Help me create a heart healthy diet

[Spinoza]

All right I'm interested in getting in better shape and improving my diet will be part of that. I want to lose some weight but I think more important is creating a diet that is heart healthy and will help lower my cholesterol.

Foods that are good for your heart
Oatmeal (Not sure how to incorporate this in my diet though...wish oatmeal cookies were good for you)
Fish
Walnuts
Olive Oil
fruits
vegetable
high fiber foods
tofu / edamame
red wine ?

Foods that are not good for your heart
Butter
Egg yolks
milk - no problem I drink soy milk already
bacon/ sausage
fried foods - especially fast foods

So with those guidelines I need help creating a meal plan that focuses on being heart healthy.

[stanmrak]

Like most people, you have been misled about the cause of heart disease.
Eggs and Butter are not!
Saturated fat is not!
Your cholesterol level is not!
(Although high LDL levels are associated with heart attacks, it's not the cholesterol itself that's the problem — it's the oxidation of that cholesterol that is caused by free radicals.)

The best way to prevent heart disease is by eating a healthy diet rich in antioxidants, combined with a regular exercise program. Avoid sugar and all processed foods, including vegetable oils. A diet rich in antioxidants will give your body the defense it needs against free radical attacks to your arteries. If the free radicals are neutralized quickly enough by antioxidants, your artery walls will remain intact and your cholesterol will not form plaque, regardless of what your numbers say.

The Lipid Theory of Heart Disease is Nonsense

This theory, called the "lipid hypothesis," was proposed by a researcher named Ancel Keys in the late 1950's, and has been considered the accepted standard ever since. Based on Dr. Keys' conclusions, there is a direct relationship between the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet and the incidence of coronary heart disease.

As it turns out, Dr. Keys extracted only the data that supported his conclusion, and omitted data that conflicted with it. A quick look at the statistics for heart disease clearly demonstrates the fallacy of the saturated fat theory.

Before 1920, coronary heart disease was rare Everyone ate saturated fat, lots of it. However, by the 1950's, the rate of heart disease had grown so dramatically that it became the leading cause of death among Americans. Why?

If the increase in heart disease is a result of dietary saturated fats, one would expect to find a corresponding increase of saturated fat consumption in the American diet. In fact, it's just the opposite. During the sixty-year period from 1910 to 1970, the proportion of animal fat in the American diet declined from 83% to 62%, and butter consumption dropped from 18 pounds per person per year to just 4. Since the 1930's, dietary cholesterol intake in the U.S. has increased only one percent.

Did anything else change dramatically in the standard American diet since that time? Well, the population is now consuming four times as many vegetable oils in the form of margarine, shortening and refined oils. Consumption of sugar and processed foods has increased about 60 percent. These are the foods that are now recognized as contributing to the epidemic of heart disease we see today.

The "lipid theory" of heart disease is a fraud, perpetrated by the pharmaceutical companies who want to keep selling statin drugs, which do nothing but lower your numbers.

I have too much info on this to put here; check out my website:

What Causes Heart Disease? The Cholesterol Myth Debunked

Heart Attack Prevention with Antioxidants

[firenexx]

Just eat a lot more raw fruits and vegetables.

[jaimemoore]

Don't eat:

fast food
meat especially beef
any processed meat (nitrates, waste meat, fats added)
avoid tuna (mercury, other heavy metals, toxins)
fatty fish
processed food especially baked goods
anything with high fructose corn syrup (which they are now trying to rename corn sugar)
whole dairy products
fruit juices (very high in sugars!)

Do eat:

fresh fruits and vegetables particularly organically grown ones
dairy with fat removed or greatly lessened (skim instead of whole milk for example)
nuts
whole grains
eggs in moderation
filtered water

Rule of thumb: The more processed a food is, the worse it is for your health. The closer you can eat to how God made it, the better off you will be. Anything white is bad because it's sugar, starch or both. Potatoes, refined flour, white sugar, white rice - avoid them.

Hope this helps!

[kat]

Buy a copy of "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease", and put it into practice. It's better as prevention than as treatment, though it's quite impressive as treatment as well.

