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Greetings!
In last month's newsletter, I began to debunk the antiquated cholesterol-heart disease hypothesis by revealing that Hemoglobin A1C (a blood test that correlates with blood sugar levels) better predicts heart disease risk than any cholesterol value. But sugar supersaturation is only one variable that promotes atherosclerosis (the process of plaque gooping up arteries). The biggest culprit behind atherosclerosis is inflammation. |
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Beliefs Change Begrudgingly | |
It used to be believed that eating cholesterol raises blood cholesterol levels and then the extra cholesterol in the blood gooped up arteries causing atherosclerosis. I mean, how obvious is that? Well, the world is full of things that are both obvious and fragrantly incorrect. The reality is that this simplistic model of atherosclerosis has been thoroughly disproven many times over, but it's important to understand that entrenched beliefs don't go down without a fight. It takes decades for deeper layers of understanding to uproot the inertia of the set belief.
The vast majority of healthcare providers have never, and will never, thoroughly examine primary data on heart disease in their whole lives. They defer to professional organizations, like the American Heart Association, and they mindlessly follow their recommendations because they believe the consensus opinion of these professional organizations to be more expert than their own. This is a problem since the American Heart Association's faulty recommendation to steer clear of eggs and eat a low-fat diet to avoid heart disease has markedly increased rates of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
I've chosen to associate myself with the American Heart Association in regards to CPR training because I believe they are a well-intentioned organization, but do you really think the American Heart Association is in a big rush to come out and say, "So, by the way, this is funny really, we've been totally wrong about heart disease for the past thirty years, and the advice we gave you helped make you fat, sick, and inflamed. But you'll keep donating to us, won't you?" |
| It's The Processing, Stupid | |
There are a lot of problems with the data that initially implicated cholesterol and saturated fat in heart disease, but here's a big one: the data that incriminated cholesterol and saturated fat didn't factor in whether the meat was processed or unprocessed. The studies grouped all meat together based on cholesterol and fat content. There's a big difference between a piece of organic grass-fed beef and a hot dog that's made from who knows what and is preserved with all sorts of chemicals outside of their cholesterol and fat content.
Disturbingly, it wasn't until May of 2010 that first study to systematically separate out the effects of processed and unprocessed red meats was published. Entitled, "Red and processed meat consumption and risk of incidence coronary heart disease, stroke and diabetes mellitus. A systematic review and meta-analysis," it was published in the journal Circulation. It found that eating up to 100 grams (a little more than 3 ounces) a day of unprocessed red meat wasn't correlated with heart disease, but eating even just 50 grams (which is about one hot dog or two pieces of deli meat) of any meat preserved by smoking, curing, or salting such as sausages, bacon, and salami, was correlated with a 42% increased risk of heart disease and, interestingly, a 19% higher risk of diabetes.
The study's primary investigator, Dr. Renata Micha, explains the results, "We found red meats and processed meats had similar amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol, but processed meats had about four times the amount of sodium and 50% more preservatives, such as nitrates, than the unprocessed red meat. We suggest that salt and other preservatives might explain this higher risk we found for processed meats." That sure makes sense to me. The good news in all this is that simply avoiding processed meats and the preservatives sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite can dramatically reduce your risk of heart disease. |
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Fat and Inflammation | |
The fat content of meat does affect the overall healthiness of a meat but not in the way most people think. It's not about cholesterol; it's about inflammation. Some types of fat promote inflammation while some fats reduce inflammation. Omega-6 fatty acids, common in vegetable oils, corn, and soy are pro-inflammatory whereas their counterbalance Omega-3 fatty acids, found in freshwater fish, algae, and grass, are anti-inflammatory. One of the big problems with today's meat is that it comes from feedlot animals fattened up on Omega-6-rich corn and soy instead of eating grass and gaining the Omega-3 fats nature intended. So your best bet is to shell out the few extra dollars for organic grass-fed beef. Your heart, and local sustainable farmer, will thank you.
Omega-3 to Omega-6 imbalance play a major role in just about everything wrong with Americans today, but that's a story for another month. Until then, be well, be happy, and be sharing this newsletter with everyone you know.
Best Wishes,
Dan
Daniel A. Clinton, RN, BSN
CPR & First Aid Instructor and Professional Tutor
www.clintoncpr.com
www.awesomenursingtutor.com
P.S. Do you know of anyone else who may benefit from this information? Please feel free to and take advantage of the social media bar at the top to share this newsletter on your facebook and/or tweet it to your followers. |
| About The Author | |
Dan Clinton is a Registered Nurse, CPR and First Aid Instructor, Professional Anatomy, Physiology, Nursing, and NCLEX-RN tutor, Researcher, Writer, Entrepreneur, and overall swell guy. Dan channels his passion for helping others through his businesses, striving to fulfill the American dream of succeeding through altruism, hard work, persistence, and ingenuity. As a CPR and First Aid Instructor, he offers comprehensive and cutting-edge American Heart Association CPR and First Aid instruction throughout Massachusetts and the New England area. As a professional tutor, Dan holistically aids his clients reach (and often exceed) their goals, and he has quickly developed a reputation as one of Boston's premier tutors for the nursing board exam (the NCLEX-RN).
Dan lives in Waltham, Massachusetts, works way too hard, and hopes to soon finish his first book which will show how to fix the fractured American healthcare system and teach its readers everything they need to know to dramatically improve their health. It is the greatest book ever written. |
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