Dr. Sanjay Gupta CNN show on No More Heart Attacks

The Blue Zone by Dan Buettner attributes their longevity to the peaceful nature of their lifestyle, as well as the fact that so much walking is built into it.

Also to the lack of processed foods rather than to the presence of white rice.

He notes that the younger generation in Okinawa that is losing the above, health-wise is starting to look more like Americans.
 
My experience

2004 201 lbs, high cholesterol, pre-diabetic, at 59.
Found Protein Power (Eades)The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D.

Now 175 lbs (66 yo), work out at the "Y" 3 days a week: lifting heavy-one set of muscles/week. Swim 40 minutes. Chief motivator is the folks in cardiac rehab. that are there at the same time. One guy rides stationary bike for over one hour. Changes shirt 3 times! Pretty worthless! I am in and out of the weight room in 10 minutes.

Advice (for what it's worth - do your own research!)

Vitamin D3, up to 10,000 iu/day. Get your levels checked spring and fall.
Prevents many aging issues (heart disease, cancer, immune system issues, depression---wow! is there anything it can't do?)
GrassrootsHealth | Vitamin D Action - GrassrootsHealth | Vitamin D Action

Fish, fish oil, Co-Q10, Magnesium, potassium, lots of water, etc. Read Protein Power if you are going to strive to lose weight. Your electrolytes can get screwed up from H2O loss.



Cut out wheat! It has changed and "those aren't your grandma's muffins"
The Heart Scan Blog | Measure, track, and reduce coronary atherosclerotic plaque

Strive for balance. My hero is Art De Vaney (just turned 74 the other day)
About Us - Arthur De Vany Members

The lipid hypothysis is a bunch of cr*p. I eat eggs, "artery clogging" sat. fat, meat, cook with coconut oil and butter (not olive oil for high heat - you can research why) Satiety is easy. Never hungry, even with 18 hour intermittent fasting. I work out fasted.

"Healthy whole grains:" ain't healthy!

Rant complete.
 
 
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I'm torn between the extreme vegetarian position and the paleo position.

On the one hand, the high-powered paleo athletes seem healthier and more energetic than the thin vegetarians. However, the most extreme cases of longevity all seem to follow the near-meatless and high low-intensity (functional) exercise plan.

Part of this could simply be that the high-power paleo athlete lifestyle IS better, but can't be sustained beyond say 80 - which leaves the placid, easygoing vegetarians to plod on to past their 100 year mark while the paleo founder, being unable to take on a new lifestyle at 80.
 
a said:
I'm torn between the extreme vegetarian position and the paleo position.

On the one hand, the high-powered paleo athletes seem healthier and more energetic than the thin vegetarians. However, the most extreme cases of longevity all seem to follow the near-meatless and high low-intensity (functional) exercise plan.

Part of this could simply be that the high-power paleo athlete lifestyle IS better, but can't be sustained beyond say 80 - which leaves the placid, easygoing vegetarians to plod on to past their 100 year mark while the paleo founder, being unable to take on a new lifestyle at 80.
Click to expand...

That is exactly my sentiment too. I compare the paleo lifestyle with something like Okinawa diet (they are not vegetarian though - they eat meat including fatty pork, but the amount of meat they eat is much smaller than the average meat eating American's.) and thinking eatilng like Okinawans (with low and slow exercise, easy going mood, etc) makes you live longer while high protein / high fat diet (with strength training) makes you fit, but makes you burn out quicker.

By this assumption, since I like protein too much, even if I exercised the right way, I won't live to be 100 yrs old.... Oh well. :cool:
 
And adding more confusion to the longevity topic, some people think fermented veggies or dairy is the key to longevity. I can't remember exactly which country, but some region in Eastern Europe enjoy longivity and they eat a lot of fermented dairy (not pasterized and not homeginized - it may even be raw dairy). As you know, fermented anything (as long as not rotton) have live enzymes and beneficial bacteria.
 
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TromboneAl said:
Also their obesity rate is lower. I'm not sure why. Some say it's because they eat much less sugar, and they walk more (as part of their daily routines). But I'd sure expect that eating a lot of white rice would be a problem.
Click to expand...

