Re: Would appreciate help with cardiac health issue + scd

[Guest guest]

Heidi,I am no doctor and I have very little experience with heart disease, but there are a couple of things I would like to point out. First is that you have been on SCD for only 1 and half years, but you have had a lifetime of eating the wrong kinds of fats. Do you have a scan score from before SCD? If so, I would compare those numbers and see if your score, although not good, is better now than it was. The other thing is high cholesterol is not necessarily a bad thing. Recent studies are showing that there are actually several types of LDL, not just one, and that some of those types of LDL are actually very beneficial. I am sure you already know too, so this is just a reminder, that it is the ratio of LDL to HDL that is most important and not the absolute

numbers. Now, having said that, calcification in the blood vessels is not a good thing, and is very serious. I am not sure what is the best way to remove it, but I believe that good fats play an important part. In the book Nourishing Traditions (also contains recipes) there is a section on fats and their importance. There are other books, too, but I can't recall their titles -- hopefully someone else on the board can jump in and give a few. At any rate, the point is is that good saturated fats are incredibly important in maintaining cell structure. The fats are actually incorporated into the cell wall and unsaturated fats actually make the cell wall less robust. In short, even with calcification present, you need the good saturated fats to make sure the cell walls are robust and flexible to withstand any negative influence from the presence of the calcification. I would definitely monitor the

situation, but I am not sure I would decrease my good saturated fats. What I would do is make sure I am getting plenty of natural, unprocessed, good saturated fats. Foods like grass-fed cow butter (Anchor is a good brand), virgin, cold pressed, coconut oil, and fresh ripe Haas avocados are a good start. Research the health benefits of the oils you are using and then make sure that they are cold pressed so that they retain their goodness (heat processing/extraction ruins/makes rancid most commercially available oils). Make sure you eat plenty of good, fresh caught/wild (not farmed) oily fish like salmon. Make sure that the oils (including those with/from nuts and seeds) are a good omega 3 to omega 6 ratio. Most people have plenty of omega 6 oils, but not enough nearly omega 3.My last suggestion will be this: If you still have high cholesterol (give the info above) and wish to reduce the levels, Niacin

(not niacinamide) is a good, natural way to do it. I would research this alternative and see if you think it would help you. Hoping for a very heart healthy you!AmeliaTo: BTVC-SCD Sent: Fri, April 23, 2010 4:56:10 AMSubject: Would appreciate help with cardiac health issue + scd

Hi,

I have been on scd a year and a half, and doing fine with it, appreciate it very much.

I have genetically hight cholesterol. Let me be clear: I have high cholesterol totally not caused by scd. However, I have now been tested, and it turns out that there is damage. Cholesterol has calcified in heart blood vessels. The score they look for in this heart scan is zero-- mine is 438. Not so good. Doing other tests, etc, however would appreciate food help from this group.

I would love some input on how to do scd with this.

First off, it was strongly suggested I stop consume no more than 10 grams of sat fat p d.

It was strongly suggested that I give up the the regular milk yogurt, which I was eating a lot. Of course! I did stop eating the regular yogurt, but have not made a skim milk yogurt, hoping you will have suggestions, as I am not used to yogurt that is rich, creamy and yum. Have you made a low fat yogurt? Was it ok? Watery? Please advise.

Also, any other suggestions would be appreciated. I already was cooling and skimming the fat from the soup. Am now not eating chicken skin--tho I do cook with it on.

I eat lots of veggies, and lots of apples. Luckily I have been able to eat these. No beef right now. Have been doing Red Rice Yeast, and already-- it has been a few months now-- have lowered cholesterol by 50 points. However, given that I already have calcification, I do have to really really watch it.

Thank you

[Guest guest]

At 10:56 PM 4/22/2010, you wrote:

I have genetically hight

cholesterol. Let me be clear: I have high cholesterol totally not caused

by scd. However, I have now been tested, and it turns out that there is

damage. Cholesterol has calcified in heart blood vessels. The score they

look for in this heart scan is zero-- mine is 438. Not so good. Doing

other tests, etc, however would appreciate food help from this group.