[Spinoza]

GAAHHHHH...So much information

The only universal thing I see is eat lots of fruit and vegetables.
Okay..

Salmon..fatty fish...good for you or not good for you?

Potatoes ? These things arent considered a vegetable anymore?

Bananas? Someone was telling me today that they are not good for you. True or False

This is what I had for breakfast/lunch this morning

Sliced tomatoes and spinach with olive oil drizzled over it and blue cheese crumbles and olives. A little salt and pepper and basil as well.

Was that a reasonably healthy meal or did I sabottage it somehow?

[Criseyde]

I agree with stanmrak. The only thing I would add is consider supplementing with fish or cod liver oil if you don't eat pastured animal products/much fish (can be difficult in some areas of the US).

If you check out the trend in the US for the last 100 years, you'll find something telling: saturated fat consumption goes down, refined unsaturated fat consumption goes up, carbs/sugar go up, and we see an explosion of the "diseases of affluence": heart disease and diabetes.

In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan, is a really good book to read if you feel overwhelmed by all the nutrition information. It basically says that all these problems explode when people stop eating real food and start modifying their food to give it less fat, fewer calories, etc.

I also think that if you don't have a lot of money or time (or patience) for cooking, one of the best things you can do for yourself is invest in a slow cooker, make big portions, and freeze leftovers. Don't rely on prepackaged meals. Eat real food -- it doesn't have to be difficult.

[firenexx]

Don't worry, potatoes are still vegetables. However, they have lots of starch. So they're not as good for you as other vegetables that can be eaten raw and have less starchy carbs. I eat potatoes infrequently. I usually steam them. And I usually do the weird potatoes - red, purple, sweet, etc. The more color/taste the more nutrients. They should be an occasional treat rather than a staple.

Your breakfast sounds delicious, but I personally would have included some fruit. Fruit in the morning is a great way to get energy. Occasionally, try a fruit smoothie for breakfast. Delicious, easy on the stomach, great source of energy. Fruit salads are also pretty easy to prepare, esp. if you keep some berries and cubed melons, bananas, etc in the fridge.

Fish is generally fine, just keep in mind that the powers that be recommend that we limit our fish intake. Thanks to coal power plants and other things including felt hat factories, fish has mercury. Of all the meats you could eat, fish is probably the best for your heart thanks to the fatty acid content. Also, the environmentalist in my head wants me to tell you to find fish that has some sort of certification that indicates that it was sustainably caught (over-fishing is a major problem in oceans.) Also wild-caught fish is healthier than farmed fish. Also they have these big rakes that are dragged over miles and miles of pristine ocean floor, causing ridiculous amounts of damage to ocean ecosystem. The farmed fish don't have this baggage but they are less nutrition and live in cages like those little mini-frogs in glass jars that people have, that should be illegal.

You listed red wine. Red wine and red grapes contain resveratrol, an important antioxidant. The skins of red grapes, however, contain significantly more than red wine does. (To the best of my knowledge.)

You mentioned walnuts. You are wise because walnuts are pretty much in first place when it comes to nutrient content among nuts. To get the most nutrients out of nuts, use raw nuts and soak them. This increases absorption and digestion. For instance, almonds you might soak for 8 hours and then eat them on a salad or alone or in a dessert dish. Pecans/walnuts and softer nuts only need to be soaked for 2-4 hours. I keep a jar of already-soaked nuts in the fridge for easy access.
Also related to nuts are seeds. Get a jar and sprout some alfalfa seeds or other seeds commonly used (broccoli, radish, fenugreek). They can be mild or zesty depending on the seed, and are great in salads, sandwiches, etc. also to throw in stir-fries if desired. Good source of micronutrients including antioxidants.

In general, for heart health, you want micro-nutrients and particularly anti-oxidants. The more intense color and/or flavor a vegetable or fruit has, the higher the antioxidant content (in general.) So carrots, beets (can be grated raw and added to cooked quinoa!) green leafies like spinach, chard, etc. contain them. Also berries - blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, etc. contain massive amounts of antioxidants. Keep in mind that when you cook something, you reduce or eliminate the antioxidant content.

