Heart
Disease Prevention - A Complete Nutritional Approach
Michael Lam, MD, MPH www.DrLam.com
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Before You Begin
Information presented here is for general
educational purposes only. Each one of us is biochemically and metabolically
different. If you have a specific health concern and wish my personalized
nutritional recommendation, write to me by clicking
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14 million Americans
have heart disease and more than 2,600 die daily from heart attacks in the
United States alone. 15% of adults in their late 30s to 40s are afflicted
by cardiovascular disease, about 50% of 55 to 64 year-olds, and 65% of those
will be afflicted in the next decade.
After 20 years of aggressive drug therapy and promotion of low-fat diet,
the tide on cardiovascular disease has not reversed. Obviously, this elusive
condition is far more complicated that we had ever imagined. It is clear
that there are other factors that have not been addressed.
Cause of Cardiovascular Disease
For decades, the public at large has been taught that the key culprit to
heart disease is high cholesterol in our blood that comes from a diet that
is high in cholesterol. This notion must be downgraded.
Consider the following:
Polar bears, for example, maintain total blood cholesterol of over 400
mg/dl and they seldom develop heart attacks.
Eskimos are relatively free of heart disease. They eat animal fats from
fish and marine animals liberally.
The Okinawans are the longest living population group in the world. The
average life span for Okinawan women is 84 years. Their diet? An intake
of fish 2-3 times a week and high intake of vegetables. Their cholesterol
intake on the whole is more than most.
People in North India consume 17 times more animal fat but have 7 times
fewer incidences of heart disease compared to people in southern India.
In the Framingham study for example, men and women consumed an average cholesterol
intake of 700 mg and 500 mg per day respectively (one egg provides 200 mg).
The average serum concentration of cholesterol for men and women with higher
than average cholesterol intake was found to be 237 and 245 mg/dl respectively.
Subjects with lower than average intakes has an average serum concentration
of 237mg/dl for men and 241 mg/dl for women. The difference is statistically
insignificant. Statistically, studies have shown that
people who consume 4 eggs per week
actually have average serum cholesterol (193 mg/dl) same as those who reported
consuming only 1 egg per week (197 mg/dl). Clearly dietary cholesterol in
and of itself is not the critical link to heart disease risks as we once
thought.
Today, few experts deny that the low-fat
message of the past three decades is radically oversimplified.
If nothing else, it effectively ignores the fact that mono-unsaturated fats
like olive oil is full of omega-3 fatty acid, which is good for health and
must be consumed in large amounts. Bad fats such as overcooked saturated
fats from meat or trans-fat from processed food should be avoided.
While a diet high in unhealthy fat can promote heart disease, it is only
one of many factors that increase cardiovascular risk. Science is telling
us that in fact, it is only a minor reason. Other than the familiar hypercholesteremia, the main reason for high blood cholesterol
is excessive metabolism of oxygen and sugar in our blood stream due
to the polluted environment, and a diet high in refined carbohydrate, trans-fat,
and stressful lifestyle. This leads to free radical generation that in turn
damages the endothelial wall of the blood vessel. The body has an intrinsic
repair mechanism to overcome the damage, but it needs the proper nutrients
to get the job done. Some nutrients are made internally, while others need
to be supplied externally. In the case of blood vessel repair, the key is
ascorbic acid. It cannot be made endogenously and has to be taken in externally
from food sources.
Sad to say, but the food we take in today is far different from that our
grandparents ate. They simply cannot provide all the nutrients needed by
the body to repair the damaged endothelium. Our soils are depleted of nutrients,
the amount of chemicals and preservatives are at an unprecedented high level,
and the way we cook our food with high heat is nothing short of extreme.
The wholesome meal that our grandparents ate is now replaced by frozen and
processed food when we are not able to go to a fast food restaurant. Even
the 65 mg of Vitamin C in one orange gets only fractionally delivered to
our body by the time it makes the journey from the orchard to our kitchen.
Our body was never designed to take in large quantity of glucose from breakdown
of pasta, bread, French fries, cookies, and soda over years. It simply does
not have the ability process them properly without residual damaging effect.
Lacking the specific nutrients in order to carry out the repair process
properly, the body puts its emergency repair team into action. It instructs
the liver to produce cholesterol (a sticky and waxy substance) as a surrogate
in its attempt to repair damaged artery by covering the damaged areas. Cholesterol
so produced travels from the liver to the damaged areas as LDL cholesterol.
It is further converted into oxidized LDL cholesterol and sets off a cascading
inflammatory reaction. This eventually leads to a thrombus formation, reduction
of nitric oxide synthesis, high blood pressure, and ultimately blockage
of blood vessels resulting in heart attacks or strokes.
A high cholesterol blood level can therefore be viewed as a sign of underlying
vascular wall dysfunction at the endothelium and defect in our insulin’s
activity against glucose. Unfortunately, this has gone unrecognized. Instead,
the cholesterol myth has lead researchers to focus on stopping the production
of cholesterol from the liver by the use of drugs.
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14 million Americans
have heart disease and more than 2,600 die daily from heart attacks in the
United States alone. 15% of adults in their late 30s to 40s are afflicted
by cardiovascular disease, about 50% of 55 to 64 year-olds, and 65% of those
will be afflicted in the next decade.
