Heart Health: How You Can Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

[ginkgo]

This article, Heart Health: How You Can Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, is by an MD and hundreds of MDs follow his diet. Youtube has a 90 second video with Dr Oz introducing this doctor as an expert on diet.

Joel Fuhrman, M.D.: Heart Health: How You Can Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

He says that a low fat vegetarian diet lowers LDL cholesterol by 16% but his diet lowers LDL cholesterol by 33%.

It emphasizes vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds over very high carbohydrate foods like white potatoes and grains."

To provide optimal levels of protective micronutrients, a diet must be vegetable-based, not grain-based. Vegetables and beans are far superior to grains and white potato when it comes to nutrient density. Furthermore, low-fat, high carbohydrate diets tend to increase triglyceride levels, a risk factor for heart disease. In contrast, a high-nutrient, vegetable-based diet with beans as the preferred carbohydrate source decreased triglycerides, lower blood glucose and accelerate fat loss. (8, 10)

After this he then talks about the heart benefits from eating nuts and seeds.

[russianrocket]

I see nothing that he posted, that actually shows eating a non vegetarian diet will be better for you. he shows nothing but observational studies, which we've seen by the outing of the China study, that observational studies mean jack squat.

[ginkgo]

Originally Posted by russianrocket

I see nothing that he posted, that actually shows eating a non vegetarian diet will be better for you. he shows nothing but observational studies, which we've seen by the outing of the China study, that observational studies mean jack squat.

He is very money oriented. He does not have all the recent clinical studies on a free article. They are on his books that cost money or on his website that costs money to be on.

Many come to this site for free information on fasting. He says that people should not fast on their own but go to a professional like he is. So people can go to his center in New Jersey and he will fast you at a price of over $100 a day. So hundreds of MDs do not follow his diet based on what you saw but the studies that are in his books. The guy does spend a lot of time looking at all the newer clinical trials that were done. And if you want to see them, the New England Journal of Medicine charges you money to look at their journal online.

It is kind of like Microsoft and Linux. Linux has all this free software and when you buy a computer with it, you do not pay for it. But Microsoft wants you to pay for everything that they have. They even had a web editor that came with their office software but that is no longer the case. So you do not get to see the good studies done unless you pay.

He has an older book and a newer book so people want the newer book. But he has taken the older book and updated it with new information and it was selling in the Whole Foods supermarket 2 days ago that I was at and this supermarket does not have a section on books. It was displayed next to the salad bar. So now he wants people who bought this book before to now buy the updated version.

[stanmrak]

Great advice in this article, IMO. However, I disagree with his assertion that lowering your cholesterol level will prevent heart disease. A poor cholesterol profile may indicate that you're at risk, but high cholesterol does not cause heart attacks.

I take this issue on here:
What Causes Heart Disease? The Cholesterol Myth Debunked

And hey, russianrocket... don't take any study very seriously, ever. Here's the only study you need to take to heart:

PLoS Medicine: Why Most Published Research Findings Are False

[ginkgo]

Originally Posted by stanmrak

Great advice in this article, IMO. However, I disagree with his assertion that lowering your cholesterol level will prevent heart disease. A poor cholesterol profile may indicate that you're at risk, but high cholesterol does not cause heart attacks.

I take this issue on here:
What Causes Heart Disease? The Cholesterol Myth Debunked

And hey, russianrocket... don't take any study very seriously, ever. Here's the only study you need to take to heart:

PLoS Medicine: Why Most Published Research Findings Are False

It used to be all bad. But now there is good and bad cholesterol and among the bad, there is harmful and harmless but modern medicine is terrible in keeping up with new information. Do you think that most MDs know that the RDA of vitamin D was tripled? Do they even care?

Talking about cholesterol being good or bad is like talking about if food is good or bad for health. So let us settle this now. Is food good or bad for health?

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by ginkgo

It used to be all bad. But now there is good and bad cholesterol and among the bad, there is harmful and harmless but modern medicine is terrible in keeping up with new information. Do you think that most MDs know that the RDA of vitamin D was tripled? Do they even care?

Talking about cholesterol being good or bad is like talking about if food is good or bad for health. So let us settle this now. Is food good or bad for health?

Food is neither good nor bad for your health.


Also, while there is good and bad cholesterol, you forgot to mention that there is very little correlation between food and cholesterol.