Hopefully I've confused you even further! Good luck with your heart. My dad had a heart attack and he's still eating canned soup that contains MSG, lots of salt, and even BPA in the can lining. You are in good shape mister.

[maxinatlanta]

Tomato is good for your heart. Grow your own tomato - my godfather does it by his town-house - just one bush he planted It's awesome. He saves about $250 just by having tomato plant plus he eats good quality tomatoes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red in colour, so also the heart is red and has four chambers. Research has confirmed that tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and it is indeed pure heart and blood food.

[firenexx]

Tomatoes are a great source of lycopene, but watermelon has even more - I believe something 1/2 cup of watermelon has 4 times the lycopene than an average tomato, but I don't know the exact amount.

I saved a lot of money by having 15 tomato plants (13 Beefsteak and two cherry) . For a while, I've been having a salad every day with 2 medium/large tomatoes on it. Organic tomatoes at the grocer are something ridiculous like $3.99/lb which comes out to around $1-2 for your average medium tomato.

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by jaimemoore

Don't eat:

fast food
meat especially beef
any processed meat (nitrates, waste meat, fats added)
avoid tuna (mercury, other heavy metals, toxins)
fatty fish
processed food especially baked goods
anything with high fructose corn syrup (which they are now trying to rename corn sugar)
whole dairy products
fruit juices (very high in sugars!)

Do eat:

fresh fruits and vegetables particularly organically grown ones
dairy with fat removed or greatly lessened (skim instead of whole milk for example)
nuts
whole grains
eggs in moderation
filtered water

Rule of thumb: The more processed a food is, the worse it is for your health. The closer you can eat to how God made it, the better off you will be. Anything white is bad because it's sugar, starch or both. Potatoes, refined flour, white sugar, white rice - avoid them.

Hope this helps!

Doesn't help at all. Get out of here with that garbage. You're quick to deny all those foods, but haven't actually told us WHY they are bad.

[Spinoza]

Originally Posted by russianrocket

Doesn't help at all. Get out of here with that garbage. You're quick to deny all those foods, but haven't actually told us WHY they are bad.

Now I have to say in general what I have read seems to suggest his list isn't that far off to what is generally recommended

Eat lots of fruits and vegetables
Don't eat fast food or minimal amounts of fast food.
Don't eat to much meat.

Basically those three statements are the only things I can see pretty much agreement on from what I read.

Who would you take as an expert in the field of nutrition and would there recomendations be acceptable?

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by Spinoza

Now I have to say in general what I have read seems to suggest his list isn't that far off to what is generally recommended

Eat lots of fruits and vegetables
Don't eat fast food or minimal amounts of fast food.
Don't eat to much meat.

Basically those three statements are the only things I can see pretty much agreement on from what I read.

Who would you take as an expert in the field of nutrition and would there recomendations be acceptable?

His comment was not " don't eat too much meat". Tho, I disagree with that as well, as long as it's not processed crap meat. Eating veggies and fruits and minimal processed foods is something just about everyone agrees with.


He said DON'T eat meat, especially beef. He said to not eat whole milk products. He said to only eat eggs in moderation.

I disagree with those. Red meat has not been shown to cause heart disease. Neither has fat, and eggs have actually been shown to LOWER cholesterol. I don't really accept anyone's recommendations. I search all over the place for my information. The idea that fat and cholesterol causes all these problems, has been thoroughly debunked. We are just hanging on to studies from half a century ago.

[Brutha]

His comment was not " don't eat too much meat". Tho, I disagree with that as well, as long as it's not processed crap meat. Eating veggies and fruits and minimal processed foods is something just about everyone agrees with.

Everyone in this thread. The paleo people disagree with eating fruits because most of the have a high sugar content.
The Complete Illustrated One Page Bulletproof Diet (Upgraded Paleo) | The Bulletproof Executive would be an example of a paleo like diet suggestion.

[Solipsist]

Originally Posted by Spinoza

All right I'm interested in getting in better shape and improving my diet will be part of that. I want to lose some weight but I think more important is creating a diet that is heart healthy and will help lower my cholesterol.

