Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Every 34 seconds, an American life is claimed by heart disease. Nearly one million Americans each year die from heart disease. That's more lives than the next five causes of death combined.

But heart disease is not just a man's disease.

Although they largely are not aware of it, women are affected by heart disease as much as men, even though it strikes females 10 years later in life. A Gallup survey of women sponsored by the American Medical Women's Association found:

80 percent do not know that heart disease is the leading cause of death for females

70 percent believe heart attack warning signs are the same for women as they are for men (when in actuality, they can be significantly different)

Only 50 percent know that menopause increases a woman's risk for heart disease

Other information on women and heart disease revealed that:

A woman who has a heart attack is one-and-a-half times as likely as a man to die from it, and, if she survives, more likely to have a second one. Framingham Heart Study

In women, the rate of death from heart disease far exceeds that of breast cancer. One woman in 25 dies of breast cancer. One in two dies of cardiovascular disease, including a heart attack or stroke. Heart disease is the number-one killer of women. 2003 American Heart Association Heart and Stroke Statistical Update

In addition, a survey by Prevention magazine found that only 33 percent of women surveyed knew that their chance of dying from breast cancer is less than that from a heart attack. In fact, the risk is five times higher, but 58 percent thought it was lower or the same risk.

But heart disease does not just develop overnight in men or women. It is a disease that takes years to develop, according to researchers. Changes in the body that eventually lead to heart disease begin in childhood and progress slowly as people age. High blood cholesterol levels, one of the easiest risk factors to measure, clearly play a role in the development of heart disease.

Good Nutrition is Key to Prevention

Although mortality from coronary heart disease has been declining in the U.S. for years, unhealthy lifestyles including poor diet, obesity and lack of physical activity are contributing to a slowdown in the progress that has been made against this disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Therefore, health professionals are stepping up efforts to encourage consumers to adopt more heart-healthy diets and to become more physically active.

Good nutrition always has been important in the prevention of heart disease. The American Heart Association (AHA) makes a point of this in recently updated dietary guidelines. These guidelines offer basic dietary advice that can help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease in healthy adults and children over the age of two. The AHA guidelines recommend that healthy individuals obtain adequate nutrients from foods eaten in variety, balance and moderation. The guidelines stress balancing food intake with physical activity and encourage selection of a diet that is:

low in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol;
rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grain products;
moderate in sugar, salt, sodium and alcohol.

Soft Margarine Spread: The Healthier Tablespread

According to an article in the January 1999 Tufts University Health & Nutrition Newsletter, "A recent study from the USDA’s Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland, helps answer the question (concerning butter or soft margarine spreads). Scientists there studied 46 men and women for several months, periodically varying the type of spread they ate: butter, soft margarine spread, or trans-free soft margarine spread. The result: both soft margarine spreads significantly improved blood cholesterol levels over butter, helping to put to rest any doubt about whether it would be better to switch back to butter from soft margarine spreads."

As stated above, people eat whole foods, not individual fatty acids. At least eight studies have demonstrated the health benefits of soft margarine spread as a food, including a recent study that showed that foods rich in vitamin E, such as soft margarine spreads, significantly reduced the risk of heart disease in women.

The American Heart Association and other leading health organizations still recommend soft margarine spreads over butter. Many of these products contain little or no transfats. The industry has reduced the trans content in many soft margarine spreads to meet consumer needs and preferences, just as it has reduced total fat, saturated fat and calories.

Saturated fats make up a larger portion of the fat in most diets than trans fats do, so consumers need to focus their efforts on cutting saturated fats. Experts estimate that trans fats comprise only 2-4 percent of total calories consumed in the average American diet, while Americans typically consume 12-14 percent of calories from saturated fat. Today’s soft margarine spreads can help consumers reach the goal of reducing saturated fat in the diet.

Even when you combine the trans and saturated fat in soft margarine spreads, they still have a better nutritional profile than butter. Compared to butter, soft margarine spreads contain 33-100 percent less of these two fats and many spreads actually have little or no trans fat. For those interested in reducing their intake of trans, some products (including sticks) are completely trans-free.

From the Mayo Clinic Health Letter

Q. What’s the current thinking about trans fatty acids in soft margarine spreads and the risk of heart disease?

A. Trans fatty acids don’t pose as much of a health concern as saturated fats. Trans fatty acids are formed during hydrogenation. This process changes vegetable oils into solid or semi-solid soft margarine spread or shortening.

Concern about trans fatty acids stems from research suggesting these fats raise blood cholesterol and so increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. But trans fatty acids don’t elevate blood cholesterol to the same degree as saturated fats. You also eat them in smaller quantities.

To control blood cholesterol, your goal is to limit fat. When you do add fat to food, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends soft margarine spread instead of butter because butter is high in saturated fats and cholesterol. The more liquid the soft margarine spread, such as tub or squeeze-bottle varieties, the less hydrogenated it is and the fewer trans fatty acids it contains.