Category: Diets (Page 17 of 23)

Cholesterol my ass!

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.

Organic VS Non-organic

Yes, there are people who actually argue that conventionally grown food is as nutritious as organically grown food.? And as the popularity of organic foods increases, so does the debate.? Well, the debate over whether organic food is healthier than conventionally grown food may be coming to an end, according to results from the largest study of it’s kind into organic food.

The four-year, European-Union-funded 25 million dollar study found that:
* Organic fruit and vegetables contain up to 40 percent more antioxidants
* Organic produce had higher levels of beneficial minerals like iron and zinc
* Milk from organic herds contained up to 90 percent more antioxidants

The researchers obtained their results after growing fruit and vegetables, and raising cattle, on adjacent organic and non-organic sites.

Five Foods to ward off Cardiovascular Disease

According to NewsMax Health Alerts, the five foods proven to fight cardiovascular disease are:

  1. Spinach — Spinach is high in folate which helps prevent the accumulation of homoscysteine in the blood. Homoscysteine is a major risk factor for heart disease.
  2. Salmon — Salmon is high in omega-3 fatty acids which reduce inflammation and help prevent plaque from blocking arteries.
  3. Tomatoes — Tomatoes are rich in lycopene which lowers cholesterol.
  4. Oatmeal — Oatmeal is a great source of soluble fiber which absorbs excess cholesterol and removes it from your body.
  5. Pomegranates — Pomegranates are rich in polyphenols, which are antioxidants that keep hearts healthy by neutralizing cell-damaging free radicals, and may also reduce LDL “bad” cholesterol.

The above foods although nutritious,??are going to do very little in the way of warding off heart disease.? There are other foods wich are literally poisons that need to be avoided if one is trying to eat heart healthy.? Conversely, there are also foods and nutrients which you need to add to your diet that are much more heart healthy than the above list.

Despite what you have learned, high cholesterol is not your enemy. Our enemy in this battle against heart disease is vegetable oils.? That’s right, the very same oils that are promoted as heart healthy.? Studies using rabbits in the early 1900’s are often touted as proof positive that a diet high in cholesterol, which raise cholesterol, promote heart disease.? If you look up these studies you’ll find that the researchers used corn oil or partially hydrogenated oil.?

One study used corn oil with the same amount of cholesterol people normally consume.? The rabbits in this study like all the others developed rampant atherosclerosis.? As we’ve known for decades through past, as well as recent studies, vegetable oils and hydrogenated oils facilitate atherosclerosis without adding cholesterol.? Only God knows how many people have died or suffered as a result of the mass marketing of vegetable oils as heart healthy over the last 7 decades.

Build the Ultimate Sandwich

Men?s Fitness.com helps you create a healthy lunch that actually tastes good with their guide to building the ultimate sandwich.

GO WITH THE GRAIN
Just because the bread’s brown doesn’t mean it’s good for you. Check out the ingredient list. “Whole wheat” should be the first thing listed?not “refined grains,” which have fewer nutrients and less fiber than their whole-grain counterparts. Also be sure the loaf has at least 3 grams of fiber per serving and doesn’t contain any high-fructose corn syrup.

RAID THE PRODUCE AISLE
Pile on all the cucumbers, tomatoes, pickles, onions, bell peppers, or jalape?os you want. The extra calories they add to your meal are virtually nil.

ALL ABOUT MEAT
Ham: It’ll only set you back around 60 calories yet packs 11 grams of protein. Select a nitrate-free variety, though (these preservatives have been shown to increase the risk of cancer when consumed over time). Less sodium means you’ll also avoid that after-lunch bloat.

Turkey: The king of the healthy lunch meats. It’s low in calories, fat, and sodium but loaded with protein. Buy 100% baked or smoked sliced turkey breast.

Roast Beef: Red meat gets a bad rap for being high in fat, but with many lower fat brands out there, you can now pile on the beef without adversely tipping the scale.

Check out the rest of Men?s Fitness ingredients to the ultimate sandwich, here.

Eat fat to lose fat

Fat is it friend or foe? Well if you ask most, including health care professionals, they’ll say foe. It’s time for people to wake up! The current ways of eating aren’t working. Just a few years ago, for the first time in history the top six books on the New York Times Best Seller list, were about the same subject: diets low in carbs, moderate to high protein, high in fibrous carbs (vegetable), and moderate fat. Why is this topic so popular? They work!

One of the biggest reasons protein diets work is the consumption of fat. That is, fat minus the abundance of carbs. Fat has many functions outside of being used as an energy source, and certain fatty acids are essential. Without eating them you’d literally get sick and die.

But how does fat help our diet? Well, fat satiates the appetite, and helps to stop the cravings for sugar. And probably most importantly, fat when combined with a low sugar intake actually aids in burning fat as fuel. That’s right, fat helps burn fat. When fat is restricted, our bodies have a defense mechanism built in through evolution for survival. Our bodies will actually stop using fat as fuel in an effort to preserve our stores for future use.

Bodybuilders have known this for years through trial and error, while dieting for shows, they would reach a certain body fat percentage and suddenly plateau for no apparent reason. We found that by adding fat to the diet like olive oil, or coconut oil, would jump-start the body to burn body fat. It’s not the amount of food you consume that is the problem. It’s the types of food you’re consuming.

Sounds bizarre doesn’t it.

« Older posts Newer posts »