47 replies to this topic

[Gary Smith]

There is absolutely NO question that fast acting carbohydrates (sugars), are the REAL contributors to heart disease. NO QUESTION AT ALL. Low fat propoganda is rubbish. A large glass of orange juice will do more to clog your arteries than a fatty steak. Fat and protein are not the villians. Anyone who understands insulin and it's power to raise LDL cholesterol, will agree. Don't be fooled by all the bogus health promoting ads for juice. And of course soft drinks are even worse. Humans were never meant to consume large quantities of liquid sugar (and yes, juice is all sugar ... even V8 vegetable juice ... all carbohydrate). The scientific evidence is overwhelming.

Best to all, C.C. :)

I drink a *very* large glass of orange juice daily but the type fortified with cholesterol lowering plant sterols. There was a study out of Canada long ago about orange juice raising HDL levels. I agree completely though that sugar is the enemy to those of us who are cholesterol fanatics. And I am more than a fanatic when it comes to lowering cholesterol. I eat a very high fat diet that consists primarily of peanut butter and almonds. I also find Metamuscil and the widely advertised Cheerios are also great at lowering cholesterol. I am 61 and I must be doing something right diet-wise with my total cholesterol to HDL ratio at a miniscule 2.17 to 1. My goal is to do something my doc said is near impossible and that is to get my HDL above my LDL and I am just about there.

[OEXCHAOS]

Nice job, Gary. A couple tips. Try steel-cut oats instead of Cheerios. More complex carbs, higher fiber, cheaper, and frankly tastier. Also, just buy psyllium husk instead of Metamuscil. It's cleaner and just as easy to take. It has the same fiber, but it's cheaper (I order mine on line for less than my healfood store sells it for which is less than the Grocery charges for Metamuscil and I don't have to deal with the artificial sweeteners. Mark

[stocks]

Scientists Say Carbs -- Not Fat -- Are the Biggest Problem with America's Diet

There's a growing body of scientific evidence that until now has been treated as nutritional poison: Fat is good, carbs are bad.

The Los Angeles Times has a detailed report on the growing body of scientific evidence that until now has been treated as nutritional poison: Fat is good, carbs are bad.

"The country’s big low-fat message backfired," Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, told the Times. "The overemphasis on reducing fat caused the consumption of carbohydrates and sugar in our diets to soar. That shift may be linked to the biggest health problems in America today."

Says Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health: "If Americans could eliminate sugary beverages, potatoes, white bread, pasta, white rice and sugary snacks, we would wipe out almost all the problems we have with weight and diabetes and other metabolic diseases."

Food

[stocks]

Heart disease risk inherited through genes, not behaviour

Parents increase their child's risk of coronary heart disease through their genes and not through the family's diet or lifestyle

a study of more than 80,000 men and women who were adopted as children showed that susceptibility to the disease is transmitted in the womb and not in the home.

They found that adoptees who had at least one biological parent with CHD had up to 60 per cent more chance of suffering the disease themselves, compared with a control group.
In contrast, growing up in a home with adoptive parents who suffered from CHD resulted in no additional risk for the child, even if both parents had the disease.
Prof Kristina Sundquist, who led the study, said it showed that inherited risk of CHD is genetic and parents' lifestyles are not to blame for passing it on to their children.

CHD

[Echo]

