Tips for Heart Health

[it stars saddam]

A family member of mine recently suffered a heart attack after several years of poor dietary habits. This occurence has awakened me to the importance of heart health. I've since cut down to skim milk and lowfat cottage cheese, but I'm wondering what other steps there are that one can take to ensure a healthy heart? I'm just curious as to what certain foods to avoid, and the foods that are beneficial to heart health. What's the final verdict on saturated fat?

[\S/]

Sorry to hear about your family member.

Fish oil has a direct effect on heart health.

Load up on healthy fats (make sure it fits into your calories/macros)...

Sat fats are good for your hormones.. just don't go overboard on them.

Stay away from trans fats.

[it stars saddam]

Yeah, I was definitely going crazy with saturated fats, hence the conversion to skim milk. I was drinking a 1/2 gallon of whole everyday, but now that I'm drinking skim I may drink even more since I won't have to worry about the fat levels.

[gymgrown]

I think everyone can agree that you need to avoid all hydrogenated oils and excessive sugar.

You will find a lot of dissent against the conventional wisdom regarding fat. I make sure to eat plenty of saturated fat and avoid all light-colored vegetable oils. Here's some food for thought:
http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/skinny.html

[Ledge]

Originally Posted by it stars saddam

Yeah, I was definitely going crazy with saturated fats, hence the conversion to skim milk. I was drinking a 1/2 gallon of whole everyday, but now that I'm drinking skim I may drink even more since I won't have to worry about the fat levels.

good move. but you will get people on here, actually promoting saturated fats as good for you, go figure. Drink plenty of full cream milk, yeah, eat cream, eat pounds of steak everyday, etc LOL..It will take heart disease/attacks to wake people up...saturated fats in high amounts IS an artery irritant ....
.... you will find saturated fats in more than just milk though, so monitor food types as well..

[Snahrl]

The reason milk is believed to be related to heart disease is because of the way it is processed: i.e., homogenized.

France consumes massive amounts of saturated fats in the form of raw cheese, and heart disease is low.

Saturated fats/cholesterol are NOT responsible for heart disease.

Homogenized milk, processed/refined carbohydrates, a generally nutritionless diet, too many refined and nutritionless carbs, refined vegetable oils, hydrogenated oils and trans fats, are primarily responsible for hear disease from what I've studied.

I drink a massive amount of raw, whole milk.

[Crunchbar]

Originally Posted by Ledge

good move. but you will get people on here, actually promoting saturated fats as good for you, go figure. Drink plenty of full cream milk, yeah, eat cream, eat pounds of steak everyday, etc LOL..It will take heart disease/attacks to wake people up...saturated fats in high amounts IS an artery irritant ....
.... you will find saturated fats in more than just milk though, so monitor food types as well..

you do need some sat fat, but it is super ez to go overbord. Also there are different tipes of sat fat. Sat fat in stuff like coconut oil is good for you.

[it stars saddam]

Originally Posted by Snahrl

Saturated fats/cholesterol are NOT responsible for heart disease.

I don't buy it. The family member in question has had high cholesterol his entire life.

[johnnyironboard]

White flour and sugar are what you should avoid in addition to trans fat. Fish oil, garlic, vit C/Lysine, and Carnitine are nice additions.

[\S/]

Originally Posted by it stars saddam

I don't buy it. The family member in question has had high cholesterol his entire life.

I think he means sat fats and DIETARY cholesterol do not cause heart disease.

It's an excess of sat fats & consumption of trans fats that contributes to heart disease.

Someone correct me if i'm wrong please.

[Snahrl]

I don't buy it. The family member in question has had high cholesterol his entire life.

You don't have to buy it. It's true.

His 'high cholesterol' was there for a reason - IT WAS REPAIRING THE MASSIVE DAMAGE TO THE ARTERIES. So, the root cause is not his high cholesterol -- but what is CAUSING the damage to his arteries.

Those that are GENETICALLY predisposed to having high cholesterol levels have NO elevated risk of heart disease.

Cholesterol isn't the problem -- artery damage is.

[Snahrl]

It's an excess of sat fats

Excess saturated fats don't cause heart disease, either.

The Masai consumed over 200-300 grams of saturated fats daily and did not have heart disease.

[\S/]

Originally Posted by Snahrl

Excess saturated fats don't cause heart disease, either.

The Masai consumed over 200-300 grams of saturated fats daily and did not have heart disease.

Hmmmmmmmmm...

From wiki..

"Diets high in saturated fat correlate in some studies with an increased incidence of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease"

Time to google.

[\S/]

This is interesting.

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/80/5/1102

Says there have been both studies where sat fats DO and DO NOT negatively effect heart health.

[Snahrl]

"Diets high in saturated fat correlate in some studies with an increased incidence of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease"

In Some studies...

Wikipedia doesn't even validate that claim.

