Fat and Cholesterol Advice from Dr. Jim Painter
Last week Safest Choice eggs sponsored an event for Chicago area Registered Dietitians and Food Service Managers. It was held at the warm and welcoming Ina’s restaurant in Chicago’s West Loop. A special one-hour presentation, Just the Facts: Fat and Cholesterol De-mystified, was given by eating behavior expert Dr. Jim Painter PhD, RD.
The meetings timing was perfect since September is National Cholesterol Education Month and Safest Choice wants people to be informed when it comes to the debate over the nutritional value of eggs versus cholesterol content.
Dr. Painter recommends not giving up eggs if you have a cholesterol problem. Instead of taking things out of your diet, he encourages people to add specific foods. His reasoning is that you won’t have time to miss or eat foods that should be avoided because it’s hard enough to get in all the foods recommended for lowering fat and cholesterol levels.
Here is some valuable information from his presentation: Contrary to popular belief, reducing cholesterol intake has very little effect on reducing LDL blood cholesterol. While reducing total fat has somewhat of an effect on LDL. Reduce fat by making simple switches such as skim milk instead of whole, popcorn instead of potato chips and low fat yogurt instead of sour cream.
Dr. Painter also suggests balancing omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids by consuming 6 ounces of fatty fish per week. Foods with plant stanol/ sterol esters lower serum LDL levels by helping to block the absorption of cholesterol. Nuts, legumes, soy, dietary fiber, red wine or 100% grape juice, tea, garlic and cocoa processed without alkali may all help decrease the risk of Cardiovascular Disease.
So how much should you be eating of what each week? Follow the list below to help reduce cholesterol naturally.
- Increase protein and carbohydrates in place of fat in the diet
- Reduce cholesterol has little effect on blood cholesterol
- Increase mono and polyunsaturated fat in place of saturated fat
- Increase omega 3 fats, eat Fish: 2 servings per week (serving = 3oz.)
- Nuts/Almonds: 2 oz./day
- Cholesterol-lowering margarine: 2-3 Tbsp/day
- Soy protein: 25 g/day
- Oats: 3 g beta-glucan soluble fiber/day
- Wine or Grape Juice : ½ – 1 cup per day
- Black or Green Tea: 1-2 cups per day
- Garlic 1-3 fresh cloves per day
- Chocolate 2 Tbsp cocoa powder/day
Dr. Painter was a wonderfully engaging speaker with a common sense approach to eating. We highly recommend seeing him speak if you have the chance. If not you can watch the film he produced, Portion Size Me, or read the nutrition text for culinary students he coauthored, The Art of Nutritional Cooking 3rd ed.
Dr. Painter received a Master’s degree from Oklahoma State University and a Ph.D from the University of Illinois. He has been a registered dietitian since 1980 and is a member of the American Dietetic Association. He is presently a professor and Chair of the School of Family and Consumer Science at Eastern Illinois University. A renowned expert on eating behavior, Dr. Painter has been the recipient of numerous grants, and serves on advisory boards of Paramount Farms, Pistachio Health and Disney, and is the Director of Nutrition Research at the California Raisin Marketing Board.
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I was lucky enough to be able to attend this event. Dr. Painter is wonderfully entertaining speaker, and always full of great information. And Ina throws down a great breakfast too!