With the celebration of Philippine Heart Month this February, the Healthy Philippines Alliance (HPA), a network of public health advocates and civil society organizations convened by HealthJustice Philippines, reminded Filipinos to avoid unhealthy fats in their diet to prevent cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) like heart attack and stroke.
The HPA explained that saturated fat and trans fat are generally considered unhealthy when consumed in high amounts and increase risk of CVDs. Saturated fats are found in animal meat, dairy foods like cheese, butter, and palm oil. Trans fat is found in margarine, vegetable shortening, fried food, baked goods, and are artificially-made in processed food.
“We need to be mindful of the quantity and quality of fats in our diet. Eating too many unhealthy fats can raise bad cholesterol levels in our blood, block our arteries, and may lead to obesity, hypertension, CVDs including stroke,” explained Jennina Duatin, Nutritionist Dietitian and Board of Trustee of Diabetes Philippines, an HPA member organization.
Duatin further suggested, “We should avoid unhealthy fats that are also present in various ultra-processed food products. Instead, let’s consume healthy sources of fats, which are unsaturated fats found in avocados, fish like salmon and other local fatty fish, nuts such as almonds and walnuts, seeds like pumpkin and sesame seeds, and oils like canola and olive oil. Most importantly, our diet must include more fiber from whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends limiting daily intake of saturated fats for children and adults to only 10% of total calories, trans fat to 1%, and overall total fat intake to 30%. Meanwhile, industrially produced trans fat in packaged food is now banned in the Philippines based on orders issued by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“Effective healthy food policies are crucial to help improve our food environment and the Filipino diet to prevent heart disease and other NCDs. We need health champions among our policymakers to fight for the health of our people and pass laws like food warning labels. Not all Filipino consumers understand the fine print under the ‘Nutrition Facts’ of packaged food. We need policy interventions that help consumers more easily identify products high in fats, and even those high in sugar and sodium that negatively impact overall health,” said Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, former Health Secretary and Board Member of HealthJustice, also Lead Convenor of the HPA.
Apart from unhealthy eating, tobacco and vape use, harmful alcohol consumption, and insufficient physical activity are also strongly linked to heart problems, the HPA warned.
“Besides eating more nutritious food, you can protect your heart health in the long-term by adding more physical activity in your daily routine like walking. Also, let go of excessive alcohol drinking and smoking tobacco and vape. Otherwise, these factors will all contribute to a higher risk of atherosclerosis or the build-up of plaques in arteries that restrict blood flow to the heart,” reminded Dr. Galvez Tan.
The prevalence of overweight and obesity, a common risk factor to CVDs, has increased among Filipino adults from 40.2% in 2021 to 57.1% or 5 in every 10 adult, and occurs in 6 of 10 women, based on the latest 2023 National Nutrition Survey.
CVDs is the major cause of death in the Philippines. The Philippine Statistics Authority has recorded that NCDs are the top causes of deaths from January to August 2024. Ischemic heart disease ranked first with 60,253 cases or 19.8% of total deaths, and cerebrovascular disease like stroke was third with 30,552 cases accounting for 10% of total deaths. Globally, CVDs kill about 17.9 million people yearly, data from the WHO showed.
