How soon is too soon to be eating "heart healthy"?

[Randomnity]

I don't know about this. When I drink wine it's typically red, and I typically drink one glass in the evening, two at the very most... this from an ENTP with an addictive personality.

It's a matter of rationing. One bottle shared between my wife and I will last three days if we each drink one glass a day.

Maybe I'm an outlier, but I don't really think so.

You're right, I didn't really mean to say "most" people, more like a significant fraction of people. I mean that the risk is there to do more harm than good if you encourage people to drink, particularly if the benefits of that glass are not all that huge compared to the downsides of excessive alcohol use (which is true).

 

[fecaleagle]

Haha...ok...that title's a bit of a misnomer. I know there isn't a "too soon" for that kind of thing. I mostly just want to know if there are other young'uns out there who take their diet to heart (har har).

I'm 21 and I try to watch my intake of saturated fats, sodium and cholesterol. Read labels, turn down high-fat, highly salty foods. All that good stuff. But I tell me friends about this (who are years older than I am) and they think I'm crazy.

I dunno. I guess I'm a real proponent of the phrase "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." I don't want to have to take high BP meds in my 40s for the rest of my life.

Amiright? *fist bumps all around*

Contrary to common belief, saturated fat is extremely good for you and eating cholesterol does not increase your levels of cholesterol. There are tons of studies that show that increasing dietary levels of saturated fat actually specifically increases your HDL...which is a good thing. So total cholesterol moving up can be a good thing in this case, and lowering total cholesterol (by limiting saturated fats) is a bad thing. Most heart attack patients have normal cholesterol levels. It's simple carbs (i.e. sugars) and processed foods, along with smoking, that are the major culprits. These things (including your insulin response) damage your arteries. Cholesterol does it's job by repairing this damage. The more you damage, the more plaque buildup. So you can see that having a high HDL in this case (by increasing saturated fat intake) would actually limit this buildup. Stay away from trans fats and vegetable oils. Rather than me getting technical on the issue, here's a good article to read:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/the-cholesterol-myth-that_b_676817.html

 

[Quinlan]

Contrary to common belief, saturated fat is extremely good for you and eating cholesterol does not increase your levels of cholesterol. There are tons of studies that show that increasing dietary levels of saturated fat actually specifically increases your HDL...which is a good thing. So total cholesterol moving up can be a good thing in this case, and lowering total cholesterol (by limiting saturated fats) is a bad thing. Most heart attack patients have normal cholesterol levels. It's simple carbs (i.e. sugars) and processed foods, along with smoking, that are the major culprits. These things (including your insulin response) damage your arteries. Cholesterol does it's job by repairing this damage. The more you damage, the more plaque buildup. So you can see that having a high HDL in this case (by increasing saturated fat intake) would actually limit this buildup. Stay away from trans fats and vegetable oils. Rather than me getting technical on the issue, here's a good article to read:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/the-cholesterol-myth-that_b_676817.html

I'd say the only problem with saturated fat is it often makes carbs so much more palatable and bingeable (buttered popcorn etc.). I think that's where the original confusion arised, not enough untangling of the correlation between fat and sugar, we blamed the wrong macronutrient!

 

[funkadelik]

Contrary to common belief, saturated fat is extremely good for you and eating cholesterol does not increase your levels of cholesterol. There are tons of studies that show that increasing dietary levels of saturated fat actually specifically increases your HDL...which is a good thing. So total cholesterol moving up can be a good thing in this case, and lowering total cholesterol (by limiting saturated fats) is a bad thing. Most heart attack patients have normal cholesterol levels. It's simple carbs (i.e. sugars) and processed foods, along with smoking, that are the major culprits. These things (including your insulin response) damage your arteries. Cholesterol does it's job by repairing this damage. The more you damage, the more plaque buildup. So you can see that having a high HDL in this case (by increasing saturated fat intake) would actually limit this buildup. Stay away from trans fats and vegetable oils. Rather than me getting technical on the issue, here's a good article to read:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/the-cholesterol-myth-that_b_676817.html

I've been reading more and more about this lately. Thanks to this thread, actually.

I had previously just been following my doctor's (rather half-assed) recommendations. Ok, not half-assed, but dismissive. And popular opinion. I think it's been kind of drilled into everyone that cholesterol and saturated fat = bad. I find it very interesting. Especially since what I suffer from is chronic inflammation (which is what optimum cholesterol levels helps to control). Anyway, great article. Thanks!

 

[Tamske]

I've done it all my life. My mom needed to watch out for high blood pressure, and, as the cook, she decided about food. I've eaten salt only when eating out. I've learnt to cook from her and I'm continuing the tradition. I even don't have to think about it.
Why spicing with boring salt and pepper if you have a whole rack of dried spices and herbs and even some fresh herbs in the garden to choose from?

 

[fecaleagle]

I've done it all my life. My mom needed to watch out for high blood pressure, and, as the cook, she decided about food. I've eaten salt only when eating out. I've learnt to cook from her and I'm continuing the tradition. I even don't have to think about it.
Why spicing with boring salt and pepper if you have a whole rack of dried spices and herbs and even some fresh herbs in the garden to choose from?

You mean you don't eat ANY salt? Sodium is a very important electrolyte and not getting enough is dangerous. Especially if you exercise since you lose it in sweat AND your muscles need it to be able contract effectively. Also salt is iodized--meaning it has iodine added to it--which makes it a major source of iodine in most people's diets. Iodine is crucial for healthy functioning of the thyroid gland. I don't even bother watching my salt intake because a)my BP is normal (even if it wasn't, I drink enough water to negate sodium's effect on BP), b)I am young so my kidneys work efficiently, c)I am not worried about subcutaneous water retention...I just make sure to take in enough potassium to balance the sodium