There are 5 major risk factors for clogging arteries be it the heart, carotids or legs. Once you have identified that there is even minor buildup in any artery, the risk of heart attacks and strokes are much higher for that individual, irrespective of these 5 risk factors. 1. Genetics (family hx of coronary disease age less than 55 in men and 65 in women) 2. Smoking 3. Diabetes and pre diabetes (impaired glucose tolerance) 4. Cholesterol (High LDL more important than Low HDL or High Triglycerides, but all important) 5. Hypertension I think the point of some of these articles stocks is posting is that it is no good to be a low fat diet person if it means that you eat enough carbs to turn into an overweight diabetic or pre-diabetic person. Pre-diabetes is nearly as much risk for clogging arteries as diabetes. Stress test only tell you if blockage more than 50% are present. 0-50% is usually silent on the stress test. If stress test is abnormal, you have identified a person at higher risk and can do more aggressive prevention. If it is negative, you still urge prevention as patient might have early plaque and can have a heart attack on the way home from the normal stress test. This is because nearly all heart attacks occur when a plaque 10-50% becomes unstable (plaque rupture) and suddenly the artery clots off 100% shutting down blood flow to the downstream heart muscle. These 10-50% plaques are not detected by stress tests. The best way to prevent plaque rupture is to stablize the plaques by controlling risk factors 2-5 above. Can't change #1. How do you know if you have these 10-50% plaques if you have a normal stress test? Good question. Patients can just do a great job on prevention with controlling risks as if they have plaques. A heart scan can show calcium in the arteries. An elevated hs-CRP might suggest increased risk. So can being sedentary and obese. This little review puts into proper context some of the above info, which if taken at face value, can be misinterperted. All coming to you courtesy of, Doc ps I drink OJ

[Echo]

By the way, as you can see from the above, the primary person in charge of reducing your risk of heart attack and stroke is yourself, not your doctor. Don't blame the doctor for your body's inperfections. YOU have to not smoke. YOU have to not get fat. YOU have to eat properly and exercise so as not to get high blood pressure, diabetes, and poor cholesterol numbers. If you are doing all you can with your lifestyles and then you still have the above, THEN you doctor can prescribe medicines to help get the blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol to target numbers. Doctors can only help you diagnose you risk factors and then help you with medicines IF you can't get optimal numbers with lifestyle measures. DOCTORS DO NOT CLAIM TO HAVE THE POWER TO PREVENT HEART ATTACKS AND STROKES, JUST TO REDUCE THE RISKS IN PATIENTS WHO ARE INTERESTED ENOUGH TO GET CHECKED OUT, IDENTIFY THEIR PERSONAL RISK FACTORS, REDUCE THEIR RISK FACTORS THROUGH NATURAL MEANS AND THEN TOP IT OFF WITH MEDICINE IF TARGET GOALS FOR PREVENTION CAN'T BE REACHED WITH LIFESTYLE MEASURES. WE FACILITATE HEALTH IN CONCERNED PATIENTS. DOC

[Echo]

The deadly effects of orange juice can be cut dramatically with an equal amount of vodka.

I'm proof. About 80 proof.

This is one of the funniest responses I have seen Rog. Had forgotten about this one.

[Rogerdodger]

The deadly effects of orange juice can be cut dramatically with an equal amount of vodka.
I'm proof. About 80 proof.

This is one of the funniest responses I have seen Rog. Had forgotten about this one.

That wasn't a joke Doc.
It was a health tip!

Seriously I've always been fairly well self disciplined and thankfully cigarettes don't do anything for me.
I know that diet and exercise are important, but both can become OCDs, obsessive compulsive disorders.
I think it's rooted in deep seated anxieties.
Mortality itself tends to make one anxious.

So for me, moderation is what I strive for, but I no doubt work too hard, because I love it.
And I like smoked ribs a bit too much.
I hope to fall over dead in my 80's while picking my home grown tomatoes.

[stocks]

Butter is Back


A meta-analysis published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine found that there’s just no evidence to support the notion that saturated fat increases the risk of heart disease. (In fact, there’s some evidence that a lack of saturated fat may be damaging.) The researchers looked at 72 different studies and, as usual, said more work — including more clinical studies — is needed. For sure. But the days of skinless chicken breasts and tubs of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter may finally be drawing to a close.



http://www.nytimes.c...-back.html?_r=0

[Rogerdodger]

Dr. David Pearlmutter was recently on PBS encouraging consumption of fats for the brain to help ward off Alzheimer's, while discouraging carbs and gluten.
http://www.drperlmutter.com/

"In Grain Brain, as well as my recent PBS program, BrainChange, I described that this very same process, inflammation, is actually a pivotal player in such diverse brain conditions as Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and even autism.

That said, the most fundamental take home message of all my media outreach is to convince everyone willing to listen that you’ve got to do everything possible to reduce inflammation. And that means a diet rich in inflammation-reducing foods like healthful fats, minimal in carbohydrates and strictly gluten-restricted."

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