I would love some input on how to do scd with this.

First off, it was strongly suggested I stop consume no more than 10 grams

of sat fat p d.

It was strongly suggested that I give up the the regular milk yogurt,

which I was eating a lot. Of course! I did stop eating the regular

yogurt, but have not made a skim milk yogurt, hoping you will have

suggestions, as I am not used to yogurt that is rich, creamy and yum.

Have you made a low fat yogurt? Was it ok? Watery? Please

advise.

Heidi,

First, I'm not a doctor. I do have some experience with the high

cholesterol business since my mother had it, AND had coronary artery

disease and congestive heart failure.

You can bet your booties the docs suggested a low-fat diet... but you

already know that your cholesterol issue is not from your food, but is a

genetic issue. I'm sure their response is, " Yes, but why add to the

fat your system is already making? " The point is that if your system

has decided that it needs X amount of cholesterol, it will simply up its

cholesterol production to make up for whatever amount of fat you cut out.

A low-fat diet is what ALL doctors prescribe these days because it is

what is politically correct.

Take a look at

http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/cholesterol_myth_1.htm

Also check out

http://tinyurl.com/2e5pcy5 for the Weston Price Foundation

view on cholesterol and LOTS of things.

The information on pantethine at

http://www.pantethine.net/ is good; ignore some of the side bars

about other stuff. (You do NOT want a diet which tells you to eat soy

protein.) If you are interested in taking pantethine, I recommend this

one:

http://www.pantethine.net/herbal-remedies/-/buy-pantethine (Jarrow

450 mg), though I do not buy it from the company in the ad -- you can get

it elsewhere online for less.

You'll do a bunch better keeping your whole milk yogurt and skipping as

much honey and high-carb foods as you can, in my opinion.

Also, if you are interested in heart health, look into CoQ10, aka

CoEnzyme Q10, aka Ubiquinol. (If they stick you on one of the statins,

you absolutely MUST take CoQ10.)

—

Marilyn

New

Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

Darn Good SCD Cook

No Human Children

Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund

Babette the Foundling Beagle

[Guest guest]

>

> > I have been on scd a year and a half, and doing fine with it, appreciate it

very much.

> > I have genetically hight cholesterol. Let me be clear: I have high

cholesterol totally not caused by scd. However, I have now been tested, and it

turns out that there is damage. Cholesterol has calcified in heart blood

vessels. The score they look for in this heart scan is zero-- mine is 438. Not

so good. Doing other tests, etc, however would appreciate food help from this

group.

I am not a medical professional, and I don't know anything specifically related

to genetically high cholesterol, except that you are practically manufacturing

your own! However, with regard to the calcification, if you can search the

archives, there are some discussions regarding Vitamin K. I did a bit of

research for my mom, who has arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), and

found that it is generally acknowledged to be of great benefit to dissolving the

hard deposits. If you do some research on the internet you should be able to

find some information quite easily. If I remember correctly, both vitamin K1

and vitamin K2 are beneficial, although vitamin K2 is more specific to this

function. Some studies found K1 converted to the same function, or had a

similar function - I can't remember those exact details. The best source of K2

is natto, which is not SCD legal, but there are other sources. I have suggested

to mom that she try juicing cabbage as a good source of K1, as it is easy to

make and consume on a regular basis (and can be combined with so many other

juices and is inexpensive). Vitamin K3 is the only synthetic source, is only

available via prescription, and I think I read it was not recommended. But

please ask your doctor if it might cause you any harm to try vitamin K rich

foods as some of the sources suggested that it might also produce an increased

clotting factor (clotting? thickening?) for the blood.

Hope this helps.

Licia

colitis/SCD feb 2006

no meds since july 2006