You've answered your own question. They don't eat a lot of white rice. They don't eat a lot of anything. In amongst all the angst over fast carbs and slow carbs and good fats and red meat and all the other stuff, the fact is that calorie restricted (within reason) diets seem to be the most effective at reducing heart disease and related illnesses, as well as increasing longevity.
 
windsurf said:
If you are interested in what the Cleveland Clinic's medical librarian thinks about all of this, see: Happy Healthy Long Life (link)

See the side panels for earlier posts. The site is a corunucopia of info that this very heavy reader of med research finds. Also, Dr. Esselstynn's diet advice is premised on an evidenced based study that he performed over several years. the first symptom of heart disease is usually death. I know b/c I was clincially dead on a tennis court during a USTA match while given world class cpr by a cardiologist playing for the other team. first clue of heart disease: dropping dead instantly on the court.
Click to expand...

So, it seems, no one has even looked to comment on this link. I stopped looking at this site awhile ago after quite some time of participation b/c of so much pontification not based upon reference to credible sources.
 
harley said:
You've answered your own question. They don't eat a lot of white rice. They don't eat a lot of anything. In amongst all the angst over fast carbs and slow carbs and good fats and red meat and all the other stuff, the fact is that calorie restricted (within reason) diets seem to be the most effective at reducing heart disease and related illnesses, as well as increasing longevity.
Click to expand...

As far as Okinawans are concerned, I think they eat a lot of white rice, maybe not as much as the mainland people (since Okinawans eat more yam potatoes and such), but by American standards, more white rice, for sure - a little over a cup each meal. They even eat white wheat noodles (they have their own version of "ramen", a little different from the mainland "ramen") and they are known for fatty pork (like pork belly) (the other white meat??) as a protein source as well as fish.

They are also known for their black sugar. (I had a roommate in college who was from Okinawa and she would get a black sugar care package from her family. This is not to say she is a representative of Okinawa diet or she will live long eating black sugar...)

Okinawans are also known to eat a lot of bitter melon and the most known recipe is "Chanpuru" (with pork, bitter melon, tofu and eggs) (Bitter melon is known to lower blood sugar.)

I imagine their caloric intake is still much lower than here, but still they are hardly vegans. (I've never seen meals there as big as here - probably the average american meal portion is bigger than of any other country - at least as far as restaurant portions go).

I don't know if you've eaten bitter melon, but it definitely is an acquired taste to me. (I've eaten it only twice in my life, and I don't want to try it again, even though it's good for you (for your blood sugar balance and such.)
 
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Okinawans are also know for Hara Hachi Bu - eat until you are 80% full.
 
tmm99 said:
As far as Okinawans are concerned, I think they eat a lot of white rice, maybe not as much as the mainland people (since Okinawans eat more yam potatoes and such), but by American standards, more white rice, for sure - a little over a cup each meal. They even eat white wheat noodles (they have their own version of "ramen", a little different from the mainland "ramen") and they are known for fatty pork (like pork belly) (the other white meat??) as a protein source as well as fish.

They are also known for their black sugar. (I had a roommate in college who was from Okinawa and she would get a black sugar care package from her family. This is not to say she is a representative of Okinawa diet or she will live long eating black sugar...)

Okinawans are also known to eat a lot of bitter melon and the most known recipe is "Chanpuru" (with pork, bitter melon, tofu and eggs) (Bitter melon is known to lower blood sugar.)

I imagine their caloric intake is still much lower than here, but still they are hardly vegans. (I've never seen meals there as big as here - probably the average american meal portion is bigger than of any other country - at least as far as restaurant portions go).

I don't know if you've eaten bitter melon, but it definitely is an acquired taste to me. (I've eaten it only twice in my life, and I don't want to try it again, even though it's good for you (for your blood sugar balance and such.)
Click to expand...
I eat it, and like it. A Chinese woman at a table where I sat down in a Asian grocery told me several ways to fix it. Mostly, saute with onion and garlic and then maybe add some mushrooms, or some eggs, or
some bacon or other pork-quite similar to the recipe you gave above

I believe we often over simplify the differences in cultures, and we tend to focus on differences in foods consumed, in particular the macronutrients. I remember reading an epidemiological study of Japanese in America which found that more heart diease was found in Japanese who Americanized in ways other than foods, than in those who kept old social forms and ate American foods. Maybe American social life is cardio-toxic.

Ha
 
Interesting and probably a very valid point.
 
a said:
I'm torn between the extreme vegetarian position and the paleo position.

On the one hand, the high-powered paleo athletes seem healthier and more energetic than the thin vegetarians. However, the most extreme cases of longevity all seem to follow the near-meatless and high low-intensity (functional) exercise plan.