[Snahrl]

Boyscout, that article pretty much conclusively says sat. fats are not the cause of heart disease and actually may protect against it.

[\S/]

Originally Posted by Snahrl

In Some studies...

Wikipedia doesn't even validate that claim.

Haha yea "citation needed."

Originally Posted by Snahrl

Boyscout, that article pretty much conclusively says sat. fats are not the cause of heart disease and actually may protect against it.

Yea, i'm just about finished reading it. Getting to the conclusion now.

In conclusion, the hypothesis-generating report of Mozaffarian et al draws attention to the different effects of diet on lipoprotein physiology and cardiovascular disease risk. These effects include the paradox that a high-fat, high–saturated fat diet is associated with diminished coronary artery disease progression in women with the metabolic syndrome, a condition that is epidemic in the United States. This paradox presents a challenge to differentiate the effects of dietary fat on lipoproteins and cardiovascular disease risk in men and women, in the different lipid disorders, and in the metabolic syndrome.




Do you have any studies to post to further prove that sat fats (in any amount) are fine?

This link worries me though:
http://heartdisease.about.com/od/red...k/a/fatHDL.htm

[Snahrl]

Thanks for posting that article, btw

I think the problem with America, is that we consume lots of saturated fats AND trans fats.

So saturated fats get the blame for the damage that TRANS fats do.

People wrongly assume saturated fats are to blame, when the american diet has multiple components that are wrong with it. Sat. fats is not necessarily one of them.

[gymgrown]

Originally Posted by Snahrl

You don't have to buy it. It's true.

His 'high cholesterol' was there for a reason - IT WAS REPAIRING THE MASSIVE DAMAGE TO THE ARTERIES. So, the root cause is not his high cholesterol -- but what is CAUSING the damage to his arteries.

Those that are GENETICALLY predisposed to having high cholesterol levels have NO elevated risk of heart disease.

Cholesterol isn't the problem -- artery damage is.

Yes. If you read the article I posted above in its entirity, you'll see that what Snahrl is saying makes sense. In fact, it makes more sense than the conventional wisdom.

There are plenty of people on here who deliberately eat high fat and high cholesterol (a dozen whole eggs a day, etc) and will tell you they feel great and better than before. I'm not one of the hardcore ones, but I do feel better now than when I was eating low fat like my parents told me.

[Ledge]

Originally Posted by Snahrl

Excess saturated fats don't cause heart disease, either.

The Masai consumed over 200-300 grams of saturated fats daily and did not have heart disease.

Masai live in Kenya and Tanzania. The life expectancy of a
male in Kenya is 46.5 years, according to the World Almanac.
It gets worse in Tanzania, where the average male is
expected to live just 43.85 years. Guess they dont live long enough
to get heart disease. Whats next Snahrl?... LDL cholesterol is actually
good for you?

[\S/]

Originally Posted by Snahrl

Thanks for posting that article, btw

I think the problem with America, is that we consume lots of saturated fats AND trans fats.

So saturated fats get the blame for the damage that TRANS fats do.

People wrongly assume saturated fats are to blame, when the american diet has multiple components that are wrong with it. Sat. fats is not necessarily one of them.

Very, very good point.

Originally Posted by gymgrown

Yes. If you read the article I posted above in its entirity, you'll see that what Snahrl is saying makes sense. In fact, it makes more sense than the conventional wisdom.

There are plenty of people on here who deliberately eat high fat and high cholesterol (a dozen whole eggs a day, etc) and will tell you they feel great and better than before. I'm not one of the hardcore ones, but I do feel better now than when I was eating low fat like my parents told me.

Awesome link gymgrown. I bookmarked it for future reference.

Originally Posted by Ledge

Masai live in Kenya and Tanzania. The life expectancy of a
male in Kenya is 46.5 years, according to the World Almanac.
It gets worse in Tanzania, where the average male is
expected to live just 43.85 years. Guess they dont live long enough
to get heart disease. Whats next Snahrl?... LDL cholesterol is actually
good for you?

Good point.. but i'm sure there are other factors that contribute to their low life expectancy.. lack of proper overall nutrition comes to mind.

[Ledge]

"There are plenty of people on here who deliberately eat high fat and high cholesterol (a dozen whole eggs a day, etc) and will tell you they feel great and better than before. I'm not one of the hardcore ones, but I do feel better now than when I was eating low fat like my parents told me."

Hope you can tell me that when your 50 bro.

[Snahrl]

I think Anthony Colpo has done some of the best research on heart disease that I've ever seen. The guy has put blood, sweat, and tears into the research of diet and heart disease.

Check out his website: www.theomnivore.com His book is excellent and cites tons of scientific studies.

http://www.theomnivore.com/One_High-...t_Meal%20.html

One High-Saturated Fat Meal Harms Your Arteries? Rubbish!

