Low Carb Diets Found to Feed Heart Disease
 

Low Carb Diets Found to Feed Heart Disease
Written by: Michael Greger M.D. on May 19th, 2015
http://nutritionfacts.org/2015/05/19...ary-blood-flow

" 'A dietary pattern characterized by high protein and fat, but low carbohydrate was associated with poorer peripheral small artery function,' again measuring blood flow into people’s limbs."

Ron

Ron,

This is an interesting study for me, suffering from heart disease and microvascular disease.

I have just started dieting and will NOT be eliminating anything from my diet. I strongly believe we, as humans, are designed/evolved to be Omnivores and, as such, take our necessary nutrition from all sources.

Dave.

A 20 year study on 82,802 women...

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa055317

A few snippets:

"A higher glycemic load was strongly associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease..."

"We found that after taking into account confounding variables (especially smoking status), a low-carbohydrate diet was not associated with a risk of coronary heart disease in this large prospective cohort of women. In fact, when vegetable sources of fat and protein were chosen, the low-carbohydrate-diet score was associated with a moderately lower risk of coronary heart disease than when animal sources were chosen."

I think that eating a moderate amount of carbs, such as would be found in a diet of varied whole (unprocessed) vegetables and fruits, is the best course of action. I think if you choose some "special" diet emphasizing a low or high proportion of carbs, protein, or fats, you are asking for trouble. And no, a diet of varied fruits and vegetables is not low in protein. Low in terms of the standard American diet, but not low in terms of what we need.
Ron

Ron,

I looked further as this is close to my, well, heart. From 2009:

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...vessel-growth/

It is, in both cases, the vascular damage that leads to heart problems. Exactly what I suffer from, and where it has led.

Dave.

I personally believe that people vary tremendously in what their bodies need...determined by genetics and ethnic past.

Ms. Louise Gittleman(Dietician) has written an interesting book...
"Your Body Knows Best".... it is so compelling, and she has
studies to illustrate her points:

http://www.amazon.com/Your-Body-Know...ody+Knows+Best

According to her some people may do well on a vegan lifestyle, and others not. This may depend on what genes they inherited and where their ancestors evolved from. This is a fascinating and intelligent book.

I've always believed in the motto "everything in moderation". The hard part is to know what constitutes "moderation" for any specific food :rolleyes:

Right now, I'm leaving my meat intake the same, but shifting somewhat away from red meat and more toward fish and poultry.

Also trying to shift away from starches and grains (especially gluten, and processed/enriched grains) - and move toward more vegetables. That should lower the overall carb intake pretty significantly.

Unfortunately, its sometimes hard to control the diet when the rest of the family has other ideas. But this fall, both kids will be away at college - hopefully, I can talk my wife into joining me on the journey to better eating.

I've never been much of a cook. But, as the PN symptoms are limiting some of my physical activities - that's one thing I hope to turn my attention to as an alternative activity.

Ron, I absolutely agree with you that the majority of the diet should consist of unprocessed vegetables and fruits, and that the SAD is way too high in protein. I think most low carb diets are dangerous if not done correctly and enable people to eat poor quality in dangerous quantities, however when the protocol is done correctly and when each plate is 3/4 full of dark leafy, cruciferous and deeply colored vegetation, with the meat/ fish being the 1/4 of the ratio, it is highly nutritional. I can attest to the way I'm feeling. I am drawn to low fat vegetarian, gluten free whole grain eating, but it wasn't doing me enough favors. Just two weeks of including more fish/meats/eggs and fats and avoiding all grains, my neuropathy symptoms have lessened.

I am not an advocate of "diets", and don't think there is a one size fits all approach, but to be fair, there are studies that demonstrate certain low carb ways of eating to be heart protective. Also, I'm not trying to be argumentative. I am aware for many studies there will always be another to disprove it.



http://corporate.dukemedicine.org/ne...fice/news/9412

http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-man...erol-long-term

I think it is a case by case basis-similar to what Mrs. D mentions above.

Each person needs to find their niche. I can't do strictly vegetarian-I've tried several times, and I just get weak and unwell from it (and I was eating very healthfully with plenty of protein sources).

I also don't do well with lots of meat or lots of cheese.

For me, pescetarian (sp?) is the right way to go. I do eat grains-but in smaller amounts, and usually things like steal cut oats and on occasion brown rice. Beans are fine for me, and I enjoy them a lot.

When I try to go totally grain free, my guts act up, and I get IBS type symptoms. Usually a bit of steal cut oatmeal at the start of my day is enough to make this not the case.

This is also what I believe. Genetics and history are huge.
I find with my clients that a diet that one person thrives on will be terrible for another. I find it all so fascinating and exciting!