One last word of advice. If you are taking a statin drug, you must supplement with co-q 10. Statins drain the heart of this vital heart nutrient.

The research is out there. We just have keep an open mind, be flexible, and start eating heart healthy foods that have the potential to help heal your heart.