Coronary heart disease is associated with diet. Nutritional recommendations are frequently provided, but few long term studies on the effect of food choices on heart disease are available. We followed coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality in a cohort of 1752 rural men participating in a prospective observational study. Dietary choices were assessed at baseline with a food questionnaire. 138 men were hospitalized or deceased owing to coronary heart disease during the 12 year follow-up. Daily intake of fruit and vegetables was associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease when combined with a high dairy fat consumption, but not when combined with a low dairy fat consumption. Consuming wholemeal bread or eating fish at least twice a week showed no association with the outcome.

Food Choices and Coronary Heart Disease: A Population Based Cohort Study of Rural Swedish Men with 12 Years of Follow-up

Today in the United States one person will die from CVD every 37 seconds. This year in the U.S. over 1.2 million people will have a heart attack and just short of half will die. Approximately 80,000,000 people or roughly 25% of The U.S. has cardiovascular disease(CVD). It became our number one killer in the 1950′s and has not slowed down.(1)

Do you believe consuming saturated fat and cholesterol cause CVD? Do you believe eating polyunsaturated oils like canola and corn oil are not only good for you but lower your risk of CVD. If you answered yes to both of these questions, you are among the 10′s of millions who need to be enlightened by reading my article “Fats, Cholesterol and the Lipd Hypothesis”.

The truth is, saturated fat and cholesterol have nothing to do with your risk of cardiovascular disease. As a matter of fact there are many studies that show that people who have heart attacks do not eat anymore saturated fat than people who don’t have heart attacks. More-over the degree of atherosclerosis at autopsy, in heart attack victims, is unrelated to diet. It is also interesting to note that half of all heart attack victims do not have “clogged” arteries.

I have personally witnessed and cared for many patients who were experiencing (the big one) massive heart attacks in the emergency room. The degree of blockage had a wide range with the most common seemingly being between 80, 90 percent. But the interesting thing was, some people literally had no plaque what-so-ever according to cath lab reports. It was during my time working in emergency department, because of so many discrepancies, that I became very curious about what actually caused CVD.

Too much or too little sleep can boost your risk of death, British researchers report.

“In terms of prevention, our findings indicate that consistently sleeping seven or eight hours a night is optimal for health,” study author Jane E. Ferrie, of University College London Medical School, said in a prepared statement.

Her team studied more than 8,000 people, aged 35 to 55, who were followed for a number of years.

Among participants who slept six, seven or eight hours a night at the start of the study, a decrease in nightly sleep duration was associated with a 110 percent excess risk of cardiovascular-related death.

Similarly, among those who slept seven or eight hours per night at the start of the study, an increase in nightly sleep duration was associated with a 110 percent excess risk of non-cardiovascular death.

The study appears in the Dec. 1 issue of Sleep.

On average, most adults need seven to eight hours of sleep per night to feel well-rested and alert, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

An analysis of the Prospect ? EPIC cohort, which consisted of 16057 post menopausal women between the ages of 49 ? 70, found vitamin K reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). None of the participants had CVD at the start of the study. Those who got their vitamin K by eating leafy green vegetables had the same risk of CVD as the general population. Those who obtained their vitamin K by eating whole eggs, cheese, goose liver, and animal fats had a substantially reduced incidence of CVD when compared to the general population. (Wise Traditions 2009;10(2):11)

We are continuously told to reduce our sodium intake by eating a low sodium diet. Dr.s, dietitians, and nutritionists insist it’s good for our cardiovascular system especially if one has cardiovascular disease. But is it?

Salt induced hypertension, despite what you’ve heard, is very uncommon. More-over, the vast majority of people who switch to a diet low in sodium have no change in blood pressure and may be doing more harm than good. According to a cohort study of 7154 individuals, sodium is inversely related to cardiovascular mortality.

After adjusting for variables, low sodium consumption was associated with a 37% greater risk for cardiovascular disease mortality, and 28% increased risk of all-cause mortality.

Low testosterone levels are associated with a greater risk of heart attacks, diabetes, abdominal fat deposition and abnormal blood lipid levels. Cytokins, which cause inflammation in the arteries, are the latest suspected cause of heart disease. British researchers suggest testosterone suppresses cytokins and also boosts the immune system, thereby preventing heart disease. (J Endocrinol, 178: 373-380, 2003)

The lipid hypothesis states there is a direct link between the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet and the incidence of heart disease. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Before the mid 1920′s cardiovascular disease was literally unheard of and eggs, butter and lard were consumed in abundance. In 1900 when heart attacks were nonexistent, egg consumption was three times what it was in the mid 1950′s when cardiovascular disease was already the nations #1 killer.

Scientific data just doesn’t support the supposed benefits of reducing saturated fat and cholesterol. 20 studies have shown that people who have had heart attacks haven’t eaten any more saturated fat than other people, and the degree of atherosclerosis at autopsy is unrelated to diet. On the contrary, saturated fats have been nourishing societies for milenia.