[Lauxa]

Originally Posted by ginkgo

Talking about cholesterol being good or bad is like talking about if food is good or bad for health. So let us settle this now. Is food good or bad for health?

That depends, are you talking about food or "food"?

[cacheborn]

Good article. Thanks for sharing.

It's based on the diet proposed by Dean Ornish which has been successfully implemented by many individuals.

[ginkgo]

Originally Posted by russianrocket

Food is neither good nor bad for your health.


Also, while there is good and bad cholesterol, you forgot to mention that there is very little correlation between food and cholesterol.

I guess that you are saying that there is very little correlation between food and blood cholesterol. That is correct. The cholesterol in blood can be good or bad. But there is cholesterol in food and it is neither good nor bad. Animal foods have cholesterol in it and plant foods do not.

Here is my most recent post on Twitter:

See these foods and supplements that naturally lower the bad (LDL) cholesterol (in blood) in article by Huffington Post. How To Lower Cholesterol: Which Supplements Work? (PHOTOS)

These photo articles are a pain since you have to click on different pages. So on the above it is on the last picture so you have to click backward.

Note that there are many plant foods that do not lower LDL cholesterol while they have no cholesterol in them but the above says that fish oil (that has cholesterol in it) lowers LDL cholesterol.

[cacheborn]

Just came across benefits of grapes in lowering cholesterol.

Grapes Health Benefits

Red Grapes "Wonder Cure" for High Cholesterol, Blood Pressure

[stanmrak]

OK, for all you folks concerned about lowering cholesterol, here's 2 brief lectures that reveal that there's no such thing as "good" or "bad" cholesterol, and lowering cholesterol is a fraud — perpetrated for the sole purpose of selling statin drugs. Your body needs that cholesterol.

It's the oxidation of cholesterol that causes problems, regardless of what your blood levels are.

YouTube - Exposing the Cholesterol Myth

YouTube - Why having high cholesterol isn't always bad

Everything you "know" about cholesterol is a product of the marketing campaigns from the pharmaceutical industry, and most of it is based on junk science and fraudulent studies.

[Brutha]

We all know that police cause riots, don't we?
How do we know? Whenever there's a riot there a lot of police.

That's more or less how we also know that cholesterol causes heart disease.

Yes, you seem to be able to lower heart disease rates a bit by giving cholesterol lowering drugs. It however doesn't have the huge effect that everyone hoped for.

It doesn't make sense to optimize a diet based on cholesterol. It's just not that important.

[ginkgo]

Originally Posted by stanmrak

OK, for all you folks concerned about lowering cholesterol, here's 2 brief lectures that reveal that there's no such thing as "good" or "bad" cholesterol, and lowering cholesterol is a fraud — perpetrated for the sole purpose of selling statin drugs. Your body needs that cholesterol.

It's the oxidation of cholesterol that causes problems, regardless of what your blood levels are.

YouTube - Exposing the Cholesterol Myth

YouTube - Why having high cholesterol isn't always bad

Everything you "know" about cholesterol is a product of the marketing campaigns from the pharmaceutical industry, and most of it is based on junk science and fraudulent studies.

The first video is by a doctor of some kind. First if someone is Dr John Smith, they can be a veterinarian, dentist of PhD in English. It is better to say John Smith M.D. Also when something is in writing, you can see exactly what they said. He says that LDL cholesterol is

"low density liporotein! It is not even cholesterol that we are talking about. It's actually a protein."

So he says that LDL cholesterol is not even cholesterol.

NHLBI, High Blood Cholesterol: What You Need to Know

LDL (bad) cholesterol--the main source of cholesterol buildup and blockage in the arteries

Now if you want the most definitive definition of a medical term, where would you go? Tell me so I can go there. The above is the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Now how smart is a guy that says that the definition of a medical term is wrong when the government and everywhere else disagrees with him!

Personally I feel that it is more complex than what they are saying but maybe they think most people will not understand it. People die of heart attacks and strokes not by too much calcium or cholesterol. They are caused by blokages in the arteries. The blockages called plaque are made of mostly oxidized cholesterol like you mentioned above and calcium.

A piece of plaque will break off and go into heart or brain causing heart attack and strokes. So does this mean that plaque made of oxidized cholestorol and calcium is bad for you? Actually it is good for you. This plaque only forms to protect a blood vessel that has been damaged.

