Artery blockage and hydrogenated fats

[Gina B]

The question is at the bottom, here's the background for it:

Since learning of a major blockage in my carotid artery, I started doing some research and read that the main thing to avoid in diet is any food oils/fats labeled with the words "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated."

So when I went shopping for the family today I went crazy looking at labels to see how much of what I normally buy contains these evil things.

I shopped for all seven of us and bought enough food to last us around two weeks. There were 127 items.

Without trying to buy anything different or out of the ordinary, I found that out of 127 items, only two contained that word and one was margarine, which is supposed to be less evil than butter...the other was a blueberry muffin mix, which is something we only make around once a month, maybe twice.

I also looked at my commonly used oils. I have olive oil and grapeseed oil as my staples. I have vegetable oil, but it's mostly reserved for baked items.

It kinda has me at a loss. I don't have high blood pressure or diabetes, cholesterol is fine, no drinking, no smoking (although that has been in the past) but yes, I'm overweight. However, lots of people my age are overweight, eat way worse, and don't have blocked arteries.

I'll be curious to find out whether it's really caused by plaque or if it is a deformity in the artery because if I have this right, six of my younger siblings have heart deformities and one of my daughter's has a deformed artery.

Other than that, how many here have had this issue and did NOT have a diet that included a lot of hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated oils?

 

[Deacon]

It's a matter of managing risk factors.

Cholesterol, diabeters, high blood pressure, tobacco use, and a variety of other factors are variable and controllable risk factors

Things like family history, age, sex, ... are not controllable.

As these factors increase, we have a greater chance of having blockages.

To make sure we don't have a blockage, we perform tests to see if they are present.

Even a person with a low risk factor profile can have problems, but the chances are lower.

Rob

 

[menageriekeeper]

Us, though no blockages that we are aware of.

My husbands cholesterol and tri glycerides are just simply HIGH. over the roof high. Have the doc's office calling to see if I feed him pure fat high. Warnings of imminent death high.

They became the highest at the point where we were trying to control his diabetes with his diet. (*I* nearly starved on that diet!) I was cooking with NO fats and all he was getting was in his meat (meat we were told he was to eat because he got NO carbs during this time).

I use only canola and olive oils to cook with at the moment and he takes two different meds to control his cholesterol. But his numbers while high are stable and his good numbers are better than his bad. Generally.

You just can't control everything. Do the best you can and know that God knows the number of your days and you aren't moving on until He says so. Isn't that why we have this faith of ours?

My husband told me when he was a young healthy man that he wouldn't live to see 45. He turned 47 last Friday. Who do you think caused that to happen?

I'm all for taking precautions and changing bad habits. But when there aren't any bad habits to change, you just have to live life as it comes and trust God with the rest.

As for the margarine thing. Lately studies have shown that the fats in real butter are better fats than those in margarine. We use a combination of both here, mostly because we were raised on margarine and the taste of butter is just different. And butter is way more expensive.

 

[Benjamin]

Hydrogenated fats would be a good thing to avoid, but also cutting way down on all unhealthy saturated fats is in order. Another thing to avoid is sugar because while the liver is working itself hard on that troublesome ingredient it is not doing a good job producing good cholesterol. Along with this, some weight loss and a regular progressive exercise program should do you wonders. These things work together as a system.
NOW, of course all this will take some major lifestyle changes to accomplish. BUT, if you REALLY want to make some 'significant' changes in this area you REALLY need to make some important and 'significant' lifestyle changes to do it. You need to look at the big picture; ONLY cutting back on hydrogenated fats will ONLY get you mild improvements at best. Its all about your reasons for doing it and how bad you want it. The possibilities ARE there.

 

[Gina B]

I definitely want it! I've never have a major sweet tooth, (give me a salad any day of the week!) but my blood sugar does tend to drop low and sometimes I have trouble getting it back up.

Weight? I definitely need and want to lose it. My main issue is inactivity which started out because of debilitating pain. For a while I would eat so little to make up for it, it would make me sick and dizzy. When the doctor put me on pain meds that worked, I was able to start walking and would go for a few miles daily. I got sensitive to the medication so he tried a new one and it finally turned out that I can't take any anti-inflammatories without bleeding like a maniac and puking, so now it's a pain issue.

