Taking my Blocked Arteries Seriously
Once upon a time I had fantasies of having a diet that could take me to the benefits of ketosis, but all I did was gain weight; and then I had serious symptoms of heart disease.
The serious symptoms were because I was older, and had just reached an age where I'd eaten enough to kill myself.
I had three 80 through 90 percent blockages that put me on a table for bypass surgery.
They gave me statins.
Well, I don't do well on statins and the blood pressure medicine is a bit of a problem for me so I have to deal with this prospect of premature death in some other way.
Presumably, I don't have a death wish. But you get to be old and think about your prospects and then you get depressed.
Especially after talking to your cardiologist.
I had a book called "Fasting can Can Save Your Life: Eating for Health" by Joel Furman. I read it and started to implement the diet. To the best of my ability.
I entertained myself by watching conspiracy theories on You Tube, and came across a diet by what looked to be a legitimate doctor. He wasn't trying to sell me supplements.
And the diet was eerily familiar to what I had been reading about. But it had more depth as to why fats are horribly bad for you. Fats such as oil, fats in meat, cheese, fish, eggs and anything fatty.
So that's a broad brush, and I couldn't do the whole thing at once. So I started with the meat, which I don't like anyway, and then slowly moved on to other things.
It took me about two months to drop meat and then cheese. I had some eggs, but I never ate them. I had to stop putting peanut butter and coconut oil in my oatmeal in the morning.
Finally, I was on the diet for the most part for about a month when I was tested and my lipid panel looked wonderful.
But what is this diet, and what do I eat now?
The person who made the most compelling case was Dr Esselstyn formerly of the Cleveland Clinic, and he made a presentation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GPo8Ir0yn4&t=1088s
The set of rules for the diet are described here:
http://www.foodasprevention.com/dr-esselstyns-latest-basic-recommendations/
But there are lots people of all the silly things stuff like cheese does to you. T. Colin Campbell is one, moreover he talks about the proteins as a problem as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UL74-qXofk&t=3717s
There are helpful You Tube channels such as "Plant Based Science London", which explain different studies about what is healthy to eat, and Dr Michael Greger, an American, who often speaks on that channel.
So what do I eat?
For breakfast I have steel cut oats mixed with a couple of spoonfuls of ground flax seed to provide my omega-3. I've taken a blood test to determine if I've been eating the right amount and don't have the results back yet.
The omega in any plant has to be converted to a different omega to be used in the body, a blood test is a good idea because everybody doesn't produce DHA and EPA from ALA necessarily.
Since I'm not eating fatty fish, I take an average of 2,000IU per day of vitamin D every week, now I'm doing this by taking 5000IU several times a week, I may change that.
I've cut down on Vitamin E because it is packed in vegetable oil, and I want to avoid that. Considering all the vegetables I eat and the walnuts I consume, I probably have all the vitamin E I need.
Walnuts are on the DO NOT EAT list with Dr Esselstyn's diet, but I like them so I have a few. If I want to drop more weight, I stop eating anything with oil or some fat in it, drop the weight and start eating those things again so that I don't lose weight too quickly.
Sometimes, I think of my diet as the peasant diet.
Oatmeal and ground flax for breakfast, and then a stew for lunch and dinner, since I make more than I need for lunch.
The stew has considerable variation.
I start with vegetable broth. The Whole Foods staple isn't doctored too much, if you read the ingredients.
I add pearled barley, or some combination of grain groats such as bulger also called cracked Durham wheat, which cooks relatively quickly, or buckwheat, or millet. I also add brown rice, either short or long.
Grains have a lower glycemic index than processed starches such as pasta, although I add some of that occasionally. I'm an addict.
So I measure the amount of grain I want, add frozen vegetables such as frozen pepper, frozen mixed vegetables, perhaps a few small slices of beet or sweet potato, and of course a small red or Yukon Gold potato.
I use canned beans, and add some of those, and have a jar that I put the rest in so that I can add a large spoonful or two to other stews that I make.
I buy a variety of canned beans, and keep the extra in the refrigerator until I can use them.
I either put frozen kale or spinach in generous quantity into the stew as well, and add a bit of vinegar.
The beet, kale and spinach, or mustard greens if you can get them are important for nitric oxide, chemical formula NO, which is wonderful for the endothelium, which keeps that cholesterol laced sludge buried inside the walls of your arteries, you want it to be very healthy,
And this is how I'm trying to preserve my life. Will it work?