Part of this could simply be that the high-power paleo athlete lifestyle IS better, but can't be sustained beyond say 80 - which leaves the placid, easygoing vegetarians to plod on to past their 100 year mark while the paleo founder, being unable to take on a new lifestyle at 80.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean. Look at Jim Morris the 76 yr old vegan body builder and he's huge. Robert Cheeke is vegan. Peter Ragnar he's a big guy and a heavy lifter also into MMA and vegan except for velvet deer antler I believe but size is not the goal of a healthy person. Jake Shields and Mac Danzig both vegans are MMA fighters. The list goes on. Personally I have not eaten meat in 26 yrs that includes fish or chicken. I've been vegan most of that time. It's been 4 years since I had any dairy or eggs and I am a trained fighter. I find that I am better, faster, stronger as a vegan than I was as a vegetarian and even though I'm female I beat out the guys in their 20's quite often if they don't have adequate training.

I do not think you have anything to worry about when giving up meat especially since Harvard studies of 100,000 people and found bacon and chicken double your risk of bladder and pancreatic cancer. BBQing 44% increase of breast cancer and eating poultry or fish had the highest risk of endometrial cancer. Not to mention you will not be financing an abusive industry where animals are trapped in the horrific cycle of factory farming. :cool: Good luck with it.
 
windsurf said:
So, it seems, no one has even looked to comment on this link. I stopped looking at this site awhile ago after quite some time of participation b/c of so much pontification not based upon reference to credible sources.
Click to expand...
Okay, here's your comment: The posted link goes to a site providing ill-supported opinions and conjecture. The organization is shoddy and her verbose approach to her scattered subject matter will try the patience of anyone attempting to actually obtain information. But thanks for the link!
 
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Very interesting. I got the NMR study, it is now up to $125, but IMO worth it. Why try to cajole your doctor into doing something she never heard of when for $125 you can find out for yourself. Also, you don't need an Rx to eat more eggs. I have been hassled for years to take a statin for my moderately elevated LDL. This test says that although I do have plenty LDL particles, they are almost all the large fluffy kind. Other journal reading suggests that while taking a statin will certainly decrease your LDL-cholesterol, it will also decrease your HDL and perhaps most importantly increase the proportion of small dense low density lipoprotein particles.

Ha
 
web_diva said:
Here is another article and short vids supporting the point in this thread. Might help explain things:
I have high cholesterol, and I don’t care
Click to expand...
It appears that as we learn more it's not the absolute number that matters as much as the components of that number. Not *only* the HDL and LDL, but not all LDL are created equal, either.

Last time I had mine checked, my total cholesterol was 226. This is in the "borderline high" or "mildly high" category. However my doctor wasn't concerned because my HDL was almost off the charts (73) and my LDL to HDL ratio was less than 2-to-1 which is considered a very low risk. My family history has very little in the way of heart disease or heart attacks, so perhaps I can thank a genetic predisposition to very high HDL for this one. I don't think I'm particularly doing anything to boost my HDL.
 
I've been eating 2 eggs for breakfast for over a year. I've also upped my saturated fat consumption, as I've 'sort of' loosely followed the Dukan diet.

I just got the results back from my required annual physical...total cholesterol 230...HDL 90. Not too shabby.

omni
 
omni550 said:
I've been eating 2 eggs for breakfast for over a year. I've also upped my saturated fat consumption, as I've 'sort of' loosely followed the Dukan diet.

I just got the results back from my required annual physical...total cholesterol 230...HDL 90. Not too shabby.

omni
Click to expand...

If I may ask.. what were you numbers before you started eating like that?
(sorry if they are buried in a previous post. I did not see it)
 
razztazz said:
If I may ask.. what were you numbers before you started eating like that?
(sorry if they are buried in a previous post. I did not see it)
Click to expand...

razztazz,

They were 235 and 76 the prior year.

I was not required to have annual physicals prior to that, so my data set is quite limited.

The dietary change (lots of eggs and saturated fats and fewer carbs) is the major change I made. I maintained a similar level of exercise over the 2-year time span.

According to Finding the Ideal Cholesterol Ratio the ideal ratio of total cholesterol to HDL is at or below 5:1 with ~3.5:1 as ideal.

2011 235/76 = 3.09
2012 230/90 = 2.56

omni
 
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