So finding something I can physically do is a real issue here. I have no problem controlling my diet. I'm stubborn that way. It doesn't do much, although I did lose five pounds over the last four weeks by drinking more water and cutting out most other drinks apart from grapefruit juice. I think part of the issue was drinking coffee with cream, so now I just drink about half a cup of it instead of a whole one in the morning and often don't even finish it, save the rest for lunch.

I'd really love any ideas people might have on exercising when you have difficulty with balance and such. I have a lot of weakness on my right side and nerve pain that goes insane the day after I try to walk too far. There are some bulging discs in my spine, one mass that pinches, and a number of cysts coming out of my spinal cord, so back pain is another issue making me afraid to get very active.

But I gotta. I just don't know how.

 

[Benjamin]

Gosh Gina, the things you are describing are exactly those things I am learning to deal with in the field of physical therapy. You need to tell a physical therapist just want you said here and let them work with you. I would need to examine you and work with you in person to even begin to deal with the balance issues, back pain and pain in general. A doctor in physical therapy would have to do the initial examination before sending you to me for exercise instructions anyway and I would have to consult with him/her as things progressed.

Coincidently, I’ve been sitting here studying all day and into the night on different strengthening procedures on people with varying types of issues. Like which muscles to strengthen and how in order to increase “range of motion” while enabling a person to maintain and improve flexibility, coordination and endurance and do PRE (progressive resistance exercises). There are all kinds of ways to accomplish exercising which leads to better mobility and overall health.

This is my field, but frankly I’m still rookie and you need a DPT to get you started and then you can work with someone cool like me ; I am going to begin my clinical internship this summer, woot! Really though, it is amazing what we (those in my field) can do with peoples bodies to bring about functional goals! Especially with some one who is motivated to work for these positive changes. If you can, please give PT a try.

 

[Gina B]

Thanks Benjamin! I'll talk to my doctor about it at my next appointment.

I talked to a PT a few years ago (I worked in a facility with a decent therapy department) but even with the employee rate, couldn't afford it. I have insurance now though, so hopefully that will make the difference. I'm definitely willingly and motivated.

It's neat that you're doing what you do. When I worked in a nursing home years back it was pretty cool to watch the temporary stays/visitors (knee replacements and the like) go through therapy and finish out with being able to get back to a normal life, which they often didn't have for years before that anyhow because of the problems that warranted the surgery. To be a part of the therapy must be great. My main job was to clean poo off people, take tpr's, feed them, and prepare bodies for families. Not quite as glamorous, but I got to hear a lot of stories (well, not from the last group) and since I love stories and old people, loved the job anyhow. Still miss some of my people...one the other hand, I've never missed having to change a colostomy bag cuz I was always afraid of hurting the person while cleaning the area. That's gotta feel weird to have someone washing something that's meant to be closed into your body.

Gonna go sing meeeemmmmoooorrrriiiieeessss now!

 

[glfredrick]

There seems to be a prevailing myth going about these days that one "is" what one "eats." Have blockage in your arteries? Must be because you ate stuff that blocked them... Yeah, right. As if that stuff goes directly from your mouth to your arteries.

The food we eat goes into the stomach, where it is broken down into elemental molecules. Some isn't broken down and passes right through. Other things are filtered out and exit via the kidneys. We need some of the three types of molecules that food breaks into: fat, protein, and carbohydrates. We do not need chemically-modified products that imitate the true foods above, for they trigger weird body reactions akin to eating poison, but are supposed to be "healthy." Weird how all the people eating all those "healthy" chemicals instead of plain old food are so un-healthy.

I'd suggest that there is also a tie-in with insulin and that insulin production -- less or more than is needed -- is at the core of the true problems with the diet and the body. Research is now starting to show this tie-in. Things like cholesterol are not "eaten" but produced by the body. Understanding this is the first line of defense. Insulin is directly related to the body's production of cholesterol.

And, after that, I prefer natural foods -- the things given us by God -- over the super-refined stuff that may or may not actually be helpful in the diet. And, yes, butter... It is actually "food" instead of chemically modified acids that pretend to be food. Complex cabs are good, as the body has to work to process them so we do not see systemic spikes of the insulin (that causes us to desire MORE food to deal with the excess insulin produced).

Here is a decent blog on butter (and a few other things):
http://medhed.com/blog/2007/03/butter_yeahyou_heard_me.html