Health Alert 59
It is simpler than you think to choose the right foods to maintain a healthy heart.
• Keep your diet natural
• Eat “good” fats
• Avoid refined carbs
• Eat plenty of lean protein
In this letter, I will explain my plan for a heart healthy diet. And I will show you evidence of why this approach is truly the healthiest.
* Eat Natural *
Imagine yourself living on this planet 100,000 years ago. What sort of foods would you be eating? You would eat what you can hunt and forage. Greens, fruits, nuts, seeds, eggs, and fresh game would be your staple diet. Your body has evolved to eat this natural diet. Your heart benefits from the diet.
Your body is adaptable but if you deviate too far from this natural diet, your heart will suffer. Factory-produced foods have only recently appeared in human history. Nature never meant for our bodies to handle these foods. No wonder so many people suffer from heart disease.
When you are shopping for food, keep the word “natural” in mind. Think about what process produced that food. Stick to foods that look the same as they did in the wild without processing.
*Vindicating the Vilified*
We have been sold a lie. “Fat-free” is not good for your heart. In fact, several nutrients in fat are essential to your heart. Vitamin E and Coenzyme Q10 are only in fat. Monounsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids also enhance heart health. Omega-3 fat is abundant in fish.
Monounsaturated fat is in olive oil, most nuts, and avocados. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a seven-country wide fat study. Researchers examined diet in patients who had just suffered a heart attack. Out of 605 participants, the rate of death was 70% lower
in those who ate high monounsaturated fat compared to those who did not.1The most dangerous types of fat are trans fats and hydrogenated fats. These fats are the product of heavy processing. Margarine, fried foods, and baked goods usually contain these fats.
* Culling the Correct Culprit*
Refined carbohydrates are the principal cause of heart disease in the modern world. Refined carbohydrates appear in most foods on the supermarket shelf today. Most “low-fat” foods have even more refined carbs.
Lancet published a startling study that proved the ill effects of refined sugar. The study showed that someone eating 110 grams of sugar is 5 times more likely to have a heart attack than someone who eats 60 grams of sugar daily. The average American eats 140 grams of sugar daily.2
* Protein Power*
You are what you eat. Your heart is a muscle. Muscle is protein. For a healthy heart, eat lean protein daily. Many meats contain very important heart-healthy nutrients like CoQ10 and vitamin E. And animal sources are the only good sources for dietary vitamin B12. Review Health Alert 49 (Grass-fed Beef) for tips on how to find the best meat for your heart.
Forget low fat. For a healthy heart eat:
• Grass-fed red meat
• Fish
• Olive oil
• Nuts
• Vegetables
Al Sears MD
1 Renaud S., et al. Cretan Mediterranean diet for prevention of coronary heart disease. Am J Clin Nutr 1995 Jun; 61(6 Suppl): 1360S-1367S
2 Yudkin J., et al. Sugar Consumption and Myocardial Infarction. Lancet 1972: 296-297