Many must have been shocked to hear of ex-President Bill Clinton’s sudden surgery.

He looked healthy and upbeat jogging as the television cameras rolled. Everyone saw how fit, trim, and energetic he was as he delivered his dynamic speech at the Democratic National Convention in July. He kept telling people around him, “I am eating better and working out.” Little did anyone expect him to undergo a quadruple-bypass surgery, which is said to be due to his bad eating habits.

The news of his bypass surgery did not shock me in the least. I remember watching him on television and seeing him ending his workout with a burger. His long-standing unhealthy eating habits of fatty food led to the clogging of four of his coronary arteries. Healthy nutrition habits just adopted cannot reverse a lifetime of non-healthy nutrition. Nor does the body choose where to deposit saturated fats after a fatty meal. Layers of fat are stored around the waist as well as around vital organs and inside blood vessels. The accumulated fat develops into plaque, hardening coronary arteries which become narrow and rigid, blocking the flow of blood to the heart tissue and muscle and resulting in a heart attack and damage to the heart muscles.

Fatty acids in small amounts are essential to the building of various body tissues and outer cell membranes. In combination with protein, fat helps regulate and produce hormones and neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers in the brain and body. These chemicals maintain a calibrated system of communication, repair, and rebuilding cells and tissues. Thus fat is important in moderation.

What makes fats healthy or unhealthy is the amount of saturation in fatty acids. Fat comes in three different kinds.

Saturated fatty acids (SFAs), such as animal and hydrogenated fats and butter, are those that remain solid at room temperature. Large amounts of SFAs are harmful as they promote the accumulation of “bad” cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), in the coronary arteries and block blood and oxygen supplies to the heart. When fat cells cause obstructions in arteries and vessels, a heart attack may occur.

Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) are fats that remain fluid at room temperature. Olives, nuts, seeds and avocados yield the healthy oils of MUFAs, which are recommended for raising “good” cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Elevated HDL blood levels help clean arteries and vessels, sweeping away LDL. A Mediterranean diet is known to be heart-healthy because of its olive oil and fish.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), the third kind of fat, are oils extracted from sunflower, safflower, and sesame seeds, soybeans, corn and walnuts. Omega-3 and omega-6 in PUFAs are essential for healthy cell membranes and the synthesis of some hormones. They are also ideal to cook with and a good replacement for saturated cooking fats, provided they are not subjected to the excessive heat of frying that can damage them.

In spite of fish fat being animal fat, its omega-3 content of essential fatty acids is extremely healthy and beneficial to both heart and brain. Fatty fish, such as salmon, is not the only source of omega-3; flaxseed and its oil, wheat germ, walnuts and dark leafy vegetables are very rich in this beneficial fat. Both omega-3 and omega-6 come in supplements as well.

A healthy diet consisting of the oils of olives, seeds and nuts, organically grown dark leafy greens and other vegetables, a variety of legumes, whole fruits and grains and fish, free-range chicken and eggs is very beneficial to health and heart. On the other hand, fatty meat, fried, processed, and refined foods, sugars, stimulants, a sedentary lifestyle, and stress can cause damage to the heart.

With moderation, a nutritious diet, moderate activity and stress reduction can lead to a healthy, joyful, energetic, and disease-free life. By adopting healthful habits, you should be able to prevent heart disease, pain, suffering and surgery. Remember that health abuse today often becomes health damage tomorrow.

(Mariam Alireza is a holistic science specialist. Send comments to [email protected].)