So what damages the blood vessel is what is really causing the heart attacks and strokes? I have heard different possibilities like one being the chlorine in tap water. But the chlorine kills the germs in the water and then you can filter out the chlorine. What do you think causes the damage to the blood vessels?

[cacheborn]

I am getting a little confused here. I think everyone agrees that cholesterol (or oxidation of it) causes blockage of arteries. How much this will occur in any person depends on lot of factors, including genetic. Apart from that, does it not make sense to keep your LDL levels low?

And, if cholesterol is not responsible for blockage, then what is? And how can we prevent it?

[stanmrak]

Originally Posted by cacheborn

I am getting a little confused here. I think everyone agrees that cholesterol (or oxidation of it) causes blockage of arteries. How much this will occur in any person depends on lot of factors, including genetic. Apart from that, does it not make sense to keep your LDL levels low?

And, if cholesterol is not responsible for blockage, then what is? And how can we prevent it?

Rather than worry about your cholesterol levels, you really need to work at lowering inflammation and oxidative stress. You can prevent the oxidation of cholesterol by avoiding sugar and processed foods, which make your cholesterol "sticky" — and by consuming enough antioxidants, which neutralize the free radicals that can damage your arterial wall. When free radicals damage the wall, your body sends more cholesterol to the site of the injury to repair the arterial wall. Cholesterol is used by your body as a "patching" compound, but when it clumps together excessively, you're in trouble.

If these free radicals are neutralized quickly enough, your artery walls will remain in a healthy state and will not clog up with dangerous plaque, regardless of what your cholesterol levels might be. It's not the amount, or type, of cholesterol in your blood, it's whether it's sticky or not.

Heart Attack Prevention with Antioxidants

[stanmrak]

Originally Posted by ginkgo

Now if you want the most definitive definition of a medical term, where would you go? Tell me so I can go there. The above is the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Now how smart is a guy that says that the definition of a medical term is wrong when the government and everywhere else disagrees with him!

Well, I certainly wouldn't go to any source that's affiliated with the government or has ties with the pharmaceutical industry! The source you refer to is riddled with innaccuracies, such as the assertion that "When there is too much cholesterol in your blood, it builds up in the walls of your arteries."

It's not about too much cholesterol. There is no correlation with heart attack frequency and the level of cholesterol in people's blood. Surveys have demonstrated this. The Swiss have the highest levels of cholesterol of any European country, but the lowest rate of heart disease. Aborigines in Australia have incredibly low cholesterol levels, but have the highest rate of heart disease in the world.

They promote this theory because they have very profitable drugs that can lower your cholesterol.

Agreement does not constitute validity. Wasn't it Copernicus who kept insisting that the earth revolved around the sun — and "everyone" disagreed with him?

Most significant scientific discoveries go through 3 stages:
• First, they are ridiculed and dismissed.
• Next, they are vehemently attacked and discredited.
• And finally, they are accepted as self-evident truth.

[Excellent Lodestar]

Originally Posted by cacheborn

And, if cholesterol is not responsible for blockage, then what is? And how can we prevent it?

Sugars,Fructose,PUFA (Omega -6 fats) margarine,Trans-fats,Wheat. Systemic infection.Mental stress. This causes heart disease.

prevention:
1. Eliminate sugar (including fruit juices and sports drinks that contain HFCS) and all foods that contain flour.

2. Start eating proper fats - Use healthy animal fats or coconut fat to substitute fat calories for calories that formerly came from sugar and flour. Drink whole cream or coconut milk.

3. Eliminate gluten grains. Limit grains like corn and rice, which are nutritionally poor.

4. Eliminate grain and seed derived oils (cooking oils) Cook with Ghee, butter, animal fats, or coconut oil.

5. Favor ruminants like beef, lamb and bison for your meat. Eat eggs and some fish.

6. Make sure you are Vitamin D replete. Get daily midday sun or consider supplementation.

[wolfgang]

Originally Posted by Excellent Lodestar

Sugars,Fructose,PUFA (Omega -6 fats) margarine,Trans-fats,Wheat. Systemic infection.Mental stress. This causes heart disease.

prevention:
1. Eliminate sugar (including fruit juices and sports drinks that contain HFCS) and all foods that contain flour.