I don't know yet.
The serious symptoms were because I was older, and had just reached an age where I'd eaten enough to kill myself.
I had three 80 through 90 percent blockages that put me on a table for bypass surgery.
They gave me statins.
Well, I don't do well on statins and the blood pressure medicine is a bit of a problem for me so I have to deal with this prospect of premature death in some other way.
Presumably, I don't have a death wish. But you get to be old and think about your prospects and then you get depressed.
Especially after talking to your cardiologist.
I had a book called "Fasting can Can Save Your Life: Eating for Health" by Joel Furman. I read it and started to implement the diet. To the best of my ability.
I entertained myself by watching conspiracy theories on You Tube, and came across a diet by what looked to be a legitimate doctor. He wasn't trying to sell me supplements.
And the diet was eerily familiar to what I had been reading about. But it had more depth as to why fats are horribly bad for you. Fats such as oil, fats in meat, cheese, fish, eggs and anything fatty.
So that's a broad brush, and I couldn't do the whole thing at once. So I started with the meat, which I don't like anyway, and then slowly moved on to other things.
It took me about two months to drop meat and then cheese. I had some eggs, but I never ate them. I had to stop putting peanut butter and coconut oil in my oatmeal in the morning.
Finally, I was on the diet for the most part for about a month when I was tested and my lipid panel looked wonderful.
But what is this diet, and what do I eat now?
The person who made the most compelling case was Dr Esselstyn formerly of the Cleveland Clinic, and he made a presentation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GPo8Ir0yn4&t=1088s
The set of rules for the diet are described here:
http://www.foodasprevention.com/dr-esselstyns-latest-basic-recommendations/
But there are lots people of all the silly things stuff like cheese does to you. T. Colin Campbell is one, moreover he talks about the proteins as a problem as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UL74-qXofk&t=3717s
There are helpful You Tube channels such as "Plant Based Science London", which explain different studies about what is healthy to eat, and Dr Michael Greger, an American, who often speaks on that channel.
So what do I eat?
For breakfast I have steel cut oats mixed with a couple of spoonfuls of ground flax seed to provide my omega-3. I've taken a blood test to determine if I've been eating the right amount and don't have the results back yet.
The omega in any plant has to be converted to a different omega to be used in the body, a blood test is a good idea because everybody doesn't produce DHA and EPA from ALA necessarily.
Since I'm not eating fatty fish, I take an average of 2,000IU per day of vitamin D every week, now I'm doing this by taking 5000IU several times a week, I may change that.
I've cut down on Vitamin E because it is packed in vegetable oil, and I want to avoid that. Considering all the vegetables I eat and the walnuts I consume, I probably have all the vitamin E I need.
Walnuts are on the DO NOT EAT list with Dr Esselstyn's diet, but I like them so I have a few. If I want to drop more weight, I stop eating anything with oil or some fat in it, drop the weight and start eating those things again so that I don't lose weight too quickly.
Sometimes, I think of my diet as the peasant diet.
Oatmeal and ground flax for breakfast, and then a stew for lunch and dinner, since I make more than I need for lunch.
The stew has considerable variation.
I start with vegetable broth. The Whole Foods staple isn't doctored too much, if you read the ingredients.
I add pearled barley, or some combination of grain groats such as bulger also called cracked Durham wheat, which cooks relatively quickly, or buckwheat, or millet. I also add brown rice, either short or long.
Grains have a lower glycemic index than processed starches such as pasta, although I add some of that occasionally. I'm an addict.
So I measure the amount of grain I want, add frozen vegetables such as frozen pepper, frozen mixed vegetables, perhaps a few small slices of beet or sweet potato, and of course a small red or Yukon Gold potato.
I use canned beans, and add some of those, and have a jar that I put the rest in so that I can add a large spoonful or two to other stews that I make.
I buy a variety of canned beans, and keep the extra in the refrigerator until I can use them.
I either put frozen kale or spinach in generous quantity into the stew as well, and add a bit of vinegar.
The beet, kale and spinach, or mustard greens if you can get them are important for nitric oxide, chemical formula NO, which is wonderful for the endothelium, which keeps that cholesterol laced sludge buried inside the walls of your arteries, you want it to be very healthy,
And this is how I'm trying to preserve my life. Will it work?
I don't know yet.
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