Dietary Tips

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that you read food labels, in order to make healthy choices. The percentage of daily values shown on labels are based on one serving of the labeled food for a diet consisting of 2000 calories per day.

One of the most important steps you can take to manage your cholesterol levels is to eat a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Cholesterol intake should be less than 300 milligrams per day. Avoid foods that are high in saturated fat, trans-fatty acids, and dietary cholesterol. Choose foods that contain monosaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats.

But what are all these fats and how do you know which fats are in which foods?

The Bad Fats:

Saturated fats, which stay solid at room temperature, are found in foods from animals (beef, pork, chicken, and dairy products) as well as some plant foods (coconut oil, palm oil, and cocoa butter). The American Heart Association recommends limiting your daily intake of saturated fat to 7%-10% of your total calories.

Hydrogenated fats are fats that have undergone a chemical process. This is common in margarine and shortening. You should use hydrogenated fats only if they contain no more than 2 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon.

Trans-fatty acids are found in small amounts in some animal products such as, beef, pork, lamb, and butterfat. Trans-fatty acids are also made during hydrogenation, so they are also found in margarine, shortening, and cooking oils.

The Good Fats:

Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are found primarily in oils from plants (safflower, sesame, sunflower, corn, canola, olive, and peanut oils). These oils may help lower your cholesterol levels if you use them in place of saturated fats. Polyunsaturated fat intake should be up to 10% of calories; monounsaturated fat can make up to 15% of total calories.

Remember, cholesterol is found only in foods that come from animals. So the more plants you eat, the lower your cholesterol intake.

Healthy Foods to Enjoy

Whole-grain breads and cereals
Vegetables
Beans
Rice
Fruits
Pasta
Skinless chicken
Fish
Lean cuts of meat
Low-fat milk (skim/1%)
Yogurt
Egg whites
Low-fat cheese

Foods to Avoid or Limit

Egg yolks
Ice cream
Fried food
Organ meat (liver/kidney)
Fast-food hamburgers
Full-fat cheeses
Snack food with saturated fat or hydrogenated oils (chips, cakes, cookies, crackers, candy)

Get a printable version of these tips to post on your refrigerator or keep handy for dining out.

The USDA has developed an updated food pyramid to help you make healthy food choices. Click here to learn more.

The TLC Diet

If you need help revamping your diet, the Therapeutic Lifestyles Changes (TLC) Diet can help you lower your cholesterol and get to goal. The TLC diet recommends:

Getting less than 7% of your daily calories from saturated fat
Making sure that less than 25%-35% of your daily calories come from fat
Consuming less than 200 mg of dietary cholesterol a day
Eating just enough calories to achieve or maintain a healthy weight

Read more about the diet at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s web site, then ask your doctor if it might be right for you.

Recipes Booklets

The National Cholesterol Education Program NCEP offers free recipe booklets here.

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Important Safety Information

ANTARA® (fenofibrate) capsules is contraindicated in patients with hypersensitivity to fenofibrate, in patients with hepatic or severe renal dysfunction including primary biliary cirrhosis, in patients with unexplained persistent liver function abnormality, and in patients with preexisting gallbladder disease.
Fenofibrate has been associated with increases in serum transaminases. Regular periodic monitoring of liver function should be performed, for duration of therapy, and therapy discontinued if enzyme levels persist above 3 times the normal limit.
There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Fenofibrate should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.
Improving glycemic control in diabetic patients showing fasting chylomicronemia will usually reduce fasting triglycerides and eliminate chylomicronemia thereby obviating the need for pharmacologic intervention. Markedly elevated levels of serum triglycerides (eg, >2000 mg/dL) may increase the risk of developing pancreatitis. ANTARA therapy on reducing this risk has not been studied.
Fenofibrate may increase cholesterol excretion into the bile, leading to cholelithiasis. If cholelithiasis is suspected, ANTARA therapy should be discontinued.
The combined use of ANTARA and HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors should be avoided unless the benefit of further alterations in lipid levels is likely to outweigh the increased risk. The combined use of fibric acid derivatives and HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors has been associated with rhabdomyolysis, markedly elevated creatine kinase levels, and myoglobinuria, leading to acute renal failure.
The use of fibrates alone including ANTARA, may occasionally be associated with myositis, myopathy, or rhabdomyolysis. Patients complaining of muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness should have prompt medical evaluation for myopathy. Discontinue ANTARA if myopathy or myositis is suspected or diagnosed.
The effect of ANTARA on coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality and noncardiovascular mortality has not been established.
Patients treated with other fibrate drugs experienced an increase in noncardiovascular and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality compared with placebo-treated patients.
Other precautions include pancreatitis, hypersensitivity reactions, and hematologic changes. Refer to full Prescribing Information for a complete list of precautions.
Caution should be exercised when coumarin anticoagulants are given in conjunction with ANTARA. The dosage of the anticoagulants should be reduced to maintain the prothrombin time/INR at the desired level to prevent bleeding complications. Frequent prothrombin time/INR determinations are advisable until it has been definitely determined that the prothrombin time/INR has stabilized.
Since bile acid sequestrants may bind other drugs given concurrently, patients should take ANTARA at least 1 hour before or 4–6 hours after a bile acid binding resin to avoid impeding its absorption.
Cyclosporine can produce nephrotoxicity with decreases in creatinine clearance and rises in serum creatinine. Because renal excretion is the primary elimination route of fibrate drugs including ANTARA, there is a risk that an interaction will lead to deterioration. The benefits and risks of using ANTARA with immunosuppressants and other potentially nephrotoxic agents should be carefully considered, and lowest effective dose employed.
Fenofibric acid is known to be substantially excreted by the kidney, and the risk of adverse reactions to this drug may be greater in patients with impaired renal function. Because elderly patients are more likely to have decreased renal function, care should be taken in dose selection.
The most common (≥2% reported in clinical trials) side effects are: abnormal liver function test, including increased AST; increased ALT; CPK increase; respiratory disorder; abdominal pain; back pain; headache; diarrhea; nausea; rhinitis; asthenia; flu syndrome and constipation.

Please see full Prescribing Information.

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