For over five decades, the health and medical establishment has been telling us that saturated fat and cholesterol cause heart disease. My recently published book, The Great Cholesterol Con (Lulu 2006), explains clearly and concisely why this theory is utter rubbish. For most laymen, that sounds like an outrageous claim, but I readily challenge ANYONE to refute the arguments I have presented in my book.

The medical orthodoxy has successfully perpetuated the highly lucrative lipid hypothesis simply by ignoring contradictory evidence whilst aggressively publicizing 'supportive' evidence (health authorities also have no qualms about taking unsupportive evidence and 'reinterpreting" it so that it appears supportive--my book gives numerous examples of this very phenomenon).

A textbook example of the establishment practice of ignoring contradictory evidence but relentlessly hyping 'supportive' evidence occurred this last week, with the publication of a study comparing the effects of a single high-saturated fat meal with a single high-polyunsaturated fat meal. According to the study, the saturated fat-enriched meal produced harmful increases in inflammatory factors and negative changes in arterial function. Headlines in the ever-compliant mainstream media immediately trumpeted the study as further proof that saturated fat was public health enemy number one. In robot-like fashion, media outlets all around the world mindlessly parroted the Associated Press headline "One High-Saturated Fat Meal Can Be Bad".

One Over-Hyped Study Confirms Modern Health Research is Intellectually Bankrupt.

The study that caused all the kerfuffle was performed in Sydney, Australia (Nicholls SJ, et al). On two occasions one month apart, fourteen healthy subjects consumed a high-fat meal comprising a slice of carrot cake and a milkshake. The fat source in one of these meals was safflower oil, while the other contained highly saturated coconut oil. The researchers collected blood samples from the subjects before the meals, and 3 and 6 hours after. They extracted HDL from these samples, placed it into a solution containing human umbilical vein endothelial cells, and then observed the effect of the HDL on the endothelial cells expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1). For those of you not familiar with scientific gobbledegook, adhesion molecules play vital roles in numerous cellular processes. They are believed to play an important role in the atherosclerotic process by facilitating the components of atherosclerotic plaque to proliferate at the site/s of arterial damage.

So let's be clear: The researchers were not observing actual plaque formation in human arteries; this objective would be impossible in such a study. They were instead observing the effects of HDL extracted from humans after eating the test meals on the amount of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expressed by umbilical vein endothelial cells in a petri dish.

The other reported outcome was forearm blood flow. To listen to the mainstream media reports, one gets the impression that the subjects' arteries were struggling to cope with blood flow after eating the saturate-enriched meal. A look at the data helps put the results into better perspective. Both meals caused decreases in arterial flow mediated dilation by a "whopping"—wait for it—0.9 and 2.2% in the polyunsaturated and saturated groups respectively. With these piddling changes, we're not exactly talking life-threatening arterial spasm! Furthermore, looking at the data, one sees that the baseline flow mediated dilation was higher when the subjects ate the highly saturated test meal; was the greater reduction in FMD due to saturated fat, or simply a reversion-to-the-mean effect? Who knows, and who cares, because the difference was not even statistically significant! To quote the researchers themselves:

"Flow-mediated dilation (FMD) decreased at 3 h following consumption of the saturated meal (p _0.05 compared with pre-meal) but not 3 h after the polyunsaturated meal (p _ NS compared with the fasting state), although the difference in post-prandial change in FMD between the meals just failed to meet the conventional criteria for statistical significance. The FMD at 6 h after both meals did not significantly differ compared with the fasted state…, There was no significant change in the vessel size, estimated flow within the brachial artery, and glyceryl trinitrate response following both meals."

Please note the section I have highlighted: "the difference in post-prandial change in FMD between the meals just failed to meet the conventional criteria for statistical significance."

Translation: "As much as we really want to dump on saturated fat, the differences were not statistically significant, damn it!"

And what about the changes in ICAM-1 and V-CAM-1? Both ICAM-1 and V-CAM-1 were higher at six hours after consumption of the saturate-rich meal, but lower after consumption of the polyunsaturated-rich meal. It's anyone's guess as to the long-term relevance of acute reactions observed in a petri dish to plaque formation in human arteries. To claim that these reactions demonstrate that saturated fat is indeed atherosclerotic is to make a massive leap of faith. But that's just what the researchers and many of their peers did.

Stephen Nicholls, the head researcher, had no qualms about making the great leap when he stated: "the take-home, public-health message is this: It's further evidence to support the need to aggressively reduce the amount of saturated fat consumed in the diet."

According to Dr. James O'Keefe, a cardiologist at the Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, the study showed "a really important concept - when you eat the wrong types of food, inflammation and damage to the vessels happens immediately afterward."

Also jumping with unbridled anti-saturate abandon was Dr. Richard Milani, head of preventive cardiology at Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans, who advised: "...given a choice between something with polyunsaturated fat and saturated fat, please avoid the saturated fat".

