"heart disease" news and stories

Not all low-carbers like sticking to their diets because they sometimes feel that they are missing out on some of their favorite foods, but one of the most frequently heard warnings is not that anyone on the diet will never be able to eat bread again, but that the high-fat diet is bad for their hearts. It turns out that bit of conventional wisdom might not be true after all.

A new, long-term study, done by researchers at the Harvard Medical School, followed the records of women over the course of two decades. The women followed different types of diets, but were not actually on a "diet," and were actually slightly overweight on average. The study produced some interesting results. First, it found that low-carb/high-fat diets, such as the Atkins diet, do not raise the risk of heart disease. Second, it found that eating a lot of processed foods could possibly raise that risk. Third, and most interestingly, it revealed that low-carbers who got most of their protein and fat from vegetables, rather than from animal sources, reduced their risk of heart disease by an average 30% over the women who ate more animal fat.

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According to Australian researchers, a high carbohydrate, low-GI diet is the best for weight loss and for cardiovascular health. At least, they produced better results than the high-protein diets that they were compared to in an intensive 12-week study - the first study in the world to directly compare the two types of diets and their impact on health and weight/weight loss.

Over 120 women classified as overweight or obese participated in the study and were assigned to one of four (reduced calorie) diets: high protein/ low GI, high protein/high GI, high carbohydrate/log GI, high carbohydrate/high GI. The high carb dieters showed the most weight loss, but lowering the GI of that high carb diet doubled fat loss. Low GI coupled with high protein was the better of the two protein diet choices. Low GI also led to lower risk factors for heart disease, including having a lowering effect on the levels of LDL cholesterol.

The Glycemic Index ranks foods based on how they affect blood sugar levels. Low GI foods cause a slight increase, while high GI foods will cause a sharp spike. Low GI foods include oats, bran, apples, pears, peas, milk and yogurt.

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According to research, it you are going to pig out it should be on regular food, not fast food. In a study where monkeys were fed a diet consisting mostly of  trans-fats, the types of fats most commonly found in fast foods, the primates gained more weight than those fed the same number of calories containing unsaturated fats.

Trans-fats, or partially hydrogenated oils, are bad news. They are found in many fast foods, baked goods and processed snacks. They have been shown to significantly increase the risk of heart disease, even more than saturated fats found in animal products.

After maintaining the monkeys on the fat laden diet for six years, the trans-fat-fed monkeys had gained 7.2% of their body weight, compared to just 1.8% in the group who ate unsaturated fat. CT scans showed that the trans-fat monkeys carried 30% more abdominal fat, which is a risk factor for diabetes and heart disease. Although the data might prove informative to some fast food eaters, I can't help but feel bad for those poor monkeys.

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A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the three-day Global Economics Conference, hosted by economic research powerhouse, the Milken Institute. Because one of the main themes of the conference was on health, healthcare, and the aging population, several of the seminars featured physicians (and authors who write about "diets!"). One of the panel discussions was called Nutrition and Health, Separating Fact from Fiction, with cardiologist Caldwell Esselstyn from the Cleveland Clinic, Francine Kaufman from USC's Department of Pediatrics and Children's Hospital of LA, Samuel Klein from the Washington University School of Medicine, Dean Ornish, from the University of California, San Francisco Medical School, and Harold Schmitz, Chief Science Officer, Mars Inc..

The biggest take away from that discussion was that the American diet is toxic, and that going toward an 80% plant-based diet will save your cardiovascular system in the long run. Of course, Harold Schmitz from Mars, Inc. was very heartily promoting the cardiovascular benefits of chocolate.

Check out the notes from the panel discussion at Blogging Milken.

Tonight TLC will begin airing a new series entitled, Honey, We're Killing the Kids!. The show will focus on 13 families from across the nation who's children's eating habits have become seriously unhealthy. A constant intake consisting of over sized portions of sugary, fat laden, low fiber foods has left these children inactive and at high risks for diabetes and heart disease.

Dr. Lisa Hark, who hosts the series, focuses on the cause of this epidemic in our country. She helps educate the families about how to make healthier food and activity choices that will benefit their lives for the longterm. She also uses a computer imaging program that takes a current picture of their child and fast forwards it into young adulthood to give the parents a frightening look at how obesity will shape their children.

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