Very interesting .... any idea of what route will you follow??

Jesus

Thats pretty interesting ? worth looking into.....
john

Thanks Louie. I always appreciate how you come up with thought-provoking discussion posts for us here.

We "health consumers" and heart patients get deluged with so much information, with a certain amount of it being conflicting, that it can be quite confusing.

One piece of this article that I think most of us can agree on is that trans fats have really contributed to our heart disease risks. I think there's sufficient evidence of that, and I avoid consuming any trans fats at all. I don't think most people realize that many products at our supermarkets have trans fats in them, most of the packaged cookies, crackers, and other snacks, even when they say "0" under trans fats on the nutrition panel. The main way to get trans fat free cookies, crackers, etc, is to go to the organic foods section.

So eliminating trans fats is an easy decision. Saturated fats are a lot harder to decide about. I really limit my saturated fats. Prior to my heart attack, I ate more than my fair share of cheeses, half & half, ice cream, butter, sour cream, whipped cream, etc. It was delicious. Then I had my near-death heart attack. I don't know if my fat consumption played a role in what happened. Either way, now I limit my saturated fat to approx 12 grams or less per day as I was taught to at my cardiac rehab (the number being based on being a female of my weight).

Here are my thoughts about some of the research in the article-

"In Framingham, Mass., the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the persons serum cholesterol" [emphasis in original] We found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least, and were the most physically active." (Arch Int Med 1992;152:1271-2)

Well, I think the last phrase is the key here- "were the most physically active." I think that of course when we're more physically active, we CAN eat more calories, cholesterol, and probably even saturated fat. What comes first- the chicken or the egg? The lean chicken breast, or the egg with cheese sauce?! Does eating more make us more active, or does being more active allow us to eat more yet still weight less? I think the direction of causality is the second one. I know a number of people who eat more, and don't automatically seem to become more physically active, do they?! By the way, I was taught that our serum cholesterol is NOT primarily influenced by the dietary cholesterol we consume. This past weekend, I enjoyed my shrimp dinner, and I enjoyed my scrambled egg breakfast.

Another point from the article-

"And this journal also recently published a prospective cohort study of 53,000 women and men comparing their intake of carbohydrates and saturated fats and found that replacement of saturated fats with high glycemic index carbohydrates significantly increases the risk of heart attacks."

That's what happened in the 80's or so, with the low fat trend- we Americans started to embrace a low fat diet full of a lot of "high glycemic" carbs- highly processed, low fiber, sugar-laden, crappy foods. Cheap crap, for lack of a better word. Many authors, including Dr Ornish and Dr. Esselstyn, have documented what a toll that's taken on heart health. I didn't eat a LOT of carbs before my heart attack, but I'm sorry to say that when I did, I ate some pretty low quality, "high glycemic" carbs. Stuff like Keebler & Nabisco crackers, highly processed cereals, white pastas, etc. I also shutter to think of some of the crap I let my daughter eat regularly as a kid (sorry Erin!) - "fruit snacks", pop tarts, Hostess snacks, Eggo waffles, Capri Sun juices (pouches of sugar water with a HINT of juice), Kraft mac and cheese, and more. Of course I didn't mean to do any harm, but it's sort of embarassing to look back on it. And it helps me when I realized that I wasn't the only person who "drank the Kool-Aid" Corporate America was mixing up for us with it's advertising and availability.

So OF COURSE replacing saturated fats with that s#!$ didn't do anybody any good. PURE CRAP. PURE CRAP. Hmmmm . . . I see that I feel pretty strongly about this.

At the same time that I've reduced my saturated fats, I've GREATLY improved the quality of the carbs I consume, meaning things like whole grain pastas, cereals and breads, real fruits (instead of fruit products), etc. I see the part of the article about how saturated fats help us feel fuller, and yes the cheese and ice cream used to help me feel full! But so do the higher quality carbs I eat now. I also enjoy some mono and poly unsaturated fats like nuts, avocados, olives, and peanut butters which help me feel fuller, too. Plus I think that the complex carbs, fruits, veggies and all that are helpful to my body in MANY other ways.

So, I'm still going to limit my saturated fats, to a great extent. At the same time, this article, and my discussions with you, Louie, and other heart group members have helped me feel that I can be a bit less rigid with the extent to which I limit saturated fats, especially as long as I exercise regularly. This summer (as opposed to last summer) I put some butter on my corn on the cob, or a bit of butter in the pan when I make dishes like chicken piccata. I now eat a bit more cheese. My lab results have been very encouraging up until this point, and I'll keep an eye on them as I go forward loosening up a bit on saturated fats. So that's the route that I'm gonna follow so far. Time will tell. I still think that we all can and will interpret the nutrition studies with our own unique takes on it, and we may never know whose interpretation is the ideal one!

Louie

This was very interesting. I sent the link to my GP and Cardio Doc's no reply yet.

I had changed my diet and exercise years before my HA and eventual surgery. But mine is chalked up to genetics. No matter how much I exercised or how strict my diet was. My good cholesterol numbers were in the basement

My belief in all of these back and forth studies is moderation in all things. That being said if we put crap in our bodies some type of harm will be the result.

If we stay away from all processed "foods", don't eat any fast food, exercise, eat plenty of veggies and balance everything else that is about the best we can do naturally. Though for many of us in this group that may not be enough. It certainly wasn't for me.

Personally I am thankful for a tolerance to fairly high doses of simvastatin and niaspan, with those and a good life style all my numbers are good.

As far as the "fat" debate goes, none of the long time vegetarians or vegans I know have any sign of heart problems. Me I can't go that far, I like chicken and fish too much.

So to sum by saying the whole issue is confusing is an understatement. Each of us must live our lives according to what we and our support group believes. The important thing is to "live" each day, for even with our healthy lifestyles that errant bus may be lurking.

Barney