2. Start eating proper fats - Use healthy animal fats or coconut fat to substitute fat calories for calories that formerly came from sugar and flour. Drink whole cream or coconut milk.

3. Eliminate gluten grains. Limit grains like corn and rice, which are nutritionally poor.

4. Eliminate grain and seed derived oils (cooking oils) Cook with Ghee, butter, animal fats, or coconut oil.

5. Favor ruminants like beef, lamb and bison for your meat. Eat eggs and some fish.

6. Make sure you are Vitamin D replete. Get daily midday sun or consider supplementation.

All hail coconut oil!!! I've been reading up about coconut oil and it can do lots of good things for the body.



Article 10132-Coconut Oil and Heart Disease

Heart disease is caused by atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) which is manifest by the formation of plaque in the arteries. According to current thought atherosclerosis initially develops as a result of injury to the inner lining of the arterial wall. The injury can be the result of a number of factors such as toxins, free radicals, viruses, or bacteria. If the cause of the injury is not removed further damage may result. As long as irritation and inflammation persist scar tissue continues to develop.

Special blood clotting proteins called platelets circulate freely in the blood. Whenever they encounter an injury they become sticky and adhere to each other and to the damaged tissue acting somewhat like a bandage to facilitate healing. This is how blood clots are formed. Injury from any source triggers platelets to clump together or clot and arterial cells to release protein growth factors that stimulate growth of the muscle cells within the artery walls. A complex mixture of scar tissue, platelets, calcium, cholesterol, and triglycerides are incorporated into the site to heal the injury. This mass of tissue forms arterial plaque. When this process occurs in the coronary artery, which feeds the heart, it is referred to as coronary heart disease-the most common cause of death in the United States.

....
In recent years, however, coconut oil consumption in Sri Lanka has declined, being replaced my polyunsaturated oils and margarines. Consequently, heart disease rates have risen. In areas of India, where coconut oil has been largely replaced by other vegetable oils, cardiovascular disease is on the rise. People have been encouraged to switch from their traditional cooking oils, such as coconut oil, in favor of vegetable oils that are promoted as "heart-friendly." Researchers involved with studies on diet and heart disease in India are now recommending the return to coconut oil to reduce the risk of heart disease. This recommendation is based on their findings showing an increase in the occurrence of heart disease as coconut oil is replaced by other vegetable oils.7


It appears that by simply using coconut oil in you daily diet in place of other oils you can achieve a remarkable degree of protection from heart disease and stroke.

[danthony]

Thanks for sharing these. I knew it but it's good to review foods rich in heart healthy oils

[cacheborn]

Originally Posted by stanmrak

If these free radicals are neutralized quickly enough, your artery walls will remain in a healthy state and will not clog up with dangerous plaque, regardless of what your cholesterol levels might be. It's not the amount, or type, of cholesterol in your blood, it's whether it's sticky or not.

Heart Attack Prevention with Antioxidants

Thanks for your input. I agree about anti-oxidants. They have been know to be useful in variety of other areas as well, like preventing cancer. There are other factors that come in as well. The HDL level is also important in reducing the clogging.

Apart form this, there are so many other factors. Lifestyle, stress level, genetic factors. Frankly speaking, I am not sure which theories to believe and which ones to discard at the moment because everyday there seems to be a new one.

[cacheborn]

Originally Posted by Excellent Lodestar

Sugars,Fructose,PUFA (Omega -6 fats) margarine,Trans-fats,Wheat. Systemic infection.Mental stress. This causes heart disease.

prevention:
1. Eliminate sugar (including fruit juices and sports drinks that contain HFCS) and all foods that contain flour.

2. Start eating proper fats - Use healthy animal fats or coconut fat to substitute fat calories for calories that formerly came from sugar and flour. Drink whole cream or coconut milk.

3. Eliminate gluten grains. Limit grains like corn and rice, which are nutritionally poor.

4. Eliminate grain and seed derived oils (cooking oils) Cook with Ghee, butter, animal fats, or coconut oil.

5. Favor ruminants like beef, lamb and bison for your meat. Eat eggs and some fish.

6. Make sure you are Vitamin D replete. Get daily midday sun or consider supplementation.

Thanks for your input. I am a vegetarian so I won't be following the meat diet. agree with grains. sugar and Vitamin D.