Below is a list of guidelines we can and should follow to be healthier and reduce our risk of the nations number one killer:

Read food labels.

Consume whole, unprocessed foods.

Don’t consume any product that contains trans fat.

Don’t be fooled by products that advertise “zero trans fat.” Always read the ingredient list and if “hydrogenated vegetable oil,” “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” or “shortening” are listed, understand that it has trans fat. By law, companies can claim “zero” if there is .5 grams or less of trans fat per serving. There is no safe level of trans fat.

Don’t consume any product that contains vegetable oil, hydrogenated vegetable oil, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil or shortening listed as one of the ingredients.

Only use oils that are labeled “Cold Pressed,” “Expellar Pressed” or “Extra Virgin.”

Consume eggs laid by free range chickens. They are a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, biotin, and vitamins A, D and E.

Use peanut oil, sesame oil or olive oil for cooking if you do not want to use animal fats. These oils can also be used for one-time frying.

Use coconut oil for cooking or frying. It’s very stable, and has strong antimicrobial properties.

Use butter, not margarine.

Don’t use trans fat-free spreads. They are still made with highly processed oils that are rancid.

Keep your consumption of polyunsaturated fats to a minimum. They are high in omega-6 fatty acids.

Consume meat.

Don’t eat like a vegetarian. We do not possess multiple stomachs, nor do we chew cud. Our stomachs produce hydrochloric acid, which is not found in herbivores. We are omnivores. There are essential nutrients in animal products that cannot be gotten in sufficient amounts by eating plants.

Don’t feed your children a low-fat diet. If they’re fat, it’s because they sit on their asses too much and eat too much junk. Not coincidentally, these are the same two reasons many adult Americans are overweight.

Supplement your diet with vitamins and other nutrients: A, D, E and C, CoQ10, fish oil (omega-3), selenium.

Don’t smoke.

Exercise at least three days per week.

Taken from, “Fats, Cholestarol and the Lipid Hypothesis“

By the mid 1950?s, CVD became our number one killer and remains the leading killer today. It was around this time that the lipid hypothesis started to gain popularity. The lipid hypothesis, which was proposed by Ancel Keys in the late 1950?s, is a theory claiming there is a direct relationship between the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet and the incidence of CVD. This theory however, is simplistic and unfounded; the biggest health scam in American history.

Today in the United States one person will die from CVD every 37 seconds.6 This year in the U.S. an estimated 1.26 million people will have a new or recurrent heart attack, and just short of half will die.7 Approximately 80,000,000 people or more than 25% of The U.S. population has one or more forms of cardiovascular disease.7 In 2002 CVD mortality was nearly 60% of ?total mortality? in the U.S.6 This means that out of 2.4 million deaths from all causes, CVD was listed as a primary cause on about 1.4 million death certificates. CVD causes more deaths than the next 7 causes combined. It?s safe to say CVD had a meteoric rise from the 1930?s to the 1950?s to become number one and to this day the incidence is still rising. (We’re a Fat Unhealthy Nation. part I)

Did you know…

…cholesterol is a substance vital to the health of all cells in your body?

…your body produces 3 to 4 times more cholesterol than you eat?

…when you decrease your consumption the body increases it’s production and visa-versa?

…despite the same amounts of cholesterol flowing through them, veins never become sclerotic?

…arteries that pass through the bony channels of the skull and the few branches that pass through heart muscle never become sclerotic?

…studies of the hearts of people who have died from heart attacks showed approximately 1/5th of the victims had no evidence of coronary atherosclerosis?

…oxidized cholesterol is what accumulates in vessels not normal cholesterol?

…3/4′s of the lipids found in plaque is polyunsaturated?

…in Japan more people die of cerebral hemorrhage than in most other countries, and is greatest in those with the lowest cholesterol levels.

…there is no correlation between saturated fat consumption and cardiovascular disease? In fact, many societies have decreased their animal fat consumption with a corresponding increase in cardiovascular disease.

…there are countless scientific and observable contradictions to the Lipid Hypothesis? Only one scientific contradiction is needed to disprove a hypothesis.

Do your homework and judge for yourself.

Hypothyroidism can be caused by a variety of things. In this country, diet is the main culprit. Our food supply is so deficient in nutrients and loaded with anti-nutrients that it’s really no surprise we are experiencing health problems in epidemic proportions. Vegetable oils (polyunsaturated fats) are a huge contributor to hypothyroidism, obesity, cardio vascular disease and other health problems. These are man-made foods that have only been around since the early 1900s, with soy oil becoming the number one cooking oil by the 1950s. Before then, beef tallow, lard, olive oil and tropical oils were in use, and heart disease, hypothyroidism, obesity, diabetes and other diseases were but a fraction of the incidence they are today.
Read the rest HERE.

In his latest edition of Did You Know…Bullz-Eye.com Fitness Editor Mike Furci tackles the history of the American Vegetarian Society, ways to make your calves grow and whether or not testosterone levels are a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease.