Heart Health & Diet: Editorial from the BMJ & British Cardiovascular Society OpenHeart Journal

[Winnie53]

It is time to stop counting calories, and time instead to promote dietary changes that substantially and rapidly reduce cardiovascular morbidity and
mortality.

Malhotra A,
DiNicolantonio JJ,
Capewell S.

Open Heart 2015;2:e000273. doi:10.1136/openhrt-2015-000273

Accepted 8 July 2015


"Most heart attacks and ischaemic strokes are

caused by complicated atheroma usually

compounded by thrombosis suddenly reducing

blood flow in a critical artery. Extensive

evidence suggests that this atheroma silently

builds up over many decades. However, arterial

stiffening can be seen even in children

who are obese, and aortic fatty streaks are

visible in some teenagers and young adults.1

Yet, most cardiovascular events do not manifest

until after the age of 60 years. The

general perception is thus of a slow process

that will therefore only reverse slowly, if at all.

However, this perception is wrong. Extensive

empirical and trial evidence reveals that substantial

reductions in mortality can occur

within months of quitting smoking, or

making healthy dietary changes. These

reductions apply to both individuals and to

entire populations."...


Continue reading here - (click on PDF for easier reading)... http://openheart.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000273

 

[Celeriac]

The paper mentions the Italian PREiMed study which advocates the Mediterranean diet. When my father had a pacemaker fitted in Rome, all the hospital patients were given a sachet of olive oil, at every meal.

 

[photognut]

@Winnie53 thanks for posting the link - As a Heart Patient who is trying to control my condition with a healthy diet and supplements only for over 5 years now. I keep reading things that reinforce my personal wellness plan is the right one for me. Where I did **** up, was listening to the Eat Well plate advice in Cardiac Rehab... dumping the carbs has certainly improved my quality of life and hopefully extended my hearts shelf life that little bit longer

 

[photognut]

On one hand they are recommending the Mediterranean diet as a healthy diet for CVD = low fat. Then it goes into -
"A recent ran-domised pilot study of a calorie unrestricted very low carbo-hydrate/high fat diet in overweight patients with type 2
diabetes or prediabetes resulted in a signifi cant improvement in glycaemic control and even discontinuation of diabetes medications within 3 months in comparison to amoderate carbohydrate, low-fat calorie-restricted diet ( consistent with guidelines from the American Diabetes Association), with no adverse effect on blood lipids. A critical review in Nutrition also concluded that dietary carbohydrate restriction is the “single most effective inter-vention for reducing all of the features of the metabolic syndrome” and should be the first approach in diabetes management with the very low carbohydrate ketogenic diet (<10% carbs) revealing the greatest falls in glycated hemoglobin and reduction in the use of medications with benefits occurring even without weight loss.
23"

With Heart diseases and Diabetes being such close partners in crime - the obvious solution, to me, is to judge CVD & Diabetes as co-conspirators disrupting the equilibrium of bodily function. The low Carb solution would appear to provide the best form of lock down for these two criminals.

 

[Winnie53]

photognut, I'm reading Phinney's and Volek's books on low carbohydrate living this week. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=stripbooks&field-keywords=stephen+phinney&rh=n:283155,k:stephen+phinney

While it's definitely written for clinicians, it's been worth the read as they explain the science behind why the diet works for so many of us. That said, to read the books, I've had to bribe myself daily with a cup of hot tea at one of our local coffee shops to get through them. On each page can be found penciled underlining, margin notes, and the occasional star.

I join you in your goals and determination!

I too am working toward restoring and preserving, my heart, brain, and cardiovascular health, and improving my microbiome health with the low carbohydrate diet, exercise, thoughtfully chosen nutritional supplements, and probiotics. Six months into this journey, it still feels like a part-time/full-time job, but it's getting easier.

My local type 2 diabetes group launches next week and I'm a jumble of nerves right now preparing. There's so much misinformation, and I don't want to add to it. My goal is to get everyone off to the best start possible.

I so appreciate the authors of the above linked editorial!

 

[photognut]

Great minds think alike, I have that book and it is a wealth of information - even recommended it to a few friends who are now low carbing on Facebook. The other book I found informative was Jenny Ruhl Diet 101 The Truth About Low Carb Diets.

Wow, I really wish you the very best with your diabetes group, that will be so rewarding. Please keep the updates flowing on your progress, would love to hear how it grows.

 

[Winnie53]

Jenny Ruhl continues to be my favorite diabetes author.