The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.

I was excited to learn from Dr. Mirkin's writings (books,
articles,newsletter) that I could control high cholesterol,
high blood pressure and possible heart problems by following
his very sensible dietary suggestions. Moreover.results are
apparent within two weeks!


I bought Dr. Mirkin's book: The Healthy Heart Miracle-
Your Roadmap to Lifelong Health and I plan to share
what I'm learning with his "Simple 8-week Plan"

(here's Dr. Mirkin's article)
Heart Problems, High Cholesterol and High Blood Pressure

For the last 60 years, doctors have told us that a high-fat diet causes heart attacks. Newer studies show that eating lots of refined carbohydrates can also cause heart attacks.

You can lower cholesterol by replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fat and by restricting refined carbohydrates found in bakery products, pastas, and sugar-added foods. Many people think that it takes months for a cholesterol-lowering diet to work, but it actually takes only two weeks for diet changes to give you maximum cholesterol lowering.

A study of 75,000 women showed that those most likely to suffer a

heart attack ate the most foods that cause the highest rise in blood sugar.

The glycemic index measures how high a person's blood sugar rises after eating

a certain food in comparison to blood sugar rise with sugar. High glycemic index

foods include all those that have added sugar such as pastries, cakes, cookies

and most soft drinks; those made from flour such as bakery products and pastas;

fruit juices; root vegetables such as potatoes and beets; also fruits.

Other reports from Harvard School of Public Health show that a diet rich in plants lowers high blood pressure. It's called the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.) The same eating patterns lower cholesterol, help to control diabetes and cause weight loss in people who are overweight.

Your strategies for preventing heart attacks should include reducing your intake of added fats, particularly saturated and partially hydrogenated fats; and avoiding refined carbohydrates. Eat lots of vegetables, whole grains, beans, seeds and nuts. People who are also overweight or diabetic should eat fruits and root vegetables only in combination with other foods to slow the rise in blood sugar.

See the section on Weight Loss if this applies to you.

Good Food by Dr. Gabe Mirkin and Diana Mirkin

to be continued to-morrow.....

Cholesterol: Eat Your Way to Lower Numbers

Eat Your Way to Lower Cholesterol is the title of a very informative article in The Seattle Times. Dr. Astrid Pujari writes at length about the benefits of making every effort to control high cholesterol with our diet.

She advocates eating more soluble fiber, adding plant sterols to our diet, eating raw nuts such as almonds and walnuts. Oatmeal contains soluble fiber, which lowers cholesterol by mixing with fats in your stomach and decreasing their absorption.

Dr. Astrid Pujari concludes by saying: Statins or other cholesterol-lowering drugs may be necessary and important. Keep in mind that sometimes people need to use medication because their cholesterol is simply too high for diet or natural supplements to work completely.

In this case, the goal of a natural approach is to help you use the least amount of medication necessary to do the trick. Statins may also have benefits outside of cholesterol lowering for certain issues, such as heart failure (when the heart muscle doesn't pump effectively).

More information at: The Seattle Times, Sunday May 20, Living Section
(http://www.seattletimes.com).