Foods that are good for your heart
Oatmeal (Not sure how to incorporate this in my diet though...wish oatmeal cookies were good for you)
Fish
Walnuts
Olive Oil
fruits
vegetable
high fiber foods
tofu / edamame
red wine ?

Foods that are not good for your heart
Butter
Egg yolks
milk - no problem I drink soy milk already
bacon/ sausage
fried foods - especially fast foods

So with those guidelines I need help creating a meal plan that focuses on being heart healthy.

I swear by the blood type diet, and have lost 26 lbs. in the last three months, and have not even started exercising, yet.

That said, a few notes regarding your list:

--Oatmeal is not necessarily healthy for you, as it contains gluten.
--Neither is tofu or soy milk, as soy is unhealthy for type Os.
--I eat 6-8 eggs/week. Eggs and meat aren't the problem, but grains.

Otherwise, I'd suggest the reading up on the Blood Type Diet. Granted, some of the things you list above are important (like no pork), but dairy products might actually be beneficial for you (for type As, it should be their main source of protein). I used to have to take pills for my blood pressure, but no more, as I'm down to normal. That says a lot about the diet.

[Benton]

If you've got an hour and a half to kill (plus a few more hours for research) I'd recommend checking out Fat Head on Hulu.

If nothing else it was entertaining to see Morgan Spurlock be proven a liar.

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by Brutha

Everyone in this thread. The paleo people disagree with eating fruits because most of the have a high sugar content.
The Complete Illustrated One Page Bulletproof Diet (Upgraded Paleo) | The Bulletproof Executive would be an example of a paleo like diet suggestion.

That's true, BUT, Paleo is still a very small portion of the population. The population at large, will generally agree that including fruits and veggies and low processed food is the healthiest diet. Now, most won't follow that diet, but they still agree that it's healthiest. And what else is included in the diet, is debatable, but those to factors, are normally agreed upon.

[Brutha]

The population at large, will generally agree that including fruits and veggies and low processed food is the healthiest diet.

When looking at what's healthy I don't look at the views of the population at large but at the view of people who actually spent a lot of time thinking about nutrition.

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by Brutha

When looking at what's healthy I don't look at the views of the population at large but at the view of people who actually spent a lot of time thinking about nutrition.

But, my statement only said " it's what just about everyone agrees with". In response to their comment that said all those things are what just about everyone agrees with. Unless you are disagreeing with that statement, then I dunno what point you are trying to make.

[Spinoza]

Great(sarcasm intended)...so if I read the Paleo 2.0 diet correctly it has fruits and vegetables as roughly 30% of your diet.

All right I think we need to start talking about who the author or experts credentials are because right now there seems to be a lot of conflicting information.

[stanmrak]

Anytime you want to bring up Paleo, just remember that primitive man walked barefoot on the earth and slept on the ground. This allowed him to access the Earth's powerful electric energy, something modern man has all but lost. We are just beginning to understand the significance of this to our health.

Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?

[Brutha]

Great(sarcasm intended)...so if I read the Paleo 2.0 diet correctly it has fruits and vegetables as roughly 30% of your diet.

The point isn't the vegetables but the fruits.
Especially fruits like apples or bananas that are consumed by many people.

[votoshka]

One thing that pretty much everyone CAN agree on, is to dump processed foods. If you do that, regardless of the sort of diet you predominantly follow, you should be reasonably healthy.

If you like/enjoy fruits and vegetables, then by all means eat lots of them, but don't be scared of red meat or butter. If you're going to worry about anything, worry about processed white flour and sugar and products made with them! Worry about junk food from McDonald's etc. Don't fuss over the proportion of fruits/veg you can eat in your diet.

Oh, and yeah, dump stuff like margarine... pfft... butter is a LOT better for you and much more natural. Trans fats are a zillion times worse for you than natural saturated fats. And stuff like canola oil is dreadful (it needs to be highly processed to stop it being poisonous...and I think that should tell you something).

[firenexx]

Yes on a package of microwave popcorn made with canola oil, I saw a nice little chart that no doubt the canola growers' association or equivalent drew up for them. It listed all the oils commonly used, such as canola, corn, soy, cottonseed, etc. It had sort of a bar chart with their fat contents (saturated, fatty acids, etc.) The conclusion one would get from looking from this chart is that canola oil is the healthiest of all the oils, and coconut oil is the least healthy.