Let's now find out why you should avoid Milani's advice like a putrid smell.

The Importance of Long-Term Studies

When I ride my bike up a steep hill, or perform a weight training session, my blood pressure temporarily rises to very high levels. In fact, when high-intensity exercises like squats or deadlifts are performed with heavy weights, blood pressure often rises to astronomical levels. Does that mean I should stop lifting weights or riding my bike? If we applied the mentality of the researchers conducting the single-meal study, the answer would be yes. But if we use common-sense and reason, the answer is a resounding "NO!".

Why?

Because the increases in blood pressure evident during physical exertion are not permanent, but transient. When I'm out of the gym or off my bike, my blood pressure is a perfectly healthy 110/70, which is actually lower than average. All that riding and pumping iron is actually stimulating my heart and arteries to become more efficient! The short-term blood pressure elevations I experience whilst exercising in no way reflect the long-term decrease in blood pressure that I have enjoyed.

The take home message is that it is the long term effects of diet and exercise that matter. Atherosclerotic heart disease is a process that takes many years to develop, which is why the majority of heart attacks occur in those over 65 years of age. Heart disease is not caused or prevented by a single meal.

So if it's the long-term effects of diet or exercise that matter, then that is exactly what should be tested. This may sound like commonsense to many of you, but commonsense is a quality sadly lacking among a large proportion of those conducting research and dispensing health advice today.

Long-Term Studies are Non-Supportive, So They Are Ignored

There have been numerous randomized controlled CHD prevention trials conducted since the 1960s, in which people have been given either high-polyunsaturate diets or high-saturate diets as the sole intervention. In these trials, extending up to eight years, no cardiovascular or overall mortality advantage has ever been observed that can be attributed to saturated fat restriction. In fact, a number of these trials observed poorer mortality outcomes in the high-polyunsaturate group (these trials are all discussed at length in The Great Cholesterol Con, with accompanying references).

Healthy subjects placed on high polyunsaturated diets for four week periods have exhibited higher levels of free radical activity and blood clotting markers than those on high-saturated diets. In animal studies, polyunsaturated vegetable oils consistently promote cancer growth; an eight-year trial with real live humans that observed significantly higher cancer incidence in the polyunsaturated group suggests this phenomenon is not merely confined to lab rats. This same study, by the way, showed little difference in extent of atherosclerosis among autopsied subjects from the high-saturate and high-polyunsaturate diets. If anything, the aortas of those eating the polyunsaturated-enhanced diet tended to show more plaque build-up (Dayton S, et al).

So when clueless health 'experts' tell you to opt for polyunsaturated fat instead of saturated fat, ignore the living daylights out of them.

Doing so could well save your life.

[\S/]

This discussion is getting good.

Why does it have to be 3:17am though .

[Snahrl]

Masai live in Kenya and Tanzania. The life expectancy of a
male in Kenya is 46.5 years, according to the World Almanac.
It gets worse in Tanzania, where the average male is
expected to live just 43.85 years. Guess they dont live long enough
to get heart disease. Whats next Snahrl?... LDL cholesterol is actually
good for you?

The Masai also had to endure a harsh lifestyle, no healthcare whatsoever, and infectious diseases.

Heart disease was not the cause of their low life expectancy.

LDL cholesterol isn't "bad" for you.

I'm sure if you reduced your LDL cholesterol to "zero" you'd experience a myriad of adverse health effects.

Fluffier LDL particles is ideal -- and that happens when you consume a diet rich in stable, saturated fats.

[garlichead]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Snahrl again.

[garlichead]

Saturated fats are our friend and have been forever..........Anytime you screw with nature like altering isomers and suspending nickel into omega 6 oils
people are going to die..........AND THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENED......the problem with altered oil.......heal/light/hydrogenation.......is that the body doesn't recognize them as intruders and the trans isomers get absorbed by the body and created havoc on our system.

If you want to be proactive in the prevention of heart related disease then I would suggest you not consume any poly's other than omega 3's and as far as mono's use only EVO and for cooking use only saturated fat and consume only natural diary if possible........and of course stay away from any processed foods and white sugar/white flour. This at least will give you a fighting chance, christ, all of us a fighting chance to make our hearts enviroment a better place.........we don't want to mess with nature.IMO

PS: A great thread by the way.

[ceilos456]

lots of fish oil and cardio will definitely do the trick

[EvanGR]

It doesn't have to be "lot's of fish oil"... the recommended (and proven safe) daily leves of omega 3 are not that high at all.

But yes. I will just repeat what most experts say about heart health... be active... be happy... enjoy your life. Respect your self, respect your body, respect the others around you. We must never neglect this major factor in our overall health: our emotions.

[IraHays]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Snahrl again