Just Sayin'...

I was talking with an occasional friend who was wondering how I was doing after my two heart attacks. This query coincidentally coincided with a recent article taken from CNN:

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Professor Gene Bowman, of the University of Portland, Oregon, just completed research which indicates that fast-food, if eaten often, will shrink people's brain.

His research team determined that shrinkage is caused by the saturated fats and insufficient quantities of vitamins B,C,D and E, bringing the same effects as those which cause Alzheimer disease.

The link between fast-food and dementia seems to have been confirmed.

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FWIW, anecdotal evidence follows. Not scientific! Take it any way you want. Maybe with thick gravy and a stick of butter on a sesame seed bun, maybe not...

After two heart attacks that nearly killed me, I chose to radically shift my diet from my fast food, high fat American diet to strict vegan. Yes, really. Nothing like a good scare for motivation! No meat, no fish, no dairy, almost no oils. In other words, extremely low fat and healthy, distinctly un-American nutrition.

Soon after I started, about a bit short of two months later, my memory returned with a vengeance. It was as if a veil of fog had lifted. The inevitable declines I assigned to old age vanished. My mind was sharper and clearer than it had been for years. After 6 months now of vegan eating, the effects have remained.

In addition...

My weight dropped by 50 lbs with no special effort. My cholesterol dropped from over 350 down to 125. Triglycerides are at the low end of normal.

My blocked veins and arteries have actually improved dramatically. No, the blockages have not vanished, the arteries have just relaxed to the point where the emergency quadruple bypass surgery has been indefinitely postponed. My blood pressure has dropped to normal. More blood flow to the brain? I have no idea.

My diabetes is now to the point where my A1C is down to 6 from a high of 14.5 (in other words, normal). One bottle of insulin every 5-6 weeks rather than almost 3 bottles each month.

Is there a difference between the standard American fast food diet and healthy eating? For me, a resounding unqualified yes. Your mileage may vary.

Wow! That is AWESOME! Congratulations! I mean seriously! :thumbsup:

I'm so glad you shared this here and went into detail. I not only enjoyed reading it, but I am quite (happily) surprised. I am in dire need of a life-changing diet as I have some of the symptoms that you have managed to overcome with your diet. I have an off-the-charts triglyceride problem that needs attention among other things, so I am taking what you have written to "heart" - literally!

Thanks Michael. Greatly appreciated!

Liz

Great thread, thanms for sharing, working on loweing my tri's as well. Have had several people ask me to publish my "healthy life changing" nutrition plan, but for now am self-testing and averaging 20 lbs loss every 5 weeks with more energy than I know what to do with. No gimmick fad diet, simple but creative stuff learned from survival training.

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Originally Posted by BravoGolfTango

Great thread, thanms for sharing, working on loweing my tri's as well. Have had several people ask me to publish my "healthy life changing" nutrition plan, but for now am self-testing and averaging 20 lbs loss every 5 weeks with more energy than I know what to do with. No gimmick fad diet, simple but creative stuff learned from survival training.

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A few years ago my triglycerides shot up to 3,000! Yes thousand. My doctor said it was a congenital problem.......no medications worked. Lipitor almost killed me - literally. After much research I read about a clinic in Boston that treated my condition via diet. My doctor said he did not think it would work due to my busy schedule, but he gave me 30 days to see how effective it would be. I had been taken off the medication for about 2 weeks. I then began my 30 day trial and went on the "high protein, low carb and low fat diet" eating small meals 5-6 times a day. The "key" was to use up all the energy I got from the food before I ate again. I had to be creative with my menus as low carb and low fat diet = nothing much fun!

My doctor called me after my 30 day blood test and said "this is incredible - almost a miracle - it is like reading someone else's blood levels." My triglycerides went from over 3,000 to 350 and my cholesteral from almost 400 to 206 (the doc did not tell me about the cholesteral being so high until after the 2nd blood test).

As long as I stay on the diet I do well, but I do go off at times - like around the holidays. And just to add that I can tell when my tri's are up as I don't feel good physically. Right now I am back on track.

Liz

Hello. And Bye.