Just shows how charts can be misleading.

Of course, the canola was GM canola, so to me the fat profile was completely irrelevant anyways.

[stanmrak]

Originally Posted by firenexx

Of course, the canola was GM canola, so to me the fat profile was completely irrelevant anyways.

Yes, common canola oil is almost guaranteed to be GM these days, but the average consumer isn't aware of this because the US requires no labeling of GM foods. It's even OK to label it as "ALL-NATURAL". When Europeans made GM labeling mandatory, GM foods disappeared from the store shelves.

Demand GM labeling by supporting the Organic Consumers Association and Institute for Responsible Technology

[firenexx]

Yes also, the package was not labelled as such. I just assumed it was GM canola since the package didn't say otherwise; that's kinda the way it is in the U.S. unfortunately. (I should mention that I did not personally consume this popcorn )

I believe there's a ballot initiative in California regarding mandatory GM labelling. I'm not sure what's going on with that. If California does it, the rest of the country is sure to follow eventually.

[Asten]

The wonderful thing about trying to eat healthy is there are going to be 100 different points of view on what that is.

I've explored vegan, paleo, zero-carb, raw, chinese medcine influenced, and so forth... there's studies that support all of these and studies that go against them. What one person says, another disagrees with... what works for one person, makes another person sick... you can go crazy trying to make sense of it all.

I finally decided the only way to figure anything out was to try different things out for myself and experiment.

Ultimately, eat what makes you feel good. Since you're specifically focused on your cholesterol, try eating what YOU feel will lower it for several months, then go get your cholesterol tested. If it doesn't help, change your diet and try something else. If it does, keep doing what you're doing.

Also, I don't know if anyone else said this, but potatoes aren't vegetables. They're tubors.

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by Asten

The wonderful thing about trying to eat healthy is there are going to be 100 different points of view on what that is.

I've explored vegan, paleo, zero-carb, raw, chinese medcine influenced, and so forth... there's studies that support all of these and studies that go against them. What one person says, another disagrees with... what works for one person, makes another person sick... you can go crazy trying to make sense of it all.

I finally decided the only way to figure anything out was to try different things out for myself and experiment.

Ultimately, eat what makes you feel good. Since you're specifically focused on your cholesterol, try eating what YOU feel will lower it for several months, then go get your cholesterol tested. If it doesn't help, change your diet and try something else. If it does, keep doing what you're doing.

Also, I don't know if anyone else said this, but potatoes aren't vegetables. They're tubors.

But then you have to decide if having lower cholesterol actually decreases your chances of heart disease. Because even that, they are starting to debunk lately. So even if the OP feels what will lower their cholesterol, they can't feel if lowering their cholesterol will make them heart healthy. People have died of heart disease, no matter what levels their cholesterol is at. Then you have the many different types of cholesterol to think about.

[stanmrak]

Originally Posted by russianrocket

But then you have to decide if having lower cholesterol actually decreases your chances of heart disease. Because even that, they are starting to debunk lately. So even if the OP feels what will lower their cholesterol, they can't feel if lowering their cholesterol will make them heart healthy. People have died of heart disease, no matter what levels their cholesterol is at. Then you have the many different types of cholesterol to think about.

Amen, brother. When are people going to stop buying that nonsense about lower cholesterol preventing heart disease?

[scorpio1980]

I would just follow someone who has accomplished the goals you are looking for. For me that would be Jack Lalanne. He believed exercise was king, nutrition was queen, together you have a kingdom. The most important thing for general health, and that includes weightloss is exercise. Nutrition is important but if the exercise isn't there nutrition can only take you so far. As for exercise I would advise a minimum of 3 resistance training sessions per week, and a minimmum of 3 cardio sessions, swimming is the best overall exercise IMO. As for nutrition limit your grains. Eat a minimum of 5 servings of fruit and 10 vegetables everyday. Add in some high quality protein sources that can double as good fats such as eggs, and fish. Do not consume soy. If you do the above I think you will be very pleased with what happens to your health.